WINTER GOLF TRAINING

If you live in an area where you can't golf in the winter you may be getting a little anxious as the days are getting colder and shorter and you know your season is coming to an end. Even though you may not get much golf in the next couple months you still have an opportunity to significantly improve your game. If you don't already have an off season training program this is the year to start. By increasing your strength, mobility, flexibility, and stability you can make significant improvements in your game by next spring. Having a couple months off is also good for recovery and injury prevention. It allows all those tissues that were getting overloaded by the consistent repetitious movements have a break and a chance to do something else. There are several components you want to incorporate into your off season training program including flexibility, mobility, strength and power, stability, and endurance. It is also important to have your doctor do a physical before starting a new program. Having a heart attack is not going to set you up well for the next season. If you had any nagging injuries consult a physical therapist.
Let's take a look at each of these components starting with endurance. Good endurance helps you stay on top of your game in the later rounds and outlast your buddies on those marathon weekends of 72 holes. Endurance training and come in many forms including biking, running, swimming, aerobics etc. The key here is to do something you enjoy so you stick with it. Try to get in at least 20-30 minutes a session with a minimum of 3 times a week. I'm a big fan of high intensity interval training which gives you the endurance benefits in a much shorter time. An example for a stationary bike would be to warm up for 5 minutes then pedal as fast as you can for 30 seconds, slowly for 1 minute, repeat 5-10 times then cool down another 5 minutes. You can vary the work and rest times depending on your fitness level and difficulty.
Mobility refers more to the movement available at the joints where flexibility is the length of the muscles. Having tight muscles and stiff joints will limit your swing arc and not allow you to generate the maximum amount of torque. This will limit your club head speed and affect your distance. Performing the proper stretches especially for your shoulders, hips and backs along with self mobilization exercises for your hips and spine will increase your distance and decrease your risk for injury.
Stability is how well your muscles control the joints through there range of motion. Poor stability, usually in the trunk and shoulders, are often responsible for energy leaks which will lead to inconsistent shots and yips. This is more common as the muscles fatigue. Good stability in the trunk is also important to prevent low back pain which is very common in golfers.
Strength and power are obviously important for good force development for increased swing speed. Strength training has also been shown to improve putting. Train with free weights which will also work the stabilizing muscles and train movements not isolated muscles. I usually recommend a 3 day a week full body workout including squats, pull ups, bench press and shoulder presses.
Take advantage of the time off and bring your game to the next level.
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There are many different ways you can address off season training but one I recommend is a 3 phase approach. Each phase can run somewhere between 3-8 weeks depending on your fitness level, training experience, overall health, and training goals. Where you start will also depend on where you are when you finish the season. If you have been working out regularly during the season and do not have any injury issues you should be okay to start off with phase 2. If you have any injuries, stiffness, aches and pains, or have not been working out at all then you should start in phase 1. This first phase should focus on recovery and regeneration from the season that just ended. If you live in an area where you golf year around it would still benefit you to take a little time off. Most injuries in golf are due to repetitive movements. Having a short break of even one to two weeks will often give you a jump in your performance. So in this phase we want to allow the structures that get overstressed time to fully recover and not add more stress to them during training. Emphasis in this phase should be on light exercises to rejuvenate your joints and muscles. Focus should be on foam roll techniques for soft tissue release, stretching, light resistance exercises and avoiding spine rotation exercises which you get such a high volume of during the season. Phase 2 will usually last about 6-8 weeks and is when you really want to focus on big strength and power gains along with maintaining your flexability and mobility exercises. Still try to be light on the rotation exercises. Explosive exercises with the medicine ball and leg exercises like the squats or single leg squats are also important to incorperate into phase 2. Gradually progress the exercises as they become easier. This can be done by adding weight, increasing sets and/or repititions or performing a more advanced version of the exercise. Plyometrics should also be incorperated into this phase. Phase 3 should last about 3-4 weeks and is your preperation phase. This phase will end right as your season starts. This is when you will start to add in the rotational training to prepare your spine for the stresses it will undergo during the season. Start gradual and and slowly progress the force and speed. Continue to work on mobility especially of the hips and thoracic spine. Stretching should also continue with emphasis on the shoulders, chest, glutes, and hamstrings. Core stabilization training should be incorperated into all phases but with more emphasis in this stage. Having a strong core will reduce the risk of injury and help you generate and transfer power to the ball. A proper warm up is important in all phases as is incorperating all aspects of training including flexibility, mobility, and stability along with strength. I recommend a 3 day a week whole body training program. You can vary your routine each week or even each session by substituting exercises or changing up the number of sets and repititions.

What if I was to tell you that I was recently at a golf convention. What if at this convention I spoke with a sales rep from a major athletic clothing and shoe company. What if he told me that this spring they were going to release a state of the art golf shirt made from the latest and greatest material. And that this shirt has been scientifically proven to increase club head speed, increase driving distance and improve short game control. Would you be interested? How much would you be willing to spend? $50, $100, $150, more? I have several friends that I know would spend over $150 for this shirt. Why? #1: It's easy; all they have to do is pull out the credit card then put on the shirt. #2 scientifically proven-hey I can't go wrong. People will spend a lot of money to make life easier. If there was a pill we could take to keep us in great shape it would make a billion dollars. It takes no commitment on our part where as exercise takes time, effort, and commitment over a period of time to get results. Well, there is a scientifically proven method to increase your club head speed, increase driving distance and improve short game control. It's called exercise. The question is, how committed are you? Are you willing to make a little effort, commit to an exercise program that can improve your golf game and overall health or are you going to sit around waiting for someone to invent the magic pill or shirt.

Do your best today!