5 Gym Exercises That Will Produce Rapid Improvements In Your Golf Swing
Gym exercises can play a huge role in improving your golf swing and your overall game, but they are often neglected. Our expert shares five you should try...
The idea of using gym exercises to transform your golf game is a pretty alien concept to many club golfers, including myself over the years, but that needs to change.
The majority of amateur golfers will say they would like to get better at the game, but many focus purely on the technical aspects with no regard for how their fitness and limitations impact their performance on the course.
5 Gym Exercises That Will Transform Your Golf Game
Mark Wilson is the owner of Apex Rehab and Performance in Leeds, an organisation that provides expert analysis, coaching and support for individuals looking to get fitter, healthier, stronger and more efficient in their chosen sport/disciplines. Mark is currently coaching Golf Monthly's Baz Plummer through a total winter golf rebuild, designing and implementing an expertly crafted fitness programme that aims to address his physical limitations and increase his efficiency in the golf swing.
Using the instructions and video demonstrations below, you should have everything you need to try the 5 gym exercises that will transform your game.
These are some of the best examples of exercises I use with my clients, covering the full golf ability spectrum, so these are designed to help you whatever your starting point.
Make sure to carry out some warm up exercises before you start and ensure you have the technique correct before adding weights. If you have any questions, drop them in the comments box at the bottom of this article. Let's get into it!
1. Dumbbell Banded Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
Start with a resistance band attached to a tower, like the one I am using in the video above. The band is in place to give you awareness of what we want to do with the pelvis.
For the RDL, you want a little bend in the knees to create an athletic position - like you'd see in the golf swing.
As you tilt at the hips, I want you to push the pelvis back. Imagine you have a bucket of water tied around your waist, you want it tipping forwards not backwards.
Push the hips back and create a lot of length in the hamstrings. As you come back up to standing tall, you should be trying to engage your glutes and create some posterior pelvic tilt.
Your knees and hips never move in the same direction, so when you have the dumbbells in your hands I want you to push your hips back, create length through the hamstrings and then tuck that pelvis up and through to engage the glutes as you return to a standing position.
This exercises is perfect for improving hamstring strength and mobility, as well as hip internal rotation mobility.
2. Dumbbell Split Squat
For the dumbbell split squat, the setup is key.
Drop onto one knee and ensure you have a 90 degree angle in your front leg and the same on your back leg - tucking your toes underneath on the back foot to help you spring. From that position, all you need to do is stand up.
When in that standing split stance position, stack your pelvis. To do that, we need to return to that bucket of water analogy, you want it to be level and not tipping out of the front or back.
If you are unsure, check out the video above for a visual demonstration.
A common mistake with this exercises is that as people go down into the squat they tip their upper body forward, which would essentially spill all the water in the bucket.
As you drop down into the squat position, bend the back leg so that you are returning to a similar position to the one you started in, just without letting the back knee touch the ground.
When adding weights, the exercise doesn't change. Focus on that explosive movement upwards each time and a controlled squat on the way down.
3. Double Leg Seated Box Jump
Double leg seated box jumps are a great way to start developing lower body power, which is a crucial component of an effective and efficient golf swing.
Sit on a box with a slightly smaller box out in front of you. This one is nice and simple, load into the hips, push hard through the floor and drive upwards into a jump.
Land on the box in front of you on two feet, then reset and repeat. Don't allow yourself to cheat by putting your hands down on the box, all the force should be generated by your lower body.
4. Med Ball Slam
Med Ball slams are great for developing upper body power - and is something I have been using a lot with Baz in his workouts.
Grab a med ball and stand with it held in two hands above your head. Get up nice and tall onto your toes and then slam it down as hard as you can into the floor.
Be careful it doesn't bounce back up and hit you, but I want you to think about throwing the ball through the floor with as much force as you possibly can on each rep.
This force into the ground is crucial as we transition into the downswing allowing you to generate more speed.
5. Three-Point Kneeling Bent Over Dumbbell Row
The three-point kneeling bent over dumbbell row is a great way to develop back strength and will also help you to generate speed in the downswing.
Put one knee on a bench, directly under the respective hip, and the other on the floor. If you start with the left knee on the bench, also place your left hand on the bench with a decent amount of separation between the knee and hand.
Making sure you are nice and strong through the back, take the dumbbell in the right hand. Pull it in towards your right hip, creating flexion at the elbow with a controlled tempo.
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