Improve Your Golf Swing With Exercises

[update] There are thousands of articles, videos, and products to help you with the mechanics of your golf drive. Most focus on techniques, from "how to fix your stance" to "how to keep your arms straight and locked for optimal distance". Very few offer exercises or nutritional tips that help strengthen the body and ultimately result in maximal drive distance. Through proper exercise and nutrition alone, I can teach you how to add 10-20 yards to your golf drive in just 4-6 weeks. Read on...

            Wouldn't it be amazing to have the same energy at the 18^th hole as you had at the 1^st? The nutrition part is simple chemistry; start eating correctly, as I will guide you (below), and body fat will drop and energy will explode throughout your body. The exercise part is not so obvious. Why? There are all these "so called experts" who will tell you it is all in your "core".  Yes, I agree that the "core" (abdominals and lower back) play a vital role in the golf drive, but they are far from the "end all, be all" to increasing drive distance. A combination of balance, strength and flexibility must exist. These factors begin at the Achilles’ heel and travel all the way up to the Trapezius muscles in the neck. The 6 key muscular body parts that must be trained for achieving optimal strength and flexibility for a powerful and accurate golf drive are:

1. Quadriceps (legs) 
2. Gluteus (buttocks) 
3. Hip Flexors (hips)  
4. Back  
5. Abdominal  
6. Shoulders

            I've laid out one precise exercise for each body part listed above. These exercises can be done with only body weight and simple rubber bands. With high repetitions, you will get the perfect combination of strength building and dynamic stretching. Dynamic stretching is a stretch that is in constant motion. Unlike a Static stretch, where you hold a given position without moving for a specified amount of time, dynamic stretches have a lower injury rate and are pivotal for proper warm ups before a golf game.

1) Quadriceps (legs) - Body Squat. Here is a body weight squat that will build leg strength without harming the connective tissue (ligaments and tendons). This can be done with bands.

Performance of the exercise: Start with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent.  Place your hands out in front of you.  Keep your back straight and abdominals tight.  Bend your knees and lower your hips and buttocks straight down towards your heels.  End in the bottom squat position (visualize a catcher in baseball sitting on his heels).  You should be sitting on your heels, resting just on your toes.  As you push back up, drive your heels back to the floor and stop the movement just before your knees reach the locked-out position.  Repeat in a fluid motion and do not pause in the bottom position.

(Exercise factors #2 and #3 combined in 1 exercise)

2) Glutes (Buttocks) and 3)Hip Flexors (Hips)  - This exercise is the Pelvic Lift. It builds strength through the glutes, hips and lower back.

Performance of the exercise: Lie flat on your back, knees bent and feet flat on the ground.  Your hands are at your sides, palms down on the floor.  Start the movement by squeezing your buttocks together and then raise your pelvis straight up toward the ceiling until your back is straight.  Lower your pelvis and buttocks back to the starting position and repeat.

4) Back (Lower, Middle and Upper) - Bent Over Row (rubber bands)

Performance of the exercise: Stand in the middle of a band with your feet just slightly wider than shoulder width.  Bend over at the waist, keeping your back straight and chest facing the floor.  Cross the band and let your hands hang down towards the floor.  Raise your elbows towards the ceiling and pinch your shoulder blades together.

5 ) Abdominals (Abs) - The Bicycle - A phenomenal exercise that works the entire abdominal wall, sides and hip flexors.

Performance of the exercise: Lie flat on your back with your hands behind your head for support.  Your feet are up and legs are bent to a 90 degree angle.  Simultaneously bring your right elbow to your left knee as you straighten out the right leg.  In a fluid motion, switch to a left elbow /right knee combination.  Keep the movement fluid and constant.  Visualize that you are pedaling a bicycle.

6) Shoulders - Side Lateral Raise (rubber bands) - This exercise works the medial deltoid (side of the shoulder) with only minimal weight and high reps. The medial deltoid is the main part of the shoulder used to drive the club head.

Performance of the exercise: Simply stand in the middle of an exercise band. Hands are at your sides, palms facing your body. Slightly bend your elbows and then raise the backs of your hands toward the ceiling, stopping just higher than your shoulders (ending in a "T" position).  Repeat the motion up and down in a fluid rhythm. 

Perform these exercises using only your body weight and/or bands.  Follow this routine 3 times a week.  Each exercise is as follows: 3 sets per exercise / 20-35 repetitions per set. Stay consistent with this exercise regiment and in 4-6 weeks you will be astounded by the strength and athleticism you have gained, and, as promised, the increase in distance on your golf drive.

Abe Fuentes is a Fitness expert / Celebrity trainer with over 20 years experience working with professionals from physical therapy to world-class athletic/Olympic coaches. He appears on FOX News as the fitness and nutrition expert and was the Boot Camp training coach for the Oxygen Channel Reality Show "Addicted to Beauty". Abe has a ZERO INJURY AND ZERO FAILURE RATE in helping clients achieve their goals.

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