Why Fitness Training Is Essential for Golf, Part 2: Strength

This week, we are continuing the discussion on the significance of fitness training for golfers. Today, we are specifically talking about strength. Strength is indeed vital for creating and improving club head speed in the golf swing. It is also critical for increasing how long we can effectively practice and play without increasing the risk of injury and decreasing our longevity in the game. Let’s discuss a little further how strength training can be missed by so many yet be so critical to the game.

How can golfers’ strength train?

Strength training can look very different and still be considered strength training. So, what do we mean by strength training in this case? Here we are talking about exercises done at lower repetitions to approach fatigue. This means that the load on the muscles we are targeting is great enough to create fatigue quicker. Common knowledge of strength training makes us think of extremely heavy deadlifts barely peeled off the floor until the lifters head turns dark red. This is strength training, but not all of strength training is this. Though movements like a deadlift, back squat, and bench press can be great for a golfer, we do not have to use these movements or load these movement so close to a one rep maximum weight to train for strength.

Instead, we can use these movements and train for reps of 5 or 6 per set and still consider it strength training. The goal is primarily to build overall force output ability above all else. If we get too high in the repetition range, like sets of 10 or 12, we will be biasing far too much hypertrophy adaptation above overall force creation ability. If we get even higher, we will be biasing more muscular endurance, or the ability of the muscle to efficiently create low levels of force over longer durations of time. So, since we know we want to train strength and to improve our ability to create force, we can choose which way we do that so long as the primary stimulus is still creating strength adaptations.

Is strength training important for golfers?

Yes, it is. Distance is key in golf. This is demonstrated more and more every year with new data and better performing long hitters. Everybody knows that to create speed and distance, you need to have a powerful swing. What is the first component to power? Strength. Power is strength over time. The quicker you can produce force, the more powerful you are. If you can produce great force (strength), but cannot create it quickly, then you are strong but not powerful. The same is if you can create low levels of force very quickly. Quick, but not powerful. Therefore, we need high levels of baseline strength that we can transition into power in the golf swing.

Conclusion.

Strength is an essential quality for developing an efficient and powerful golf swing. Without strength, we have little capacity to create speed and distance. We need to draw on our force producing capacity (strength) and motor control (skill) to produce our golf swing at close to maximal speeds. Overall, this creates power. Without strength attributes, we are limiting our ability to play effective golf long-term. Strength training is therefore an essential component to improving our golf scoring ceiling and reducing injury potential.

-Dr. Nick DC, TPI, CSCS

If you would like to learn more about your body, pain, and performance, send Dr. Nick an email at contact@integratedrpc.com or call at (585)478-4379, or schedule a FREE discovery visit at Contact.

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P.S. if you’d like to take your health and fitness seriously and make sure you continue checking the boxes for golf performance, consider signing up on the waitlist for “The Nashville Elite Golf Program”. This is a 12-week program with 2 small group sessions per week. Goals are to address the 5 areas of golf physical performance. These include lower body dissociation, upper body dissociation, core control, maintain posture, and setting and releasing the golf club. Attack low hanging fruit of physical limitations while improving fitness levels with this programming. More details coming soon! Sign up for the waitlist here: Sign up