Conditioning for Golf

Golf is generally viewed as a game of technical skill rather than an athletic event, requiring less exertion than most other sports. Unfortunately, this common misperception all too often results in injury and/or premature performance plateaus. Golf is a highly athletic event!

Consider that the head of a golf club can travel over 100 miles per hour, an effort comparable to throwing a cricket ball from the boundary. Amateur golfers achieve approximately 90% of their peak muscle activity when driving a golf ball. This is the same lifting intensity as picking up a weight that can only be lifted four times before total fatigue.

Golfers strike the ball an average of 30 to 40 times a round and this level of exertion and muscle activation equates with such sports as football, hockey and martial arts. The difference is that other athletes outside of golf include conditioning as an integral part of their preparation for such physical demands.

There are four factors of golf conditioning:

1. Muscle balance and flexibility
2. Static and dynamic postural stability
3. Strength
4. Power.

These must be performed in this order. Without correct flexibility the body cannot perform exercises in the correct manner. Once the musculoskeletal system is balanced, static and dynamic, postural stability can be achieved.

Stability is important since a stable body creates a solid framework for all movements and is less likely to cause injury. Strength can be built using functional movement patterns that transfer to the game of golf. Developing power is the last progression.