Golf Fitness Training in New york city
What to Look for in a Strength & Conditioning Coach
If you’re a golfer looking for ways to improve your game that don’t involve swinging a golf club, then you’ve come to the right place.
Some time ago, I wrote an article about the things you should look for when hiring a personal trainer or strength and conditioning coach, and all of those rules apply here. But since we’re talking about golf, a little more personalization to the actual sport and demands of golf merits revisiting the topic.
The biggest reason you should seek the help of a qualified professional in either strength and conditioning or personal training is because they are well versed in the macro and micro level physical demands of sport. You may already have a golf coach or pro assisting you with your game. That coach can pick up on fine details of your clubface throughout your swing. The same can be said of a qualified strength and conditioning coach: they can pick up on your tight hips and lower back issues before you even have to say anything.
Why golf specific training is different than general fitness
When many golfers think of the gym, they often think of bodybuilding, large open floors packed with machines and treadmills, and everything that comes with going to the gym and popular fitness culture.
Those things are great for some, and will absolutely improve your fitness, but they aren’t inherently going to make you a better golfer. Nor will they help you with your specific pain points. Golf requires rotational strength and mobility, hip power, stability and mobility, shoulder mobility, and overall core strength and fitness.
More importantly, without a proper assessment by a trainer or strength and conditioning coach who understands golf and its demands, but more importantly you the athlete, this whole equation can turn into a big waste of time.
The right golf strength and fitness coach will take your personal movement and injury history and marry it with all the concepts important to being a good, athletic golfer.
Perhaps most importantly though, a qualified strength and conditioning coach or trainer who is well versed in sports and athlete preparation will give you the most efficient and useful path forward. General fitness programs work on general qualities: general strength, general muscle gain, and general cardiovascular fitness. Golf, like all sports, requires a more targeted and specific approach to training and that’s what a qualified trainer and coach will do for you.
The 5 Things to Look for in a Golf S&C Coach in NYC
If you’re living in New York City, it’s already a grind to get to the golf course, simulator, or range, so adding unnecessary time to your day isn’t going to be a winning proposition. That’s why you want to be strategic in how you select your trainer or strength and conditioning coach.
1. They Assess Before They Program
This should be the first thing a trainer or coach does with you, no matter what. A qualified coach won’t hand you a generic workout on day one, even if the exercises are great for golf. That would be a big waste of time, because it’s not prepared for you.
Instead, a proper strength coach and trainer will put you through a movement assessment, screen you for injuries, and most importantly, listen to your concerns. A common complaint I hear from golfers is that professionals are trying to change big aspects of their swing and asking them to move in ways they cannot. This is where a proper golf-oriented fitness assessment shines, as we can work with the ranges you have available to you, and promote the right strength and mobility for you to succeed.
In terms of the nuts and bolts of it: we’ll assess your movement patterns, mobility limitations, and strength imbalances first. The golf swing puts enormous rotational demands on your body and a coach needs to know where your body is starting from before they can map where it needs to go.
2. They Understand the Demands of the Golf Swing
Not every personal trainer does, nor do they understand proper rotational mechanics
Many golfers are self taught, and as such, they never learned how to properly rotate their bodies. That’s why it’s important to have a coach who has a deep background training rotational sport athletes, or better yet, golfers.
At DiSalvo Performance Training, our nearly 15 year experience training hockey players, tennis, and combat sports athletes — who rely on the same hip-to-shoulder rotational mechanics as golfers — gives us a deep understanding of what it takes to build explosive, controlled power through the core. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m a long-time golfer myself.
3. They Connect Gym Work to Course Performance
Training in the gym for golf has many great benefits, but the one most people want to see is it translating to their golf performance. Whether it’s getting a faster swing that results in better clubhead speed, or it’s simply swinging without pain, the assessment process and ongoing program should always be relating the training in the gym back to some key performance indicator on the course for you.
It doesn’t matter if you swing the club faster if you can’t do it without pain. Conversely, a mobility program for a 50-something-year-old recreational golfer will not be the same program a 20-year old NCAA golfer and aspiring tour pro needs. It’s important for a trainer to make the right connections and coach the athlete in front of them.
4. They Prioritize Injury Prevention and Durability as Much as Performance
There’s an old saying in sports that you’re only good if you’re available, and we prioritize durability and fitness above all for golfers. If you’re hurt, you can’t play, and that’s something no one wants. Having a 300 yard drive is only good if you can make it to the course pain-free and able to swing a club.
Besides trying to improve your performance on the course, the right golf fitness program and trainer will always account for your overall fitness and help make sure you don’t run into common physical issues in golf: lower back pain, shoulder pain and tightness, knee and neck issues, etc.
A day at the course is a long one with varying environmental elements: elevation, rain, extreme heat, bone chilling wind…or the worst, cart-path only. You need to be in the right shape to endure it.
5. They Have a Track Record With Athletes
Golf-specific fitness is a specialty, specifically an athletic one. Look for a coach who has trained athletes, not just general fitness clients, and ideally has worked with golfers, overhead, or rotational sport athletes.
A CSCS certification is a green light here, as it is the gold standard in certification to work with athletes of all sports. It’s the certification most often required to work with athletes in the college and pro setting. It’s the certification we require of our highest tiered trainers here at DiSalvo Performance Training.
It never hurts to have your trainer be a golfer, either, but it is not required. The minimum should be someone who is prepared to work with athletes of any sport and understands how that differs from general population training at your local gym.
Ready to get started? Reach out!
What Golf Fitness Training Actually Looks Like at DiSalvo Performance Training
When a golfer comes to DiSalvo Performance Training for the first time, we start with a movement screen and a conversation. We want to know your training history, injury history, how many rounds you play per week, and what's frustrating you most about your game right now.
From there, we build a program around your specific gaps. That might look like:
Mobility work for a golfer with limited hip rotation and a restricted backswing
Rotational strength training for someone who generates decent club speed but lacks consistency and control
Posterior chain development (glutes, hamstrings, lower back) for a golfer dealing with chronic back pain after rounds
Shoulder health and stability work for someone who's been fighting impingement or soreness through the follow-through
Most of our golf clients train 2–3 times per week with us, whether it’s with us at our gym in Manhattan, or on their own with a program we wrote for them.
Many see measurable improvements in swing speed, pain reduction, and endurance within the first 4–6 weeks.
We're located in Chelsea, Manhattan, NYC and we work with golfers of all handicaps, from weekend players to competitive amateurs.
The NYC Golfer Advantage: Why Training Here Makes Sense
Golfers in New York face unique challenges. Most of us don't have the luxury of playing 4–5 rounds per week. You're squeezing golf into a busy schedule, commuting to courses outside the city, and trying to get the most out of every round you do play.
That's exactly why your time in the gym needs to count. You can't afford a generic program. You need targeted, efficient training that moves the needle because you're not going to out-practice someone who has more time on the course than you do. But you can out-prepare them physically.
Whether you're playing at Pelham Bay, Bethpage, or flying out to a destination course a few times a year, you want to show up physically ready to perform. That's what we help NYC golfers do. If you’re ready to get started, reach out - we’d love to hear from you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be a serious golfer to benefit from golf specific strength and conditioning / fitness training?
Not at all. In fact, recreational golfers often see the biggest improvements because there's more low-hanging fruit to address — mobility restrictions, weak stabilizer muscles, and poor movement patterns that have never been trained.
How quickly will I see results?
Most clients notice improvements in how they feel within a few workouts or 2 to 4 weeks. This would be categorized by overall mobility improvements and less post-round soreness. This all compounds as you regularly hit your workouts.
Measurable performance gains like increased swing speed typically show up in the 3-4 month range with consistent training.
Can you help if I'm dealing with a golf injury?
Absolutely, as this is the core of what we do. We meet very few golfers who don’t have some nagging pain. We aim to address the root cause of that pain, whether it’s lower back pain, golfer's elbow, shoulder issues, and knee discomfort, and work to strengthen the body as whole to help you get out of pain. As we always say, there’s a way to modify everything. The worst thing you can do is nothing.
For instances of acute injury or medically relevant pain: we always recommend you've been cleared by a medical professional first, and we coordinate with your care team when needed.
Do I need any prior fitness experience?
Not at all, in fact, those who are new to training stand to make some of the largest improvements. We meet you where you are, whether you're brand new to structured training or you've been lifting for years but want to make it more golf-specific.
Where are you located?
DiSalvo Performance Training is in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. We’re conveniently located 2 blocks from Madison Square Garden, Penn Station, and a short walk from Herald Square.
About the Author: Mark DiSalvo, CSCS
Mark is the founder and owner of DiSalvo Performance Training. He brings over a decade of experience training clients and athletes of all backgrounds and is the strength and conditioning coach to athletes of all levels and disciplines, from youth to professional and Olympic-level.
A graduate of Northeastern University, he’s an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Sports Performance Expert. He’s also a Steve Maxwell Certified Kettlebell Instructor (Levels 1 & 2).
You can read more about him here.