Why All Golfers Should Lift Weights
Most serious golfers understand that their performance is significantly aided by spending time in the gym. Whether it’s to work on some immobility, increase strength, or address old injury concerns, there is an exercise or way of training that can benefit any golfer at any age.
However, the more time I spend on golf courses, simulators, or driving ranges, the more I encounter golfers of all levels who may have previously been active in the gym but have significantly lapsed. I’m not just talking about weekend warriors and high handicaps – there’s some scratch and plus handicappers in there as well. For that crowd, the difference between qualifying for a US Open or a chance to play professionally is even more impetus to take strength training seriously.
As a strength and conditioning coach of nearly 15 years, I understand it’s almost impossible to convince people to do things they do not want to do. But, in order to keep doing the things you really want to do (like playing golf), you sometimes need to consider different angles and approach things with a different level of maturity. In other words, you need to get to the gym.
Here are a few reasons why (and how) training can directly influence your game for the better, or complaints I often hear:
1. “I can’t move that way in my swing, so I have to find a way around it.”
This is perhaps the most common complaint I hear on the golf course. It’s usually by recreational golfers, and oftentimes it’s guys who are way too young to be saying things like this.
The gym is literally the way around this. Outside of actual structural changes via surgery, there isn’t a person on earth whose swing can’t be helped by increasing their mobility and range of motion. The gym is one of the best and effective places to do this. It isn’t always easy, but with the right targeted practice and routine, you can open your thoracic spine, increase you hip mobility, and make your shoulders feel a little less cranky in your swing.
2. Develop the Energy System That Matters: ATP/Phosphagen
Your body has three main energy systems that fuel your efforts to do anything, but the one that comes into play the most in golf is entirely anaerobic and known as the Phosphagen/ATP Energy System. This system deals with higher intensity muscle contractions.
Sound familiar?
One of the best ways, if not the “only way” to train this is in the weightroom lifting heavy weights. The capacity of this system to work on repeat goes up exponentially as your ability to handle heavier weights increases. If you want a more detailed breakdown of that and how it affects your golf swing, I broke it down in a previous blog.
One other important thing to understand about this energy system is that it’s built on non-oxygen substrates, which means simply breathing and “being in shape” alone won’t help you. It means that your nutrition, especially in the golf round itself, stands to help you. Instead of not eating the entire round (or having junk food at the turn), a simple upgrade in nutrition and hydration during the round can pay dividends.
3. You produce force against gravity. There’s only one way to train that.
At its simplest level, gravity is an invisible force that is constantly applying downward pressure to us. Everything about our bodies and how we think about movement has evolved and developed around the idea that whatever goes up, must come down. That includes hitting a golf ball: it goes up, and then it comes back down.
But what about the act of swinging the club? That happens against gravity too. If I were to overstate the analogy, every part of movement (including swinging the golf club) happens against that vertical pressure, creating little bits of difficulty that we usually don’t pay attention to until we have to do something fast or skillful. In my field, we call these actions against gravity “vertical displacement.”
The only way to train this is to move against resistance. The more carryover you can find in resistance training, the more you’ll see your golf game improve.
Conclusion
Whether your goal is to swing a driver more comfortably, have more stamina to produce good shots under pressure, or add some serious distance to your shots, your answers (at least in part) exist in the gym. If you’re ready to take your golf game more seriously and work with the right professional, contact us today. We’d love to help.
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.