fitness friday
Wake up your golf body with these 6 moves
Everyone has to start somewhere in terms of getting in "golf shape," and if you're struggling to get your body to move the way it's supposed to move when you swing a club, it might be time to tune it up.
With that in mind, we asked Golf Digest's Chief Fitness Advisor Ben Shear to provide a half-dozen simple exercises that would get the body primed for golf. To get things started, Shear, who oversees Golf Digest's Fitness Trainer Certification program, selected three exercises to enhance mobility and three that focus on stability. Once you've got them honed, you can move on to exercises where better strength and power are the goal—but you need a foundation first.
Start with these shoulder wall slides (illustration, above) to improve mobility in the shoulder blades and then move on to the others presented here. Sets and reps/duration depend on your time constraints, but you should try to go through these a few times a week. It shouldn't take long to cycle through them.
Shoulder wall slides
Keep your back, shoulders, head and arms against a wall. With your eyes straight forward and your feet a foot from the wall, slide your arms up as high as you can, maintaining all points of contact with the surface. Don't arch your back. Do 10 reps. Improves the shoulder mobility needed to swing on the proper plane.
90-90 knee drops
Start with both legs bent to 90 degrees and the knees touching the ground. Keeping one knee down, rotate the other until it's touching the ground on the opposite side. Then repeat with the other knee. Keep alternating the knee rotations back and forth. Do six reps in each direction to help improve the mobility necessary to coil and initiate the downswing.
Bretzels
Lie on your side with your top leg bent at 90 degrees, waist high, lower arm holding it down. Rotate the other leg thigh down. Lift that foot up, grab it with your other arm and pull it toward your butt. Finally, rotate your torso away from the top leg. Hold for a few seconds, then return to start. Do five reps, each direction, to improve trunk, thigh and hip mobility.
Medicine-ball chops and lifts
Kneel on one leg with the foot of the other leg directly in line with it. Hold a medicine ball down by the hip of the kneeling leg. Bring the ball to your chest and lift it across your body above the opposite shoulder. Do 10 reps. Switch leg positions and repeat in the opposite direction. Improves balance, core strength and cross-body coordination needed for the golf swing.
No-arm side planks
Lie on your side, supported by your shoulder and upper arm with your feet stacked and resting on a bench. Raise your pelvis as high as you can. Hold for a few seconds and then lower it to the ground. Do 10 reps, and repeat on the opposite side. This strengthens the oblique muscles necessary for proper side-bending and torso rotation in the golf swing.
Dead bugs
Hold a physio ball with your arms and legs. Lower one arm behind your head while straightening and lowering the opposite leg. The other leg and arm should push into the ball. Keep your back from arching. Return to start. Do 10 reps, alternating arms and legs. Improves core stability to control faster swings.
