A Physiotherapist’s Guide To Home-Based ‘Golf Fitness’ - Part 3

Improving your ‘Strength’

Introduction

In my previous articles, ‘A Physiotherapist’s Guide To Home-Based ‘Golf Fitness’ - Part 1 and Part 2, I underlined the benefits and importance of the need to engage in a programme of home-based ‘golf fitness’ to improve your game. I also highlighted my physio recommended ‘training tools’ required for home-based ‘golf fitness’.

Two key physical components required for a ‘more efficient’ golf-swing as judged by me, a physio with a specialist interest in golf and the biomechanics of the golf-swing, have been broken down so far. These were ‘Mobility’ and ‘Stability’.

From these, I advised golfers to commence the first phase of their own home-based ‘golf fitness’ programme by giving a ‘Simple Golf Mobility Training Programme’. I then advised golfers to progress to the second phase of their own home-based ‘golf fitness’ programme by integrating and completing the ‘Simple Golf Stability Training Programme’.  

In this instalment, I will discuss integrating the final phase of your home-based ‘golf fitness’ programme following on from ‘Mobility’ and ‘Stability’. This will focus on the final key physical component to progress your home-based ‘golf fitness’ programme to, ‘Strength’.

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Recommended ‘training tools’ to assist the next phase of home-based ‘golf fitness’- ‘Strength’

The ‘training tools’ required to develop the final key physical component of ‘Strength’ for home-based ‘golf fitness’ differs to that for the key physical component of ‘Mobility’ and ‘Stability’.

The physio recommended ‘training tools’ to assist the development of ‘Strength’ are highlighted below:

• Yourself (the cheapest and easiest product to find!)
  

• An exercise ball
  

• A resistance band
  

• A set of dumbbell weights
  

‘Yourself’ remains number 1 on the list. There are many simple and effective exercises you can do from home using just your bodyweight and with no equipment to help you to develop ‘Strength’.

My physio recommendation is that a resistance band, and/or a set of dumbbell weights, will however open another training dimension for developing ‘Strength’ with a home-based ‘golf fitness’ programme. These items would allow you to partake in a greater variety of exercises, whilst allowing for increased ‘load’ on your muscles and joints. This is a necessity for ‘Strength’ training of any form and a physio recommendation. Increased ‘loads’ offered by using a resistance band and/or set of dumbbell weights will really push to develop the physical component of ‘Strength’, ensuring it reaches its optimal level to make your golf-swing ‘more efficient’.

Phase 3 of home-based ‘golf fitness’- ‘Strength’

Working on the physical component of ‘Strength’ can take place once you have mastered or improved the physical components of ‘Mobility’ from Part 1 and ‘Stability’ from Part 2 of my physiotherapist’s guide to home-based golf fitness.  

‘Strength’ is a key physical component of the golf-swing as it is required in abundance for both the up-ward and down-ward phase.

Having poor ‘Strength’, commonly associated as muscle weakness, will lead to a loss of power within the golf-swing. This loss of power will mean less distance with every shot you hit on the course.  

My physio recommendation is that by working to improve your ‘Strength’ to optimal levels, the power and speed of your golf-swing will be improved, making it ‘more efficient’. My physio recommendation is that ‘Strength’ is particularly important in the hips, upper back and shoulders in relations to the mechanics of the golf-swing, as this is where the power is generated from.

Please cIick here to download a PDF I have put together with some simple golf ‘Strength’ exercises. This programme can be run alongside the ‘Simple Golf Mobility Training Programme’ from Part 1, and the ‘Simple Golf Stability Training Programme from Part 2 of this article series, but should only be brought in once you have completed 2 weeks of the ‘Mobility’ and ‘Stability’ programmes being run alongside one another.

As per my physio recommendation, once integrated, each home-based ‘golf fitness’ programme for ‘Mobility’, ‘Stability’ and ‘Strength’ should be completed once each weekly. This can be continued going forwards and will help to improve and maintain the 3 key physical components required to make your own golf-swing ‘more efficient’ in 3 simple training sessions per week.

Summary - Part 3

Having optimal ‘Strength’ is a key physical component of the golf-swing. A resistance band and/or a set of dumbbell weights, can act as useful ‘training tools’ to develop this key component as it will test your body further then just using bodyweight.

My physio recommendation is that this final phase of home-based ‘golf fitness’, developing ‘Strength’, should be added in once you have improved and maintained some level of basic ‘Mobility’ and ‘Stability’. These 3 key components can then be worked on and developed alongside one another.

If you have any queries after reading any of this, then why not book a Remote Physiotherapy Consultation with me by clicking here. I can also offer a bespoke Golf Screening Assessment via video link too. Please click here for more information about what a Golf Screening Assessment entails, or to find more information about what other specialist physiotherapy services we offer to golfers at The White House Clinic.