Why you should get evaluated
/Once you have committed to a fitness program it is ideal to have your baseline fitness evaluated. This will identify your strength and weaknesses and a tailored fitness program can be created that targets all of your specific needs. A lot of people bypass this important step, pick up a copy of a fitness magazine and attempt what can be very complicated exercises, which may be well beyond their ability.
In my experience training golfers and non-golfers, most people need more flexibility and stability. A lot of people who don’t get evaluated skip the essential steps of building flexibility and stability and shoot straight for strength gains thinking it will get them where they want to be faster. All this does is build a house with no foundations and at some point injury is going to occur as the house falls down. I have seen a lot of people with workout routines that emphasize the use of fixed weight machines.
For someone who has limited flexibility and stability performing a workout routine this way enforces the distinct lack of stability as the machine is acting as the stabilizer as you perform the motion. This individual is an accident waiting to happen. Life is an unstable arena, golf is especially unstable, so these individuals usually get injured and that impacts their swing or stops them from playing.
How many times do you swing a club during a round and fall out of posture/ step out of the swing during the downswing? When you can't stabilize yourself during a swing, it's impossible to be consistent. The full swing demands a lot of co-ordination and on the downswing you must decelerate an object traveling over 100mph. Not having the required strength to stabilize this deceleration can be dangerous. When we putt, we need a stable lower body from which the upper body can rotate, so having the right strength in the hips is paramount for a good, consistent putting stroke.
The good news is Mobility and Stability can be improved upon in the comfort of your own home. I have some clients who are sports addicts and do prescribed corrective exercises while they are watching the game on TV. Corrective exercises need minimal equipment and by themselves can increase your driving distance. Once you have the necessary baseline of mobility and stability adding strength to that stable platform will add even more distance to your game with added consistency of ball striking.
If this sounds good to you, get evaluated and have a customized workout program created for your individual needs.