Get Fit for Golf Season: Don't Neglect These Tips

By: Morgan Fobbs

The annual ritual of the start of golf season is coming up fast. If you want to have a better season than last year (fingers crossed!), then here are some tips for preparing in advance. And I am not simply talking about getting your golf shoes out of the garage to clean them off. Rather, you need to prepare your body itself for golfing.

Many people see the game of golf itself as part of their fitness efforts. That's fine to a degree, but what is even more important is getting your body ready for the new season after a winter of neglect.

Of course the fitness benefits can be almost non-existent for those who don't walk but rather ride the course in a cart, and then stop for burgers and beers after the round. Unless you are disabled, I encourage you to walk your golf rounds this season, and save the money and global-warming contributions from golf cart usage.

But before the season starts, there are several ways to prepare your body for the rigors ahead. The goal is to get you ready to handle the lengthy time standing and walking on the course, and to gently build muscles that are used frequently in golf.

Aerobic and stamina-building exercises are the key to beating the long walks in the heat of summer. And flexibility and muscle training will help you achieve longer drives, better swing consistency, and overall mid-torso strength. You won't need to become a heavy lifting body builder at all! No, the goal is to tackle the repetitive, asymmetrical movements of golf by gently strengthening your muscles in advance.

Rotational and hip flexibility, shoulder strength, and the muscles of the lower back all make up the unique swing of each golfer. And working the legs and lower back will also reduce those spasms that can result from long days on the links. If you have spent all winter stuck in a cubicle like me, then a pre-season warm-up is essential.

This is not a huge time commitment. You can take 20 minutes from your lunch break, or work in front of the TV at night, and you most likely won't need a shower after each session either. The muscle groups that help build torso rotational power include the buttocks, hips, abdomen, lower back, and thighs. Begin with stretching those areas out, gently, and then move to weight and resistance training to strengthen them. Continue to concentrate on the power zone or core strength.

The muscles, ligaments, and bones of the core area are those between your chest and knees. There are thousands of various exercises that can help you target those areas, but some of the more common ones include gentle trunk rotations, abdominal crunches, gentle torso twists, side rotations using resistance, hamstring stretches, and cat arches and hunches for the lower back.

If you are like me and tend to spend the winters being sedentary, make sure you begin gently. The risk is that you will overdo things at the beginning, and injure some of your core areas, causing you to push back that first tee-off date. Begin each session by warming up for a short while using some aerobic option such as walking on an incline on a treadmill, a stationary bike, or a rowing machine.

I'll outline some specific exercises in another article, but the key is to get started early! Don't wait until the day before your first tee-off of the season. Get going on some of these easy, brief, daily exercises well in advance of when you will need them, and you will reap the rewards of greater torso strength, and stamina to play well from tee-off to final putt.

Article Source: http://www.bettergolfarticles.com

Morgan Fobbs is a golf lover and expert teacher. For more tips and to get an absolutely free copy of a shocking golf secret, click the link now to change your golf world view.
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