How Is Golf Fitness Different From Standard Gym Discipline?
Golf Fitness
Golf fitness is a separate discipline from the type of body development regime you will find in most gyms, and it is something which needs to be considered in isolation. There is virtually no crossover between standard gym work and golf, because the basic needs are so different. Many gym users are looking to bulk up their bodies, and more than a few are looking to actually enter their bodies into body building contests. The needs of the golfer are totally different. Golfers are looking for strength, but definitely not bulk.
One comparison which is often made is between professional football and golf. There are many professional quarterbacks who are exceptional golfers, yet there are very few good golfers among the positions in a football team which demand a great physical bulk. These players possess great strength, but their bulky bodies do not allow for the type of movement which allows that strength to be thrust through the ball by facilitating high club head speed. The different experiences of football players in golf gives a very accurate clue as to how a golfer should train the body.
Good golf fitness training needs to be carried out in a very specific way. Strengthening exercises are a very important part of the regime, but flexibility training is equally important. The two types of training do not need to be carried out at the same time in the same session, but they should both be carried out as part of an even fitness development program. The strength exercises need to concentrate on the torso and the legs, because these provide the power for the upper body.
Having a bulky but relatively inflexible body will not yield the benefits a golfer is looking for. You will derive certain benefits in that you will be able to force strokes where a ball is buried in a divot, or where it has landed in some growth. You may be able to force a ball out of a clump of rough grass where a golfer with less physical strength would be unable to, but these situations do not occur often enough in most rounds for the savings to be significant.
Evenly developed golf fitness, with a balancing of strength and flexibility, should yield the right result. Any normal stroke from tee to green should see greater club head speed, and the extra strength in the legs should mean that the body holds more still during the stroke. Good training for increased length should also have the side effect of improving accuracy. Add on a cardiovascular program to improve endurance, and this fitness level should last throughout a round and indeed long after. The real key to low scoring is to develop fitness consistently, with strength, flexibility and endurance combining to create a complete program of golf fitness.
