When we talk about core exercise for golf the key term that needs to be thrown in there is rotational. You see&’the golf swing is a turn (or rotate) back and a turn (or rotate) through. So any core exercise for golf you do should incorporate rotational strength and flexibility.

One of the most difficult things for golfers to do is take a step back from their game and examine what they can do to improve performance. Strength training is a perfect example. What almost all golfers overlook is developing the strength and awareness fo the region of their body that can lead them to their best level no matter what the age or ability.

That area is the CORE!

This area starts roughly at your belly button and goes up to the bottom of your sternum. It is the engine of your body and awareness of your core affects golf the most. Think of it as the link in the chain that needs to be the strongest, not the weakest.

Greg Norman use to say when he wanted to hit it long he would get his belly button or belt buckle turning faster; which in other words is his or your core.

Two simple core exercises for golf that will quickly strengthen your core is ab crunches and back extensions. These would be your initial exercises since I mentioned early on in this article you need to work from a rotational standpoint to strengthen your core specific to golf.

Once you&’ve accomplished the above exercises, you can move on to a crunch with a twist and a back extension with a twist. This will hit your rotational strength right away.

You can then progress up to standing on your feet doing several different variations of rotational movements with a single dumbbell, standing upright and also in your golf posture.

When you approach your golf improvement program with a core exercise for golf, you will see your driving distance sky rocket past your playing partners!

Although a discussion of the entire golf swing isn&’t within the scope of this article, let&’s talk about the timing. Timing is a word that is often bantered about when discussing the golf swing and more precisely achieving maximum distance; but timing of what? And how do I achieve it?

In a nutshell, when is comes to getting the most efficient distance out of your golf shot, the timing element is the timing of the release of the stored energy that has amassed during the process of your golf swing.

Again, for the purposes of this article, let&’s fast forward just a bit to the point where you are at the top of your golf swing. At this point, if all has gone well, your left arm will straight. The relationship between the club and your wrists will be 90 degrees (wrists will be cocked). Your hips will have rotated approximately 45 degrees away from their original address position, while your shoulders have rotated more toward a 90 degree posture.

Essentially, you are in somewhat of a &’coiled&’ position at the top of your back swing.

At this position, you have accumulated your stored energy. Except additional energy that will be stored and released rapidly as your shaft flexes and un-flexes, this is what you have to work with.

Now that you have all this energy stored up, how and when to release it is on of us golfers greatest conundrum. This power that you now possess is but a fleeting thing, and one must apply it at the proper moment in order to achieve the desired results.

Unfortunately, from this position at the top of the back swing is where the vast amount of golfers goes wrong; and that is the first movement they make back toward the ball is with the hands and arms.

If you do this, a vast amount of your stored energy has now been released and not available to be applied to the golf ball. When you do this, you lose the angle created between your wrists and your club. You lose the angle that you have created between your shoulder and your hips. In essence, (among other things) you have begun uncoiling way to early.

Among other things, in its simplest form, this type of action is generally called swinging or releasing from the top or casting the club. Aside from grossly leaking energy from your swing this will cause and outside in swing path, and more often than not produce some severity of slice.

But, let&’s stay strictly within the confines of energy and timing.

If, from the top of your swing, you begin the ascent of your golf swing toward the impact zone from the ground up and maintain the aforementioned angles we discussed much longer, you&’ll be well on your way to applying the energy of your swing at the proper moment (not to mention your swing path will be much more desirable).

From the top of your swing, the weight beginning to transfer from your back instep toward your front foot is what initiates the downswing. Not your hands, not your shoulders, not a spinning motion with your hips. As your weigh begins to move toward your front side, your hips will follow by beginning to release (uncoil) from the angle they had attained at the top of the swing. As the hips begin to uncoil and continue to follow the weight shift your shoulders and arms will naturally follow. Note that I said naturally.

You shouldn&’t be consciously firing your arms and shoulders to catch up. If you do, once again, you have just spent more of your stored energy.

As the weight shifts, the hips follow with rotation and the shoulders and arms now begin to follow suit, your wrists should still be in a &’cocked&’ position in relationship to the club. In other words, this angle is still maintained.

As your left hip clears, this imparts a tremendous amount of pressure for your upper body to catch up. And catch up it will in a big way. With you hips cleared and your belly beginning to point down the target line, you shoulders will follow through the hitting zone and finally your arms and hands will be naturally force to release in a dramatic fashion through the impact zone. As all this happens the shaft of your club will have a pretty fair amount of flex imparted on it.

This is easily discernable if you look at a slow motion or still photo view of the club coming into the impact zone.

It is at this point, with the shaft flexed that the right hand begins to release (and eventually pronate) that is the culmination of releasing all this stored energy upon the golf ball with the proper timing.

In a sense, the release of the energy which entails the hips following the initiated weight shift, followed by the upper body responding to the hips uncoiling, that then begins to lead the arms and hands down the target line and through the hitting zone until finally the hands can no longer remain &’cocked&’ and they release the club naturally as a result of rapidly catching up to the rest of what the body has done.

In summary it is the arms and hands that complete the release of your stored energy NOT initiate it from the top of your swing. As you begin to bring this concept together it may actually feel to you as though your arms and hand are &’trailing&’ the rest of your swing. And in sense they are&’ they are waiting for the precise timing.

And the great thing is, is that the physics of this will all take place quite naturally once you begin to refine the mechanics of your golf swing with your teaching professional. And with some practice you&’ll soon be able to let the natural forces and physics of a good golf swing apply the proper timing to the golf ball in a smooth and effortless&’ longer distance manner.

Picture your core being the middle of your body. That&’s as simple as you can get it. It is mainly your abdominals, but can also include glutes and lower back. This area of your body is the most susceptible to injury.

That&’s why the majority of amateur golfers have a low back injury at some point in their golfing career. They have never focused on core flexibility training, as well as core strength training for more power.

To produce more power and distance in your swing does not mean swinging harder with your arms. Haven&’t you tried that before? If so, did you hit it farther? I&’ll bet not.

Just like hitting a baseball, tennis ball are even throwing the discus in track and field, you use your core for most of your power. You rotate with your core to create torque, then you unleash that stored up energy into the hit, whether it be a baseball, tennis ball or golf ball.

The more efficient you become with using your core, arms, shoulders and hands in a sequenced motion, the added distance will come quite easy. You&’ll be shocked at how quickly your driving distance goes up.

Core flexibility training incorporates &’rotation&’. Golf stretching in this manner warrants the best results in the shortest amount of time!

Every core flexibility stretch you do should involve some form of rotating. This is very important since the golf swing is a rotate (turn) back and a rotate (turn) forward. The more range of motion you can achieve in your core area the more power you will produce.

Here&’s a little test you can do while your sitting there reading this article!

Put your arms across your chest, keep your eyes focused straight ahead. Now rotate as far as you can to the right and make a not of how far it is. Did you get to a 90 degree shoulder turn (that&’s where you need to be). Then rotate as far as you can to the left. How far did you get.

This will be a &’wake-up&’ call for many of you. If you find you can&’t rotate at least 70 degrees of center, you&’ll have no chance at maximizing your power and driving distance.

We do this simple core flexibility test seated to remove cheating of the lower body. If you were standing, it would be very easy to rotate your hips and get a bigger shoulder rotation.

Being seated removes this compensation!

A seated rotation is &’true&’ core flexibility and range of motion.

I hope I&’ve educated you on the importance of core flexibility training to improve golf swing power and distance.

Just because you play senior golf does mean you lose that distance. If you have been playing regularly, you may have already adjusted your fitness and your clubs and other equipment. If you continue to play, you always make adjustment for age. You never have to stop playing golf. Golfing is probably one of the most popular recreational games an older person can play without hurting himself or herself. You might need some instructions or tips on how to maintain that distance that every golfer wants.

While your body changes as you get older, you want to stay fit. This is the reasoning behind doing some strengthening exercises and some flexibility training. Keeping your body strong and flexible will only enhance the game and help you achieve the distance you need. Maybe a little weight lifting to keep the upper body in shape is needed as you get older. Stretching the legs daily will help to keep you flexible for a natural string, which helps with the distance you get from your swing. The more flexible you keep the body, the better you will be in you swing. Fitness is also necessary to walk the distances between holes as well. If you are not use to walking, you could tire easily. Not all golf courses will have golf cart for you.

Having the right equipment also makes a difference in your swing and the distance you get on the ball. As a person ages, they need different clubs that can help you swing better and drive the ball farther. The thing to look for is the club shaft flex, the length of the club and of course the lie angle. These are important factors in a golf club. Sometimes the senior golfer may take a lesson or two from a pro. This just enhances the game and you can learn some techniques that the pros use.

The clubs you use do make a difference when you participate in senior golf. Even the pros change golf clubs as their body and age changes. The more flex you have in a club should give you more distance. This is seen by seasoned players as well as the pros. If you are just starting out, you will probably want to take a few lessons and practice on the driving range to get the most distance on the ball before trying the greens.

Senior golf has become very popular even for beginners. It is a nice way to spend your retirement and stay fit at the same time. Some of the pros do suggest starting out slow if you are new to golf and before you take any lessons or play a round of golf, you should have some type of fitness regiment to keep the body flexible. This will help your game as well as prevent injury. A good pair of shoes is also very important not only for walking in but also for your stance. If your shoes are uncomfortable, you are not going to stand correctly when hitting the golf ball.