Golf swing exercises are the missing link to adding tremendous power to your golf swing quickly. To be able to execute an effective golf swing…golf swing exercises will enhance your bodies abilitiy to move throughout the required ranges of motion…enabling you to hit drives you know you are capable of.

The other reason why golf swing exercises are so important is in the fact that a golf swing by its’ very nature is a very unnatural and awkward movement of the body and muscles. It therefore stands to reason that the body will usually resist the golf swing action and this is why it appears to be so difficult to master.

However when you implement golf swing exercises to strengthen and condition the relevant muscles, the golf swing becomes less awkward to the body.

Let us now take a closer look at the movements involved in a golf swing so that we come up with the most effective golf swing exercises that will impact most dramatically on the quality of your game.

The golf swing is actually a turn back (rotate) and turn through (rotate). Most of the movement is pure rotational in nature. This means doing golf swing exercises like a seated twist holding a dumbbell straight out in front of you is a very effective exercise in strengthening and conditioning the muscles used in the golf swing.

Be careful not to use very heavy weights in this golf swing exercise. 3-5 pound dumb bells are ideal. Remember that a golf club is not heavy; in fact it weights less than a pound.

Repeating golf swing exercises like this as many times as you can within a 30-minute session without straining yourself. Do remember to warm up before you begin the session and also to warm down when you are through.

Warming up ensures that you do not start with your muscles cold. Stretches involving the muscles that you are going to use can also be extremely useful before you go into these golf swing exercises.

Martial artists know that the hips are where the body’s ‘center of gravity’ is located. It lends balance and stability to every move. The lower body is designed for power- the upper body for finesse.

If you can translate this knowledge into a better golf swing, you will be blessed with both power and accuracy.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

Hip rotation holds the key to a powerful swing. Do you want to turn easily from the hip and get more yards out of your swing? It’s not hard when you know the proven secrets of golf pros.

The first thing you need to know about turning, is that you won’t get a flawless turn till you develop stabilization and strength in the lower body.

To get your upper body in sync, make sure you stand straight with your shoulders pulled back, to facilitate that perfect swinging motion from the shoulder- instead of the elbow. Practice turning your shoulders as far back as possible, with your trunk acting as the pivot. If you are right handed, you can see your left shoulder aligned with your chin.

Strong shoulders and well-conditioned abs are a must to maximize torque, while minimizing the distorting forces at the hip- which can lead to imbalances and injury.

Top players initiate their downswing with the powerful muscles of the abs and hips. Once the desired momentum is generated by the lower body, they use their arm muscles to effectively “fine tune” the swing.

Recreational players, on the other hand, use their arm muscles right at the outset. As a result, they are unable to recruit the latent muscle-power in their lower body, while the arm muscles work extra hard both to power and guide the club. No wonder it leads to a shaky, inconsistent swing!

Many players employ faulty swing mechanics, which actually dissipate the energy generated by the lower body, before it can be transmitted to the upper body.

Recreational golfers show a higher tendency for movements that rob swing momentum, such as hip sliding and lateral bending.

The reason can often be traced to reduced range of motion in the hip joints. Often, the process of aging or a sedentary lifestyle can lead you to lose some internal rotation at the hip joint. This condition can be helped with stretches and strengthening exercises that target the hip flexors, hip adductors (inner thigh and groin), hip adductors (outer thighs or hips) and the glutes (buttocks).

Trying to hit the ball as hard as you can will rarely give you golf swing power or the desired long drive. More often than not, you will note that the ball ends up going disappointingly close rather than further. In fact persistent efforts to hit the golf ball as hard as you can, will most likely end up giving you golfers&’ elbow as you strain your unprepared muscles to achieve the desire of your heart.

There are two main reasons why this approach does not work in helping you achieve golf swing power. Firstly golf clubs have all been cleverly and specially designed to fulfill various tasks. And within those clubs, there are several that will help you gain various degrees of golf swing powered long drives.

This is the reason why use of physics in this situation (that is the right technique so that you hit the ball at the right angle and in the correct way to gain your long drive) works much better than brute force.

Secondly there is an amount of strength and power that needs to be applied. This can only come from muscles that have been strengthened and condition to achieve consistent golf swing power.

The real secret behind effective golf swing power is golf-specific exercises that help you to use your spine correctly as an axis to promote consistency in your drives and to keep you focused on the correct swing play. Only this can give you true golf swing power and much longer drives on the course.

A power golf swing is not about swinging hard.

So many times a golfer will try to &’put a little more into it&’ to get a few extra yards. If you&’ve tried this&’what happened? Did you get those extra yards or did it go shorter and even offline?

That&’s the point I&’m trying to make!

To hit a LONG drive or add yards to every club in your bag&’you need to be able to generate more clubhead speed, but under control. That&’s where most golfers lose it.

If your body can&’t physically make an optimum swing, from a mechanical standpoint, you have no business trying to swing any harder. The result will be a blown up score and drives that go significantly shorter&’not longer.

The beauty of getting your body in better &’golf shape&’ is that you can hit the ball with more force&’but with much less effort.

Let me explain.

If you&’ve improved your core strength and flexibility for example, you will be able to make a FULL shoulder turn (backswing) with minimal tension. This backswing has now a ton of torque built up. With your newfound strength and flexibility&’you will be able to &’unleash&’ that torque, powerfully into the golf ball.

Doesn&’t that make sense?

Now imagine if you improved your overall body specific to golf. Now you&’ve got a power golf swing that is under control and killing it off the tee! Your playing partners won&’t know what hit them.

So the key to remember in an effortless power golf swing is improving your bodies ability to rotate and store energy&’then &’unleash it&’ into the ball at impact.

If you are lacking distance and feel like you&’re trying to swing harder, this is the reason why. A fit golfer has a HUGE advantage over an out-of-shape one.

Follow this advice and you&’re on your way to an effortless power golf swing!

1. Spinal Rotation. Every time you swing the golf club, you rotate around your spine. So, what does this have to do with power? Power is generated every time you stabilize your hips to make a full backswing with spinal rotation. Most golfers have heard of the X factor. This, of course, refers to the differential between the movement in your hips and your spine. Increase your spinal rotation and a new sense of power will be released.

2. Core Based Exercises. Your body’s “core”, the area around your trunk and pelvis, is where your center of gravity is located. When you have good core stability, the muscles in your pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen work in harmony. They provide support to your spine. The core is the power zone. It is where all movement begins. A well-developed core allows for improved force output, increased neuromuscular efficiency, and decreased incidence of overuse injuries. A weak core can make you susceptible to poor posture and injury.

3. Plyometrics. Plyometrics are any exercise where the muscle is contracted eccentricly then immediately, concentricly. Put simply, the muscle is stretched (i.e. loaded) before it is contracted. A good example is medicine ball horizontal twists and standing golf swings. According to a recent study published in the National Strength and Conditioning Association&’s (NSCA) journal, amateur golfers significantly increased their driving distances after just eight weeks of strength training while incorporating plyometrics. Mean driving distance increased 4.3% for the combined training group, with mean club head speed increasing 1.5%.

Once you incorporate these 3 techniques into your exercise program, you&’ll never be disgruntled about driving distance or power generation again.

There is a lot of confusion with golfers on what to focus on when trying to improve power in the golf swing. Your power comes from your core. Just like in any other sport, your core is the engine to the swing.

Participating in a core golf workout for more power in your golf swing does not take fancy equipment or for that matter a lot of time. Getting creative with what you have laying around your house or even your office will do just fine.

A good example is at your office. Your sitting in your chair in front of your computer and your back gets stiff. Don&’t just let it get stiffer, do a rotational stretch right there on the spot in your chair. Reach around the back of your chair with one hand, and leverage the other hand against your thighs to rotate as far as you can. Hold it for 10 seconds and go to the other side.

How simple was that? Try it right now as you&’re reading this article!

That would be considered one exercise for your core golf workout that will improve your power golf swing.

Do this several times a day, and try to rotate farther each time you do it. You&’ll notice you can go much farther the more you do it.

How about a strength exercise for your core?

Get creative. Grab anything you have in your home or office that you can hold in your hands. While sitting or standing, extend your arms straight out in front of you and while looking straight ahead, rotate with your arms as far as you can to the right holding this object. Now rotate to the left. Do this a total of 20 times.

You&’ll notice you will be able to rotate farther and farther after each rotation!

How hard was that? No gym. No fancy equipment. Just a can of soup, or even a half gallon of milk. If you&’ve got some hand weights gathering dust, that&’s even better. Try to increase your weight as time goes on.

Hopefully you&’re getting the idea of what a core golf workout is that will improve your power golf swing quickly.

As a golfer, always pay attention to the physical requirements of the golf swing. What position your body is in. What movement your body goes through. And at what rate of speed.

When you approach your golf exercise and golf stretching program with this mindset you&’re on your way to a power golf swing that will be the envy of your foursome.

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.