Imagine hitting your driver farther in your 40′s than when you were in your 20′s!

I imagine a few of you are saying, “No way!”

Read this article to be convinced otherwise. I received an e-mail from one of our BioForce Golf subscribers about the amazing change in his clubhead speed.

He wrote in about how excited he was that his clubhead speed had improved to a speed higher than when he was in his early twenties! He stated that currently his clubhead speed is between 105-107 mph, and in his twenties it was 95-100 mph. Go figure!

He related his increased driving distance and clubhead speed to a golf fitness program, a program with exercises specific to improving his golf swing. Not a traditional, pump-the-iron program, but one that promotes a more efficient and powerful golf swing.

He stated that since he implemented a golf fitness program, his flexibility, strength, and power have all increased.

As a result of this newfound “bottle of youth,” he is hitting the golf ball farther, lowering his scores, and enjoying the game of golf more.

The question to ask is, “How do improved flexibility, strength, and power relate to increased clubhead speed?”

First and foremost, we must understand a very important principle. The principle revolves around what actually swings the golf club.

Is it your body swinging the club or the club swinging your body?

Obviously, the answer is that your body swings the club. Keeping that statement in mind, we can safely say it is a combination of two entities that creates clubhead speed.

What two entities do you think I am talking about? They are your golf swing mechanics and your body.

Swing mechanics have an effect on clubhead speed. Optimal swing mechanics develop greater clubhead speed than poor swing mechanics. If you do not believe me, try this little experiment.

Go to the range and pull out your driver. On your first swing, swing smoothly and in control. On your second swing, swing as hard as you can! Which golf ball went farther? I am guessing the first one.

This little experiment just goes to show that the mechanics of your swing have an effect on clubhead speed and distance.

Bottom line on the swing mechanics side of the equation, the more efficient your golf swing mechanics are the greater amount of clubhead speed you will be able to generate.

Now, on to the second part of the equation, your body.

The body supports your golf swing mechanics. If your body does not have the flexibility, strength, or power to swing the golf club efficiently, the ability to generate clubhead speed will be compromised.

And if your body is inflexible, weak, and lacking the potential to generate power, clubhead speed will be a difficult entity to create.

Applying the idea of power to golf can be simply identified through clubhead speed. If the clubhead is moving faster at impact with the golf ball, what does this tell us about the golfer?

The golfer is more powerful, and the ball will probably travel farther.

How can a golf fitness program increase the power production in your swing?

Increasing your flexibility allows you to perform the mechanics of the golf swing more efficiently opening the door for improved clubhead speed.

Increasing your strength and power levels around the golf swing allows your body the potential to generate greater amounts of clubhead speed.

Put these entities together with your efficient golf swing mechanics and you will find increased clubhead speed in your golf game.

Now, aging presents a very interesting situation. As you age, the natural levels of flexibility, strength, and power decrease.

Yes, as you get older the body slows down. The slowing down has an effect on your golf swing.

You do not have the flexibility to perform the mechanics of the golf swing. The lowers levels of strength and power decrease the ability to generate clubhead speed.

In order to reverse the effects of aging and improve your clubhead speed, you need to implement a golf fitness program.

A golf fitness program can slow “the hands of time,” improve your flexibility, increase the strength within the body, and improve your power outputs. You essentially become an ageless golfer.

Bottom line, better flexibility, increased strength and power training will increase your clubhead speed, lower your scores, and you’ll get a lot more enjoyment out of the golf course.

Sean Cochran

How you structure your golf fitness program is essential to your overall performance on and off the course. Here are some ways you can ensure you are getting the most out of training program while utilizing the strength of your core as a building block for success.

Specific to golf &’ Get rid of the traditional gym machines which focus on isolating specific muscle groups and require no stabilization work by additional muscle groups. Integrate some old and new fitness tools which allow you to move your body in a more functional setting. These include cable machines, fitness balls, medicine balls, balance disks, traditional dumbbells and don&’t forget about the power of using your own bodyweight.

Increase Core Stability &’ More efficient movement creates more efficient power. Golfers maintain an athletic posture over long periods of time and require both trunk and core stabilization and endurance. By increasing your strength and endurance in the core region of your body, you provide both a solid base of support for rotation in addition to the proper transfer of power throughout the body.

Vary your Planes of Motion – A golf fitness program will have varying planes of motion as part of your weekly strength routine. Planes of movement include front to back motions, left to right and rotational exercises. Some good examples include multi-directional lunges and medicine ball wood chops.

Integrate Multiple Elements into Each Exercise &’ Each weekly workout should address all of the important elements for golf including flexibility, core development, balance, strength and power. Integrated training techniques will develop your skills in each of these areas and produce a whole new level of play. Examples of integration include a 5 minute dynamic warm up, roughly 30 minute strength routine, followed by 10 to 15 minutes of stretches. Each workout can be broken down into strength development for several weeks, core stabilization for several weeks, and power development as you move into peak season.

Progress from Simple to Complex – Begin your exercise program by mastering the simplest forms of exercises first. Progress your golf training design to increase in complexity as your body grows and develops and as you learn proper stabilization of your core region. An example of progression for the legs may be to perform two leg ball squats prior to performing the one leg version.

Before any golfer, pro or otherwise, picks up a club, they look at the capability of their body versus the requirements of the swing. Utilize these 5 tips to create a golf specific program that brings out the best in you and the best in your golf game. Make this golf season your most productive yet!

In fact the wrong golf exercise program can end up making a golfer&’s game deteriorate rather than improve.

It is therefore very useful to know what constitutes a complete golf exercise program

A complete golf exercise program will tend to have the following attributes;

A) Golf specific stretch exercises Stretch exercises are a very important part of any genuine golf workout program. Stretches help improve the golf swing and correct many common mistakes and weaknesses in this area. They sometime help alleviate or even eliminate nagging back problems in some golfers. Many stretch exercises can be done in the comfort of the office or home.

B) Golf specific strength training Strength training is also a key area in any good golf workout program. Strength training usually has a dramatic effect on the quality of the game of any golfer. Dumbbells are usually used and the program for building strength for golf is usually very different from a body building program because the idea here is not to build muscles.

C) Should be able to focus on certain common player weaknesses A good golf exercise program should also be able to focus on certain common weaknesses amongst most amateur golfers with the aim of helping to improve and deal with those weaknesses. This at times may involve the use of certain golf aid equipment. However it should be very clear what particular aspects of the game are being developed by what golfing aids.

A complete golf exercise program should help any golfer improve their game dramatically and feel much more confident every time they set foot on the course.

And yet if you really examine the facts, a golf weight training program need not be controversial at all.

Although professionals have now fully embraced the benefit of golf weight training programs, amongst the other golfers golf weight training programs are still looked on with a lot of fear and apprehension. These fears are of course mainly based on ignorance rather than enough solid facts and knowledge.

One of the greatest fears is that some of the golf weight training programs designed to build strength are too strenuous. Others fear that they will develop great big muscles that will make them stiff and yet flexibility is an important attribute for any golfer.

These fears are of course completely unjustified. Most golf weight training programs have been successfully completed by golfers who are as old as 80 years old. Junior golfers barely in their teens have also graduated from the same programs without any problem. Not to mention lady golfers some of who are senior citizens.

Then it is significant to note that golf weight training programs are designed to increase strength and not to body build or build great huge muscles. The use of dumbbells is different for the two different objectives. For example lighter weights are used and they are lifted more times than the case would be for a bodybuilder dealing in much heavier weights.

Many good golf weight training programs involving dumbbells will also include certain stretch exercises using them. Stretch exercises are very good in improving golf swings.

When you take a closer look, golf weight training programs are really not be feared. Rather they should be embraced as they have helped many golfers revolutionize their games.

There is no doubt that the importance of a golf weight training program will continue to rise in the years to come.

Still many golfers are yet to fully appreciate the potential of a golf fitness exercise program and many are not aware of the fact that they usually have a huge impact on a golfer&’s game.

A golf fitness exercise program will tend to concentrate on the muscles and parts of the body used when playing golf and especially during the golf swing. A useful golf fitness exercise program will be able to help any golf attain more flexibility as well as strength on the course. It is important to remember that most of the body is used for a golf swing.

Right from the feet to the knees, hamstring and hip, the lower part of the body is critical to the golf swing. Then there are the more obvious participants in the body like the arms and upper body and neck.

A golf fitness exercise program does a significant job of ensuring that most of these muscles are ready for the strain that golf usually exerts on them.

Usually a golf fitness exercise program combines dynamic strength and flexibility exercises, as well as stabilization and core strength. Most of these exercises can be done with simple handweights (dumbbells) and exercise tubing.

No gym required!

Too many golfers go to the gym, plop down on a machine and hope their game will get better. It usually doesn&’t. You&’ve always got to keep the golf swing mechanics in mind when doing a golf fitness exercise program.

Specific to golf &’ Get rid of the traditional gym machines which focus on isolating specific muscle groups and require no stabilization work by additional muscle groups.

Integrate some old and new fitness tools which allow you to move your body in a more functional setting. These include cable machines, fitness balls, medicine balls, balance disks, traditional dumbbells and don&’t forget about the power of using your own bodyweight.

Increase Core Stability &’ More efficient movement creates more efficient power. Golfers maintain an athletic posture over long periods of time and require both trunk and core stabilization and endurance.

By increasing your strength and endurance in the core region of your body, you provide both a solid base of support for rotation in addition to the proper transfer of power throughout the body.

Vary your Planes of Motion during Exercise – A golf fitness program will have varying planes of motion as part of your weekly strength routine. Planes of movement include front to back motions, left to right and rotational exercises. Some good examples include multi-directional lunges and medicine ball wood chops.

Golf is no longer just the leisure game it used to be. It is now recognized as an athletic sport. As with all other athletic sports, your body’s strength plays a crucial part in how well you play the game.

FACT: A stronger body plays better golf. Most strength-building workouts can be beneficial to some degree, but a golf exercise program will enable you to hit longer — and straighter — drives with less effort and hit more accurate shots, which will consequently lower your scores.

GOLF TIP: Strengthen Your Back and Prevent Low Back Pain — so that you can play 18 holes without fatigue

Did you know that doing even just one exercise will greatly improve the strength of your back so that you will be able to play 18 holes, or hit balls all day without any pain?

I call this powerful little exercise the “Lying Superman.” You won’t believe the amazing difference this exercise can make in your strength until you actually do it — so go for it! All you have to do is lie on your stomach on the floor with your hands at your sides. Raise both your upper body (chest), arms and legs as high as you can. Hold it for a count of 10. And that’s it! Just do this simple exercise for 2 sets every day and you can say goodbye to low back pain!

Playing golf at an optimum level requires muscular strength, power, and endurance. Contrary to what most people think, long practice sessions and hitting hundreds of balls will not improve these components. In fact, they will only result in physical injuries (from overuse) and a great deal of frustration.

Participating in a golf exercise program is the answer!