Yoga has been around for centuries, and has been increasing in popularity here in the US in the last decade.
But what about yoga for golf?
And specifically, what about yoga for your body and your golf game?
Now I know that most people like simple answers to questions, and I’m all for that as well… as long as a simple answer provides the whole story and pertinent information.
So, you’ve probably already guessed that if you want a simple answer about yoga for golf, then you are going to be disappointed.
It’s probably not the first time! 😉
In the video below, I’ve condensed my recommendations (only a few minutes) on how to decide if yoga is right for you, how to do it safely, and the one aspect of yoga for golf that EVERY golfer will benefit from practicing.
Check it out, and let me know about your experiences with yoga for golf.
It will come as no surprise to you that golf is a rotational sport, and therefore your golf exercise routine should include rotational movements.
There are lots of great exercises to choose from, including variations of chopping and throwing/swinging.
The problem arises when these types of exercises are included in a program before your body is ready for them.
As always… it’s always about proper progression, both in exercise selection and intensity.
For a beginner or someone who hasn’t worked out in a long time (which would technically be a beginner, btw) to jump right into smashing medicine balls into the wall would be a mistake.
Throwing and smashing things in a rotational pattern for golf power is a ton of fun, no doubt… but you need to prepare your body to be able to withstand that kind of force, and reap the benefits of those exercises.
My favorite exercise for achieving this goal is actually an ANTI-rotation static hold.
We talk a lot about golf flexibility and mobility here at The Renegade Blog.
That’s because it’s vital to your performance on the course and for injury prevention.
So for most of us, we have to work to get more flexible.
However, there is a certain segment of the population that is hyper-mobile, or too flexible, and those golfers should NOT be stretching at all.
Although it is more common in women, I have worked with a dozen or so guys that also fall into this category.
If you are in this category, then it also means there are some important ways you need to adjust your strength training exercises.
In today’s video blog post, I’ll show you a simple test that you can do in order to determine where you are in regards to your golf flexibility and how much you need to stretch.
Have you ever started a golf fitness program in the past, and then quit?
You’re not alone, as some studies estimate that over 80% of people who begin an exercise program stop after just five weeks.
Now there are a lot of reasons (some more legit sounding than others), as to why people give up on their exercise routine, even after starting to feel the benefits.
But the number one reason is TIME… or lack thereof.
There’s just not enough of it, and whatever is left over after work and social obligations, we want to spend on the golf course, right!
One of the easiest solutions to the time-crunch issue is to work out in your home. That way, you eliminate the travel back and forth to the gym, and can shower and use your own facilities.
You may think that you’ll have to spend a bunch of cash in order to equip your home gym… but nothing is further from the truth.
When it comes to golf psychology coaches, there is a tendency to get over-analytical and, dare I say, academically pompous.
That just isn’t my style.
Instead, I seek out every technique that I can find, test it on myself and my team of local golfers, and then report back to you what seems to be working.
So here is another Renegade Golf Psychology favorite for eliciting peak performance mindsets at any time.
This technique is called The Circle of Excellence, and it is another form of NLP Anchoring for Golf.
Although a long-time traditional part of the pre-round warm up routine, I suggest that you ditch your weighted golf club or the practice of swinging two clubs together.
There are two main issues that I have with this practice:
Number One:
It doesn’t actually help you swing the club any faster. As a matter of fact, science seems to indicate just the opposite – despite what it may feel like to us.
A study was done with baseball players using weighted bats for warm ups. Upon measuring the swing speeds it was found that the players actually swung slower after five weighted warm ups than when they warmed up with normal bats, despite their subjective feelings to the contrary! I certainly believe there are enough biomechanical similarities between baseball and golf to apply this information to our warm ups.
Number Two:
As I learned from the late world renowned exercise scientist Mel Siff, warming up with a weighted implement simulating your sporting motion (in this case the golf swing) changes the mechanical recruitment of muscles and alters the path of the implement. In other words, you swing differently with a weighted club, which will alter your swing path and likely confuse your brain and Central Nervous System (CNS). Each person has an engram, a code, which correlates to “golf swing”. By changing your swing during the warm up due to the extra weight, you can “dilute” this engram and negatively affect your ability to reproduce your normal swing.
Today I’ve got a guest post from the “Anti-Practice” Golf Coach Craig Sigl.
Now, in reality, he’s not really anti-practice, but he focuses on how average golfers can improve, when they simply don’t have the time to spend on the range.
Check out what he thinks we can all learn from Bubba Watson and his impressive victory at The Masters.
Take it away, Craig…
Bubba Watson has never had a swing coach. He hasn’t had a lesson since he was 10 years old.
His playing approach is contrary to every golf strategy book ever written… as he says it like this: I always ATTACK.” He goes for the pin no matter the situation.
Bubba Watson isn’t a big student of the game either. Here’s what he said about that:
“I don’t play the sport for fame. I don’t try to win tournaments for fame,” Watson said. “I don’t do any of that. It’s just me. I’m just Bubba. I goof around. I joke around. I just want to be me and play golf.”
About his swing he said: “I just swing funny and somehow it works.”
The REAL golf water hazard isn’t the infamous pond guarding your par three, but rather… DEHYDRATION.
Proper nutrition is fundamental to your health and performance on the golf course. Although many golfers may regulate their food, they may pay little attention to their body’s fluid needs. They often misunderstand and, as a result, underplay the importance of water to good nutrition and optimum performance.
Through normal perspiration, respiration, and urination, your body can lose up to half a gallon of water a day. On a hot and humid day, you could lose up to 2 quarts of sweat (3-6 pounds of body weight) during a single round! To replenish fluids properly, the body’s digestive system can only absorb about 1 quart of fluid per hour, so it is imperative to drink fluids at regular intervals before, during, and after exercise and golf (rounds or practice).
Since water is considered the single most important nutrient needed by athletes, maintaining proper hydration is absolutely essential. Golf is typically played in the heat of summer, so making sure you have you have plenty of water on the course will help you eliminate several potential problems associated with dehydration.
Developing a strong golf grip is under-appreciated in most golf fitness programs.
After all, the last thing you want is a white-knuckle “death grip” on your clubs.
However, you actually need to have high-quality, strong muscles in your hands and forearms in order to hold the club lightly, and still have a high degree of control and co-ordination.
Not to mention the fact that weak and/or chronically tight muscles in the lower arm have a direct impact on the rash of wrist and elbow injuries in the pro and amateur ranks.
There are several techniques and exercises that you can do to prevent injuries and get prepared to “Grip It and Rip It”.
Today I would like to continue reviewing some of the best golf core exercises (and not a crunch in the bunch!).
If you missed Part One on this topic, Click Here to find out why crunches are usually not the best exercise for most golfers (at least not for the first few phases of training), and how to start training your core in a safe and effective manner.
Then get back over here, and we’ll get this party started!
I recommend spending 4-6 weeks mastering the golf core exercises from Part I, then progressing onto the four exercises below.
Many golfers are under the impression that they should be training their core almost every day. In reality, the core is similar to most other muscles in the body, and 2-3 high quality workouts a week are all that is needed.
There is also a misguided notion that you need to perform hundreds of reps for your “abs”. Many golfers are suprised to learn that your abdominals are a majority of fast twitch muscle fibers, meaning they actually respond better to low to moderate repetition ranges (6-12).
