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When Tiger Woods burst onto the professional golf scene in 1996, he brought with him a great many shots that had never been seen before and many misconceptions about how to create them.
One belief crafted from his enormous success was that to compete in the modern game, one had to become an amazingly fit athletic specimen. While the chiseled chest and massive arms are physically appealing, they are much less functional in the golf swing than strength in your core muscles. When tailoring your workout regiment to enhance your performance in the game of golf, make sure to make the abdominal muscles and the muscles of the lower back are your main focus. These muscles are vital in providing support for the athletic posture that leads to solid ball striking. Make sure to apply the core strengthening exercises to your game by simply getting into a solid setup position:
1. Perfect Posture
Good posture starts from the ground up, so feel the weight in the balls of the feet, add a little bit of knee flex, and finally, begin to use those newly discovered lower back muscles by pointing your belt buckle more towards the ground in front of you. This will allow you to have taller chest at address with less rounding in the upper back, and let your arms hang comfortably from the shoulders.
2. Test Your Core Muscles
This test measures the range of motion in your lower back, and reveals your capacity to engage your core muscles. To transfer power from your lower body to your upper body in the golf swing, the ability to control your pelvis is imperative for power in your swing and limiting the chances of injury to your lower back. This movement is also a simple exercise that will help improve your mobility in your core if performed frequently.
-Stand in your golf posture, hands on your hips and your back in neutral position.
-Begin tilting your pelvis forward, sucking in your stomach and hold for a moment.
-Then tilt your pelvis backwards arching your lower back as far as possible.
-Make the transition from forward to backwards as smooth as possible.
You have passed this test if you are able to move your pelvis back and forth in a smooth manner. If there is shaking while moving in either direction, it is a tell-tale sign that you are not using a certain muscles on a daily basis that are vital in performing a golf swing.
Matt Hilton is Director of Instruction at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Irvine, California.