Will Bodyweight Exercise Improve Golf Ability
Bodyweight exercises fine-tune your golf swing by making your muscles more elastic and free to move. This enables experienced athletes to deliver more power and accuracy in their swing – improving their ability on the course.
Professional golfers must allocate time for calisthenics (as well as other training methods) to stay on top of their game.
For beginners, their main focus shouldn’t be improving strength. Instead, they benefit more by spending their time practicing the golf swing technique. In the early stages, bodyweight training could work against them.
Do Bodyweight Exercises Make Your Golf Swing More Powerful
The impact bodyweight exercise has on golf swing power depends on your current ability. Beginner athletes see a negligible difference in their swing; however, high-league golfers notice a significant power change.
Let’s not lie; the golf swing is complicated. Only once it’s been mastered experienced golfers comprehend how to direct power into the golf ball. Therefore strength gained from bodyweight exercise can be used to their advantage, for example, hitting it further when they T-off or get out of a bunker. Without perfecting their technique, this is not possible.
Beginners aren’t skilled enough to transfer their muscle power into the golf ball. Therefore they struggle to use the strength gained from bodyweight exercise to their advantage. In fact, due to their lack of experience, the added strength may act as a disadvantage, for example, gripping the club too hard or displacing their feet at the shot.
Will Bodyweight Exercises Make The Golf Ball Travel Further
To an extent, bodyweight exercises will enable you to hit the golf ball further.
The primary determining factor of a golf ball’s flight, travel, and direction is technique, not strength. So, if you want to hit the golf ball as far as humanly possible, the gym isn’t the best place to be. Instead, you should be at a golf range practicing and perfecting your technique.
We say “to an extent” because golfers still need strength to keep their stances sharp and raise their golf clubs repetitively. However, you don’t need to perform hundreds of bodyweight exercises to gain this; most have it through day-to-day activities.
Does Calisthenics Improve Golf Posture
Calisthenics improves posture by providing golfers with more joint mobility and muscle flexibility. As a result, golfers maintain a straight back and stretch the club further out during the backswing. The swing transition becomes more fluid, so there’s a far better ball connection.
For example, a dead hang stretches your spine and decompresses the supporting muscles – helping you stand tall and straight. This allows golfers to upkeep their back posture and prevents slouching over the golf ball.
Importantly for golfers, calisthenics (bodyweight exercise) improves relative strength. This means golfers can get stronger without the need to put on mass. This is key for a golfer’s posture because it allows them to put more power into ball striking but still be light and explosive in their swing.
Do Professional Golfers Use Bodyweight Exercises
Yes, bodyweight exercise is an essential element of all professional golfers’ training programs. Rory Mcllroy, John Rahm, and Justin Thomas all incorporate calisthenics into their workouts and share them with aspiring athletes. For example:
| Name | Bodyweight Exercises | Full Workout Program |
|---|---|---|
| Rory Mcllroy | Rory Mcllroy’s workout routine includes pull-ups, planks, and lunges (along with others), which are all bodyweight exercises. | Click here |
| John Rahm | John Rahm focuses a lot on mobility. In this workout regimen he performs the ‘dying bug’ core workout – a core bodyweight exercise. | Click here |
| Justin Thomas | Justin Thomas, after injury, concentrates on flexibility. However, like others, he incorporates bodyweight exercises like crunches and using resistance bands. | Click here |
The majority of golfer’s training consists of stretching, mobility movements and golf-specific exercises. Nonetheless, calisthenics will always be incorporated into their plan – along with other methods of training.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhat Bodyweight Exercises Benefit Golfers
Everyone says differently when deciding the best bodyweight exercise for golfers. Ultimately, there isn’t one, as it depends on the person and the areas in the swing they need improvement on.
So, rather than us telling you what the best is, we have simplified the most basic exercises into something we call the 3 p’s – push-ups, pull-ups, and planks. It’s for you to decide which works best, if any.
Are Push-Ups Good For Golf
Push-ups are an excellent way to aid club control, especially during the follow-through. It targets your pectoral muscles, which are used when you move the club across your body. This helps you to keep the swing path in the desired direction to maximize ball contact. While it isn’t necessary to have a huge chest, comfortably being able to do 20 reps ensures sufficient pectoral strength.
Are Pull-Ups Good For Golf
Golfers benefit massively from pull-ups as it conditions their forearms to do hours of courses and keep solid grip strength throughout. This prevents the club from slipping out their hands or shots being misdirected. You don’t have to do hundreds, but the ability to complete 5 with good form is advantageous for golf.
In addition, the muscle fibers used for a pull-up, like the trapezius, infraspinatus, and brachialis, are also used during the golf swing. Conditioning these muscles help club control and swing stability.
Are Planks Good For Golf
Planking strengthens a golfer’s core which is imperative as it’s contracted from the setup all the way to the follow-through of a swing. Having a conditioned and stable center is essential for flush contact and maintaining a straight spine. Holding a plank for 45 seconds will strengthen the necessary core muscles for the golf swing; however, look to increase this over time.
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