Instruction
5 exercises to avoid during the golf season
In a previous story, I explained my reasoning behind developing an improved approach to training during the season. A transitional approach gives you the best opportunity to avoiding overtraining while potentially maintaining performance gains made in the off-season.
As I mentioned earlier, you want to maintain the gains you made during a well-developed off-season program. However, you should understand that you will likely lose some strength and power during the season. For the most part this is inevitable, because your focus has shifted from making performance gains to making technical changes to lower your scores.
Why should you avoid some movements in your training regimen during the season?
First is the risk of injury. During the season, you ultimately want to score the best you can. However, if you injure yourself in the gym, then you run the risk of not competing the remainder of the season. Injuries usually don’t heal themselves. They require R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression and elevation) in some cases. Regardless, you will need to rehab to strengthen the affected area to ensure you avoid the recurrence of injury.
Another issue is fatigue. Ideally, your goal in the gym is to maintain flexibility and strength. During the season, you can continue to make stability and flexibility gains. However, pushing too hard to increase strength leads to the risk overreaching and overtraining. Both situations affect your game negatively. Over-fatigued muscles can become inhibited or restricted. In no regards is this good for your swing.
Here’s five strength or power-based movements that you should avoid during the season.
Back Squat
Reason: Its intended purpose is a heavy-weighted power movement.
Alternative: Use a sumo kettlebell squat (above).
Sit Up
You should avoid the sit-up at all costs!
Consider this: Golfers need thoracic rotational strength. Increasing strength here requires training of all core muscles. A better option would be a circuit of crunches, oblique kettlebell crunches and swiss ball back extensions. I also like oblique side crunches (above).
Shoulder Press
Heavy weight shoulder presses risk overuse and can decrease rotational flexibility if injured.
Alternative:Pendular movement (above). You can add a band once you’ve achieved a high level of flexibility.
Chest Press
Again, heavy chest presses are counterproductive during the season. Hypertrophy has a tendency to decrease flexibility.
Alternative: Band trunk rotation (above). This exercise is an eccentric, isometric chest activator. You use your pec muscles to assist in stabilization while you’re focusing on increasing rotational flexibility and maintaining strength.
Dead Lift
While a great off-season powerbuilder, the deadlift increases probability of injury, especially when fatigued from matches. I’m not willing to risk that with my athletes.
Alternative: You can modify this movement by eliminating weight, focusing on the movement form and adding a band for appropriate resistance or Romanian deadlifts (RDLs). Single leg Romanian dead lifts (above) are also a great option.
The LPGA Tour is kicking off its 2026 season this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, and the pros are dealing with something most Florida golfers rarely face: freezing temperatures.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” said England’s Charley Hull during Wednesday’s media day at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Even Lydia Ko, who lives at Lake Nona, seemed surprised by the cold snap. “We’re pretty much getting to below zero in celsius here, which maybe in other parts of the country they would be thankful, but when you’re in Florida it is a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
If the world’s best players are adjusting their games for cold weather, recreational golfers should, too. Here’s how to play smart when the mercury drops.
Understand What Cold Does to Your Game
Before you change anything, you need to know what you’re fighting against. Cold air is denser than warm air, which means your ball won’t fly as far. Period.
Hull noticed this immediately during practice rounds at Lake Nona. She mentioned hitting a gap wedge into the 18th hole during a previous win but needing a 4-iron during Tuesday’s practice round. That’s a difference of four or five clubs for the same shot.
Action item: Expect to lose 5-10 yards on every club in your bag when temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Plan accordingly and don’t be stubborn about club selection.
Layer Up Without Restricting Your Swing
Hull admitted she wore three pairs of pants during practice. While that might be extreme for most of us, staying warm is critical to playing well in cold conditions.
Your muscles need warmth to function properly. When you’re cold, your body tightens up and your swing gets shorter and faster. Neither of those things help you hit good golf shots.
Action item: Wear multiple thin layers instead of one bulky jacket. Look for golf-specific cold weather gear that stretches with your swing. Keep hand warmers in your pockets between shots. And don’t forget a good hat because you lose significant body heat through your head.
Take More Club Than You Think You Need
This is where ego gets in the way of good scores. When it’s cold, the ball doesn’t compress as well off the clubface. Combined with denser air, you’re looking at serious distance loss.
The pros at Lake Nona are dealing with a course that measures 6,642 yards but plays much longer this week. If they’re adjusting, you should too.
Action item: Take at least one extra club on every approach shot. In temperatures below 40 degrees, consider taking two extra clubs. It’s better to fly the ball to the back of the green than to come up short in a bunker.
Adjust Your Expectations on the Greens
Cold weather affects putting in ways most golfers don’t consider. The ball is harder and doesn’t roll as smoothly. Your hands are cold, making it harder to feel the putter. And if there’s any moisture on the greens, they’ll be slower than normal.
Ko mentioned that she still sometimes reads the greens wrong at Lake Nona despite being a member for years. Cold weather makes that challenge even tougher.
Action item: Hit putts more firmly than usual. The ball needs extra speed to hold its line on cold greens. Take a few extra practice strokes to get a feel for the speed before you putt.
Embrace the Mental Challenge
Hull said something interesting about cold weather golf: “I like the mental toughness of it.”
That’s the right attitude. Everyone on the course is dealing with the same conditions. The player who stays patient and doesn’t get frustrated by the extra difficulty will come out ahead.
Action item: Lower your expectations by a few strokes. If you normally shoot 85, accept that 90 might be a good score in 40-degree weather. Focus on solid contact and smart decisions rather than perfect shots.
Warm Up Longer and Smarter
This might be the most important tip of all. Cold muscles are tight muscles, and tight muscles get injured easily.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul revealed she’s been protecting a wrist injury that bothered her late last season. Cold weather makes those kinds of injuries more likely if you don’t prepare properly.
Action item: Spend at least 20 minutes warming up before your round. Start with stretching, then hit easy wedge shots before working up to your driver. Keep moving between shots on the course to maintain body heat and flexibility.
The pros at Lake Nona this week will adapt and compete at the highest level despite the cold. You can do the same at your local course by following these tips and keeping a positive attitude.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and whether you love him or hate him, the guy knows how to win when it matters. After his LIV Golf stint, the five-time major champion returns this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
What makes Koepka fascinating? He doesn’t fit the mold. His swing isn’t textbook. He doesn’t obsess over mechanics. Yet he’s won three PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens, regularly making it look easier than guys with prettier swings.
So, what can average golfers learn from someone who treats the game so differently? Quite a bit.
Stop Overthinking Every Shot
Koepka describes his approach as “reactionary” rather than mechanical. While most tour pros grind over swing thoughts, Brooks sees the target and hits it. No mental checklist.
This might be the most valuable lesson for weekend golfers who’ve watched too many YouTube swing videos.
How to actually do this:
On the range, hit five balls where you stare at the target for three seconds prior to addressing the ball. Don’t think about grip or stance. Just burn that target into your brain. You’ll be shocked at how pure you hit it when your brain focuses on where the ball is going instead of how you’re swinging.
Next time you play, give yourself a rule: Once you pull the club, you’ve got 15 seconds to hit. Koepka is one of the fastest players on tour because he doesn’t give his brain time to sabotage him.
If you feel tension in your hands at address, you’re trying to control too much. Koepka’s grip pressure is famously light. Loosen up until the club almost feels like it might slip, then add just enough pressure to hold on. That’s your swing thought: soft hands, see the target.
This approach works better under pressure. When you’re standing over that shot with water left and OB right, the last thing you need is a mental checklist. See it, feel it, hit it.
Play to Your Strengths (Even If They’re Not Pretty)
Koepka uses a strong grip that wouldn’t pass muster in some teaching circles. But he’s built his game around what works for him, elite driving distance and recovery skills. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
Here’s how to build your game like Brooks:
Look at your last five rounds and figure out where you’re actually gaining strokes. Bombing it off the tee, but can’t hit greens? Lean into it. Play courses where distance matters more than precision. On tight holes, grip down on your 3-wood instead of trying to thread a driver through a keyhole you’ll miss seven times out of ten.
Koepka knows he can scramble, so he’s not afraid to miss greens. If you’re deadly from 50 to 75 yards, start leaving yourself those distances on the par 5’s instead of going for them in two every time.
Know when to take your medicine. Koepka in the trees at the PGA? He’s punching out to 100 yards, not trying to bend a 6-iron around three oaks. You’re in the rough with a flyer lie and water short? Hit your 8-iron to the middle and move on. That’s not playing scared, that’s playing smart.
Save Your Best for When It Counts
Here’s a wild stat: Koepka’s putting average in majors is often more than a full stroke better per round than in regular events. He elevates when pressure is highest.
How does an amateur tap into that gear? It’s not about trying harder, it’s about caring differently.
Here’s what actually works:
Decide which rounds matter to you. Club championship? Member-guest? That annual trip with college buddies? Circle those dates and treat them differently. Koepka doesn’t care much about regular tour events, but majors? That’s when he locks in.
Two weeks before your big round, change your practice. Stop beating balls mindlessly. Play nine holes in which every shot has consequences. Miss the fairway? Hit from the rough on the next hole too. Three-putt? Twenty push-ups. Koepka’s practice intensity ramps up before majors because he’s rehearsing pressure, not just swings.
Develop a between-shot routine that resets your brain. Koepka is famous for his blank expression after bad shots. Try this: After any shot, take three deep breaths while walking, then find something specific to notice, a tree, a cloud, someone’s shirt. That’s your reset button. By the time you reach your ball, the last shot is gone.
The Bottom Line
Brooks Koepka’s return reminds us there’s no single path to success in golf. His “substance over style” approach proves that results matter more than looking good.
You don’t need a perfect swing; you need a reliable one that holds up under pressure. You don’t need to hit every shot in the book; you need the shots you can count on. And you don’t need to play great every time; you need to play great when it matters.
Welcome back, Brooks. Thanks for the reminder that golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole, not winning style points.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Blades Brown made a big impression last week in the California desert, and not just because he’s only 18. He put up numbers that would catch any weekend golfer’s attention. Most of us won’t hit 317-yard drives or find 86% of our greens in regulation, but there’s a lot to learn from how Brown managed his game at The American Express.
Here are three practical lessons from his performance that you can use on your own course this weekend.
Step 1: Give Priority to Accuracy Over Distance Off The Tee
Brown’s driving stats are impressive. He averaged almost 318 yards off the tee, ranking 12th in the field. More importantly, he hit 76.79% of his fairways, tying for fourth place in the tournament.
Think about that ratio for a second. Brown could have swung harder, chased more distance and tried to overpower the course. Instead, he played smart golf and kept his ball in play.
Your Action Item: Next time you’re on the tee box, ask yourself a simple question before pulling the driver. Do you need maximum distance here, or do you need to be in the fairway? If there’s trouble lurking or the hole doesn’t demand every yard you can muster, take something off your swing. Grip down an inch. Make a three-quarter swing. Do whatever it takes to find the short grass. Brown’s approach illustrates that fairways lead to greens, and greens lead to birdies. He made 22 of them last week, along with an eagle.
The math is simple. When you’re hitting three out of every four fairways like Brown did, you’re giving yourself legitimate looks at the green with your approach shots. That’s when scoring happens.
Step 2: Commit To Hitting More Greens
This is where Brown really separated himself. He hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, an 86.11% clip that tied for first in the entire field. Read that again. An 18-year-old kid tied for the lead in one of the most important ball-striking statistics in professional golf.
How did he do it? By keeping his ball in the fairway (see Step 1) and giving himself clean looks with mid-irons and wedges.
Your Action Item: Start tracking your greens in regulation. You don’t need a fancy app or a statistics degree. Just mark down whether you hit the green in the regulation number of strokes. Par 3s in one shot. Par 4s in two shots. Par 5s in three shots.
Once you know your baseline, set a goal to improve it by 10%. If you’re currently hitting five greens per round, aim for six. The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think strategically about club selection and shot shape. Brown’s strokes gained approach number was positive (0.179), meaning he was better than the field average. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be on the dance floor more often.
When you hit more greens, you eliminate the need for heroic short game shots. Brown only had to scramble 10 times all week, and he got up and down 70% of the time. That’s solid, but the real story is that he rarely put himself in scrambling situations to begin with.
Step 3: Minimize Mistakes And Stay Patient
Here’s the stat that jumps off the page: Brown made only three bogeys all week. Three. In four rounds of professional golf against the best players in the world.
He also made just one double bogey. That kind of clean card doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you play within yourself, avoid the big miss and trust that pars are never bad scores.
Your Action Item: Before your next round, decide that you’re going to play boring golf. No hero shots over water. No driver on tight holes just because you can. No aggressive pins when there’s a safe side of the green.
Brown’s performance shows us that consistency beats flash every single time. He didn’t lead the field in any single strokes gained category, but he was solid across the board. That’s how you post numbers and cash checks.
Give these three steps a try. Your scorecard will thank you.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
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TwoWolvez
Aug 4, 2014 at 2:42 pm
Hi Chris,
First of all I want to say thanks for taking the time to write the article, which does have good and accurate information. I am a GC Am Tour player and beach body coach and am currently doing testing with some specific exercises and see how they help with golf. I have already used done of the exercises you mentioned and have noticed they helped me earlier this year when I did them.
Secondly, I find your responses to the critics very professional. Keep up the good work, and if possible I would like to discuss with you about my findings once my 2 month program is over.
To all the critics,
Can you please state your degree and area of expertise on the human body and how specific exercises help our hinder an athlete. Other than people doing random internet searches on the topics, I can’t see where anyone could contradict with authority what Chris stated. I train with a top PGA Instructor, and one of the first things we discussed was flexibility and light weight exercises over heavy weight exercises. Also doing functional exercises with bands helped me with functional strength and flexibility more than free weights ever have. There are many exercises needed for golf that are virtually impossible to do with free weights and can only be done with some type of resistance band, whether it be a band or Bowflex.
Over the last year, I personally did functional exercises with bands and my Bowflex and picked up nearly a 10% increase on all of my clubs. I am currently doing further testing on some other functional exercises to see how much more flexibility and distance I can gain, while maintaining good form.
Thanks,
TwoWolvez
TwoWolvez
Aug 4, 2014 at 2:44 pm
Sorry for any misspellings. Auto correct sucks.
Nick
Aug 1, 2014 at 7:05 pm
Woeful recommendations with paper thin justifications based on actually INCORRECT information.
Chest Press – Using a band trunk rotation exercise as a substitute because it is “an eccentric, isometric chest activator”. This is incorrect, using the wrong terminology and missing the point of the exercise completely.
Sit Ups – I agree are not ideal but are actually preferable to what you suggest as an alternative! Crunches are more likely to have a shortening effect on rectus abdomonis and oblique side crunches are possibly the worst suggestion for a uni lateral striking sport where the majority of players get adaptive shortening of the obliques and lats in their dominant side.
Back squat – it’s intended purpose totally depends on the load and volume used. Assuming it’s a heavy weighted power movement is firstly a contradiction (power is generated using light-medium weight and fast bar speed) and secondly a huge presumption. The back squat can have wide reaching benefits including improving stability, neural efficiency and core integration amongst others.
The overall theme of mitigating risk of injury by avoiding these exercise doesn’t even stand up. Performed with good form and appropriate load, the exercises your recommend steering clear of are actually a fantastic injury prevention tool.
Chris I highly recommend you go away and do some research, gain some experience working with golfers and then come back and make some recommendations based on what you read and observe. Right now you are offering advice which will actually inhibit the athletic development of people who choose to act upon it.
Chris Costa
Aug 2, 2014 at 9:03 am
Thanks, Nick. However, I suggest that you do the same, as none of those exercise inhibit development in your average individual. Sit ups are one of the most contraindicated movements in the history of exercise physiology and biomechanics. Yet, you’re sponsorship of spinal compression is more ideal?
Furthermore, neural efficiency can be improve without resistance. Simply completing the movements has the opportunity to facilitate proprioceptive adaptations.
jmichael204
Jul 31, 2014 at 9:44 am
I think what Chris is trying to say here is in every program you need some periodization. All athletes use this in there sports so that they can peak during competition. If you train 4 and 5 day/week “body building” training splits you will not have much left in the tank for the golf course. Now this doesn’t mean you can’t do squats or presses just maybe don’t be maximizing your intensity and volume. But it is also important to realize that putting variety into the mix with sumo squats push-ups etc can help you as well.
I can say this, I changed my routine this year and bought a set of kettlebells and a foam roller for “poor mans” massage and I train twice a week at most during golf season and my game has never been better. I am a +1 handicap now and 30 years old and sit in front of a computer %70 of the time at work.
Do you guys think all those tour pro’s during the peak tournament season are hitting the gym banging out max reps on the squat and deadlift rack in between tournaments?? They do functional movements/exercises related to there sport and ton of flexibility training and massage therapy to keep them in peak form during the season.
Chris Costa
Jul 31, 2014 at 11:33 am
Jmichael,
You’re absolutely correct. It is the method of periodization. Now, I will say that I don’t believe periodization to be the only way to define or develop athletic performance and it’s various attributes. In regards to “keeping athletes healthy”, many of the ideas out there are derivatives of periodization.
We want to supersede the expectations of form and function during the off-season when it is optimal to develop peak performance. Granted, there’s a fine line that exists between peak performance and injury risk, but as you said that is why people need to understand that protocols must change to correlated with lessening fatigue during the season.
Bluefan75
Jul 31, 2014 at 8:30 am
Chris, your response to Alex shows as much substance as your article. “Please don’t poison minds”? from the guy telling people to use bands instead of weights? This is the the kind of thing that keeps the infomercial industry alive and well.
But since you asked for research, read up on this:
http://startingstrength.com/articles/2013_strength_science_sullivan.pdf
But thanks for posting the first picture.
Chris Costa
Jul 31, 2014 at 9:05 am
Bluefan75,
What is your personal issue with bands? The shakeweight and selector from bowflex were infomercials as well. They are not in any relation to bands. Physical therapists utilize bands for rehabilitative strength. How can you discount that for the desk jockey or weekend warrior? Are we talking about average joes or pros here? Even pros are asked to work with banded resistance.
Additionally, what you linked is not research. Its a publication that tries to find errors within research studies. In fact, there’s no research within the document that supports their own claim of false information from the research study. Not all research points in the correct direction. However, its someone’s or some groups interpretation of what they found in testing. Hence the reason why there’s constantly new studies published. Still doesn’t validate anything that you or Alex mentioned.
Bluefan75
Aug 1, 2014 at 11:21 am
Um, let’s see here, what kind of strength gain does a band give you? They are fantastic for stretching. Unless you have a very hard time lifting basically anything off the ground, a band is not going to gain you any strength. And rehab? You’re using the fact they are used in rehab to justify them?
As to the topic of research. I did not see any research cited in your article either. You’ll forgive Alex or I if we don’t don’t consider “because Chris said so” to be enough.
You are telling people who are lifting actual weights to stop once the golf season rolls around, because they *might* get hurt, so do these ones instead. Exercises that do basically nothing other than allow someone to check off a box if they are even slightly more than a sedentary blob.
You’d likely have Alex’s support, and you would havce mine, had you said you may want to back off the frequency or the weight during the season. That is sensible and reasoned. But telling people who are lifting or about to lift to do that stuff instead? Of course, like the barbell itself, it’s boring, doesn’t hold attention, doesn’t get an article published, and doesn’t get people to pay you for it.
Fred
Jul 31, 2014 at 5:22 am
What a load of poo. Pretty much EVERY weekend warrior needs more of the above.
Pingback: 5 Workouts to Avoid While Golf Season is On-going - I'd Rather Be Golfing
Rusty Putter
Jul 30, 2014 at 9:46 pm
Chris gotta agree w Alex, you missed the mark.
Kyle Adams
Jul 30, 2014 at 7:44 pm
This is almost universally terrible advice. There is no evidence of injury risk with any movements stated.
Josh
Jul 30, 2014 at 5:53 pm
Yes Alex! Thank you for that. All of that.
Alex
Jul 30, 2014 at 5:15 pm
This is almost completely wrong.
(1) Back squats are one of the best exercises for building power, CNS endurance, core strength, and counter-rotation force. I don’t understand why the fact that squats are a great “heavy-weighted power movement” means that you shouldn’t do them during the golf season.
Do baseball or football players (both analogous to golf because they require rapid force generation followed by periods of relative inactivity) stop squatting/deadlifting during their season? Of course they don’t. Sure, these athletes aren’t going to go for a 1 rep max deadlift after a game, but that’s more common sense and program management than a flaw in the exercise.
(2) I’ll give you situps, though pallof presses, cable crunches, suitcase carries, and other weighted exercises would be far more effective and yield better results.
(3), (4), and (5) all have the same flawed logic: these exercises can injure you if you do them incorrectly. So what? Pretty much every exercise can injure you if you don’t have good form. I would expect a trainer with a client to teach the client proper form for exercise that are demonstrably the most effective movements one can do, not avoid them because the client doesn’t know how to do them properly.
Also, 99.99% of golfers would benefit from an increase in muscle mass. Most are desk jockeys or couch potatoes. The number of golfers who would see an adverse change in their swing from increased muscle mass is minimal, and doing some heavy lifting isn’t going to transform a middle manager into a world’s strongest man competitor. This insinuation reminds me of the oft-repeated (and completely incorrect) belief that lifting small weights gets you “toned” while lifting heavy weights make you “bulky,” which is objectively false.
While I’m a proponent of shifting reps/weight depending on a person’s diet, activity level, and goals, heavy lifting and low rep compound movements is an integral part of any legitimate program to build strength.
This article is one of many that assumes golfers are dainty flowers that will snap if they’re required to lift anything heavier than their own body weight or a pink kettlebell. That assumption is wrong; it leads to inefficient and ineffective training programs, minimal (if any) progress, and may even be counterproductive by increasing localized inflammation due to excessive reps.
You can achieve far better results in far less time using far more effective exercises than the ones suggested above.
Mizzy
Jul 30, 2014 at 6:10 pm
Excellent response.
Workouts that seem easy will net inefficient results.
Aaron
Jul 30, 2014 at 8:25 pm
Well said, Alex. Couldn’t agree more.
cb
Jul 30, 2014 at 10:15 pm
Chris A+ for the first photo but have to give another +1 to Alex. I do agree with you Chris that people can be injured doing some of those power movements but that is almost always do to bad form or trying to lift too much. i agree with alex, with a proper trainer who teaches you the correct form, these exercises will give you effortless power. Now i could see the argument made that if you play multiple times a week, and have never lifted before, then your golf game will be negatively impacted if you start doing the power exercises. because you will for sure have some muscles mad at you for working them. but once you get in a regular routine then that won’t be an issue.
Chris Costa
Jul 31, 2014 at 7:34 am
Alex,
Thank you for your candid response.
Contrary to your beliefs, you have not validated any of your claims with research. If you know what you assume to know about sports performance, then yes you would realize that professional athletes are NOT back squatting during the season. It’s ludicrous that you even presume with false assumption. They don’t 1RM during the season, period.
Why are sit-ups bad? Yet, farmer’s walks (an isometric contraction) do what for golfers? Isometric falls under an energy system utilization that doesn’t even apply to golfers.
ANY EXERCISE CAN CAUSE INJURY. It’s about minimizing risk and player safety.
“tone” and “bulk”?? Geez you sound like a weekend seminar trainer…. Increasing lean body mass hurts NO athlete. Never once did I say that. If you dont gain LBM from a sumo squat, then you are doing something wrong. How is the desk jockey going to oxidize fats?
There’s no assumption here, there’s a shift or transition needing to take place in the thought process here. Excessive repetitions? What are you referencing? Crossfit? You’re out in left field on this one, Alex. In fact, I don’t believe I mentioned anything about a repetition count.
Train yourself however you see fit, but please don’t poison the minds of others with your babbling. You provide little scientific claim to back up any of your own believed legitimate assumptions. Please take your pink kettlebell to the corner. If you follow Alex’s ideas, you’ll likely result in chronic fatigue and injury. But what do I know??
Alex
Jul 31, 2014 at 12:23 pm
I wrote a very lengthy reply earlier today, but it appears that the moderators didn’t approve it or the computer ate it. I’m not really interested in writing another novella, so I’ll write out the cliffnotes version this time.
As a general matter, it’s exceedingly unlikely that any golfer would require substantial amounts of recovery time. “Chronic fatigue” simply isn’t a concern when a golfer’s season consists of riding around in a cart for a few hours–punctuated by the occasional swing. A golf round doesn’t put nearly the amount of wear and tear on a body as a contact sport; that’s so self-evident I don’t believe it requires a citation.
I referenced the (false) “tone” and “bulk” dichotomy because you implicitly endorse it. After all, you say that golfers should avoid “chest presses” because it causes hypertrophy and may reduce flexibility. That sounds a lot like recommending that golfers do “toning” work (aka low weight high reps) rather than “bulk” work (aka effective exercises). You claim that “[i]ncreasing lean body mass hurts NO athlete. Never once did I say that.” Well, hypertrophy is essentially synonymous with lean body mass, so I think you did say that increasing LBM may harm a golfer’s game.
Additionally, it seems that you didn’t read my comment correctly. I didn’t say that golfers should do farmer’s walks (though they’re great for grip work); I said that golfers should do suitcase carries. Suitcase carries help with rotary stability by strengthening the obliques. Strong obliques are great because they help a golfer’s torso stay “quiet” during the swing. Weak obliques may result in a golfer swaying or a “reverse C” move due to the difference between lower body power and the upper body’s ability to resist that power.
As for citing research, c’mon bro. Your article doesn’t even come close to providing a skeletal justification for what you’re advocating. This is a puff piece on a golf website; I don’t expect peer reviewed papers, and you shouldn’t expect me to provide the same. Sure, I could get paper names from sources like the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, but what’s the point? It’s behind a paywall, so nobody other than subscribers could read the actual article anyway.
Let me make a golf analogy to the non-fitness dudes. This guy is like David Ledbetter or Joe Morgan; he’s wedded to conventional wisdom and refuses to sign the separation papers. The methodology he’s advocating is ineffective and should be disregarded.
If you were pitching me and told me that “you should understand that you will likely lose some strength and power during the season. For the most part this is inevitable, because your focus has shifted from making performance gains to making technical changes to lower your scores,” I’d legit involuntarily scoff. Oh, what stresses I place on my body by playing a round of golf.
I live in Atlanta, so the golf season essentially lasts all year. Does that mean I should never lift heavy? Should I take two months off from golf to make sure I get enough rest from the herculean task of lifting more than my bodyweight? Does the 60+ hours a week I spend sitting down not provide adequate recovery time?
What you’re advocating is simply incorrect. There’s nothing wrong with periodization, but no decent program is going to recommend eliminating (as opposed to reducing) weight while deadlifting or the other misguided ideas you advocate in this article.
Chris Costa
Jul 31, 2014 at 1:17 pm
You could go on and on, but you lost any and all credibility when you mentioned sitting in a chair 60+ hours per week and advocating deadlifts. Not only is that poor advocacy, but it’s a recipe for disaster.
You’re promoting risk to the recreational golfer. That speaks mountains in poor judgement. Feel free to put yourself at risk, but spare others. I advocate health and safety.
Travis
Jul 31, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Yup,I’ll stick with squats, deadlifts, bench press, barbell rows, shoulder presses and 300 yard drives. And leave the bands/pink kettlebells for the guys who bomb it 220.
The combination of strength and speed with good joint mobility has greatly improved my ball striking.
Jafar
Jul 30, 2014 at 4:40 pm
If you want to train year round for golf, when do you phase in a strength building program and for how long? Do you not swing a golf club at all during this time period?
Thanks, good info here.
Chris Costa
Jul 30, 2014 at 8:23 pm
Jafar,
Build maximal strength in “your” off-season, as it seems everyone has different off seasons depending on their climate.
It would be wrong to assume that all technical golf training be avoided during a strength training off-season. You can and should continue to work on techniques in small, acute doses.
Ken
Jul 30, 2014 at 12:42 pm
This is great information. I come from a heavy workout background. The thing I would love to see is a sample in -season workout plan. By this I mean, # days of the week, set and rep plans, etc.
Chris Costa
Jul 30, 2014 at 8:24 pm
Ken,
You can email me directly.
Ronald Montesano
Jul 30, 2014 at 12:03 pm
How do you feel about kettle bells during the season? Which exercises with kettle bells would you prescribe during the season?
Chris Costa
Jul 30, 2014 at 8:27 pm
Ronald,
Kettlebells are great. As you see the girl performing the sumo squat is utilizing a kettlebell for resistance. As with any movement, especially power, anatomical form is paramount. Yours will be different from someone else, but ensuring that you are following patterns that are not conducive to increased risk of injury is key. Basically, if you know how to use them with proper form, avoid overstressing the PCr system, and operate in a safe manner then Im all for kettlebells.
Chris Guy
Jul 30, 2014 at 11:20 am
What are your thoughts on a plyometric based program
Chris Costa
Jul 30, 2014 at 8:34 pm
Chris,
Plyo is to build speed through quick-footed agility. The utility was designed to assist in creating explosive power. For me, its clearly necessary in the off-season. Under supervision, I think its a great in-season tool as well, bearing that you are avoiding other shocks to the PCr energy system. However, current research doesnt give clarity to if it will address maintaining maximal strength, so optimally you’d want to focus majority of your plyo efforts in the off-season. While, utilizing other agility and flexibility drills to facilitate those gains throughout the season. As with anything you could still overtrain while focusing on plyo alone, so just be cautious for the signs of chronic fatigue.