Top 10 Exercises for Golfers

When you do home exercises daily, it can enhance your golf game and you’ll become more interested in playing golf. The key to better golf performance on the links is a better off-the course training program which creates the flexibility and mobility to execute a perfect swing. Listed below are the top 10 exercises for golfers that will help loosen any golfer’s hips, stabilize your shoulders, and build power and strength in your golf swing.

1. Seated Rotations

You should do these seated rotations as it will help improve your rotational mobility, a key component of the golf swing. Here’s how to do it. Sit straddling a bench, or squeeze a pad or towel between your knees. Hold a club behind you with your arms, so it sits in the crook of your elbows. Set your palms on your stomach flat and maintain your posture. Without moving your hips, rotate your torso to the right and hold for two seconds. Return to the starting position, then continue to the left and hold for two seconds. Alternate sides, 10 to a side.

2. Standing Ys

You should do this type of exercise to help improve your shoulder mobility and to counteract the negative impact of sitting. Here’s how to do this exercise. Stand bent over at the waist with your back flat and chest up, as if you were about to do a deadlift. Hold a golf club with a supinated grip (palms facing up). Pull your shoulder blades back and down and raise your arms over your head to form a Y. Return to the starting position. Make sure to initiate the movement with your shoulder blades, not your arms.

3. Handwalks

Doing this type of exercise can help you prevent “golfer’s elbow”. It will also reduce the risk of shoulder injury. When you do this exercise, start it by standing up. Bend forward at the waist and set your hands on the ground so both your feet and hands touch the ground. Slowly walk your hands out into a pushup position. Then, make sure to keep your knees straight, walk your toes toward your hands. When you start to feel a stretch, walk your hands back out and repeat 10 times.

4. 90/90 Stretch

Doing this 90/90 stretch exercise will help open up your shoulders, and help to build flexibility and mobility. Here’s how to do this stretch. Lie on one side with the bottom leg straight and the top leg bent with the inside of the knee on the ground. Rotate your trunk back trying to put the top shoulder blade on the ground. Hold for two seconds, then return to start position and repeat it 10 times. Then switch sides.

5. Lateral Pillar Bridge

You should do this type of exercise to open up the hips, preventing back pain. When you do this exercise, lie on one side with your body, in a straight line and your elbow under your shoulder, feet stacked. Push your hip off the ground, making a straight line from ankle to shoulder. Hold this pose for three seconds. Do it 10 times on one side and then 10 on the other side. Be sure to keep your head in line with your spine – don’t sag or bend.

6. Medicine Ball Parallel Throw

You should do this type of exercise as it will help improve your ability to store and release energy and improve your swing speed. Here’s how to do this. Stand facing a solid wall (not glass or sheetrock) about 3 feet away. Hold a medicine ball at waist level. Rotate your trunk away from the wall. Then, in one motion, start to throw by thrusting your hips toward the wall, followed by your trunk, arms, and the ball. After the ball bounces off the wall, catch it with your left hand under the ball, the other hand behind it, and arms slightly bent. Repeat it 10 times, then switch sides.

7. Medicine Ball Perpendicular Throw

You should do this medicine ball perpendicular throw to help build up your core power and will also help your swing speed and muscle balance. Do this perpendicular throw exercise similar to the medicine ball parallel throw, except you start it with your hips perpendicular to the wall. Rotate your torso 90 degrees away from the wall, and then rotate 180 degrees and throw the ball at the wall, catching it on the ground. Repeat it 10 times, then switch sides.

8. Physioball Pushup

You should do this pushup exercise on a physioball to challenge the scapular stabilizers, which are vitally important to shoulder and back movement. Here’s how to do this push-up exercise. Start in a pushup position, with your hands on a physioball and feet on the floor. Lower yourself so your chest barely touches the ball. Control the ball as you push up, pushing your chest as far away from the ball as possible. Do a set of 10.

9. Dumbbell Bench Press – One Arm

You should do this exercise as this will not only build strength but also shoulder stability. To do this exercise, lie down on a bench, with your left glute and left shoulder blade on the bench and right glute and right shoulder blade off the bench. With a dumbbell held in your right hand, hold on to the bench above your head with your left hand. Slowly lower the weight until your elbow is horizontally level with your shoulder. Return to the starting position. Complete it 10 times and switch sides.

10. Glute Bridge

You should do this glute bridge exercise as it is the perfect way to activate those muscles you’ve been sitting on all day before hitting the links. Here’s how to do this exercise. Lie face-up on the floor with knees bent 90 degrees and feet flat on the floor. Squeeze a rolled-up towel between your knees. Fire your glutes and bridge your hips toward the ceiling, so that only your shoulders and heels remain on the floor. Lower your hips to the ground and repeat it 10 times.

For professional golfers who want to improve their golfing skills, you need to do daily exercises and make it your top priority so you can perform better on the course.