According to Mike Pederson, creator of the renowned Mike Pederson Power Golf Training Program, there are three essential components to any program designed to help golfers achieve better power: improving technique, swing strength and flexibility. Driving a golf ball for power isn't just about strength, it's as much about proper form and maximum range of motion. A complete training program will encompass all of these.
Core Strength Training
The body's core area is the engine that drives a good golf swing, according to Mike Pederson. Pederson recommends rotational exercises, which are more suited to golf, as a way to strengthen the core. According to the website Sport Fitness Advisor, five weeks of completing five minutes of core exercises 5 days per week will help to increase club head speed by up to 24 percent. This website offers resources to those looking for free golf-specific home workouts. Good rotational core exercises include diagonal medicine ball chops, dumbbell squats/rotational swings, Russian twists, lunges with crossovers, and tubing exercises. These exercises can easily be done at home using dumbbells or a medicine ball, if you have one, or if not, anything that has weight that you can hold in your hands.
Training with a Weighted Club
This exercise, recommended by Mike Pederson, helps improve swing speed and power. Pederson recommends starting to swing the weighted club slowly at first, and increasing your swing speed as you build strength and feel more comfortable. Pederson stresses always maintaining proper form throughout, even performing this "drill" in front of a mirror so you can always be aware of your form.
Flexibility Training
According to Pederson, a great golf swing requires equally great flexibility, or range of motion. It is essential to maximize your range of motion in order to also maximize your power potential in your swing. Pederson recommends a few stretches that specifically target the areas of your body that are essential to a big swing. The website Sport Fitness Advisor has a long list of golf-specific stretches that require no equipment, and some that only require you to use your golf club. They include trunk rotations, side bends with your club, standing shoulder stretches, leg swings, toe crunches, arm swings and more.
Swing Technique Training
Mike Pederson recommends choosing one golf swing method you feel comfortable with, and just doing it over and over again until you have mastered every aspect of it. There are step-by-step swing instructions available online that you can use to perfect your swing. For example, the website Best Free Golf Tips goes through a simple step-by-step method to help you with your swing. Areas of focus are the correct grip on the club, posture, spine tilt, ball position, the swing takeaway, the top of your backswing and the downswing sequence. Choosing a swing and practicing all of its elements until you have perfected each one is a major key to hitting for maximum power and distance.
References
- Core Performance: Golf Training Program
- Better Golf Articles: Off-Season Power Golf Training Program
- Best Free Golf Tips: Step by Step Golf Swing
- Better Golf Articles: Step by Step Golf Swing
- Sport Fitness Advisor: Golf Weight Training Basics
- Sport Fitness Advisor: Core Strength Training for Athletic Performance
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