By Clint Howard

Did you know that some of the most elite golfers on the PGA Tour have established their own strength and conditioning programs with a personal trainer? Due to the success of Tiger Woods, and Annika Sorenstan, golf…s popularity is at an all-time high. Golf has become extremely competitive and as golfers search for ways to improve their game, golf strength and conditioning programs are becoming extremely popular.

Would you like to drop 5-10 strokes off your game? Establishing a successful program to improve your game is the key to how well you place your next ball in the fairway. The help of a fitness trainer may likely be the best way to find a program that suits your game. Although experience and knowledge of the game are helpful, getting your body in the best physical shape possible will undoubtedly improve your game. Personal trainers don…t have to be skilled golfers but they should be trained on how to design a golf-conditioning program for a golfer. They must not only be familiar with what muscles are used in the golf swing but also be trained in overall golf-specific conditioning.

Golf requires coordinated movement of a lot of muscles throughout a large range of motion. In every golf swing, power is transferred from the legs through the core and the rest of the body and out to the club. Velocities can sometimes exceed 160 mph with proper muscle strength and control. The golf swing is an unnatural movement that is complex, explosive, and physically stressful. Since power is a function of force and velocity the importance of strength training cannot be overemphasized.

Conditioning is recommended in golf because it provides consistency in the game. Endurance is essential (aerobic and anaerobic) to make sure the last part of the golf swing is as effective and controlled as the first part of the swing and also to make sure the last drive of the day is just as powerful as the first one.

What can you do physically to improve your golf swing?

1. Increase muscular strength- 5 mph can increase drive 40-50 yards
2. Improve muscular control - a weak link can decrease drive by 20-30 yards
3. Increase endurance - increase power and consistency, decrease fatigue & recovery time
4. Improve balanced
5. Increase flexibility - create more “coil” or torque, to generate more power, less compensation for altered joint mechanics and less swing faults
6. Prevent injury - well stabilized limbs and joints, strong core

All phases of the golf swing, the set-up, back swing and downswing, and follow-through, are all equally important when it comes to golf conditioning. In the set-up phase, the ankles, knees, and hips should have strength and balance. A combination of a balance board and thera-bands are an excellent way to strengthen and balance these. The quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes are important for rotation and weight transfer. The stability ball, delayed squats, and other isometric exercises are essential to strengthening these muscles. Exercises such as good mornings, and rows are excellent to strengthen hip flexion and back extension.

For the back swing, shoulder rotation, trunk rotation and wrist strength are most important. Shoulder exercises, oblique twists, hammer curls, and wrist rolls are excellent exercises for the back swing.

For the downswing, shoulder rotation, left arm abduction, right arm adduction, abdominal flexion, and wrists are most important. Russian twists, thera-band exercises, and hammer curls are the best exercises for strengthening the downswing.

For the follow through of a golf swing, the deltoids, rotator cuffs, and the lower back must be strong. Right arm horizontal adduction, interior and exterior rotation exercises, low back exercises including spinal hyperextension, ball tosses, and bridges are all good..

It is extremely important to warm-up and stretch when golf-conditioning. Golf conditioning is also important for injury prevention, especially low back pain. Hitting a golf ball consistently and effectively for 18 holes requires coordinated muscle control, strength, and stamina. There are many major muscles involved in a full golf swing. These must be used in the proper sequence and to the degree necessary to achieve a fluid yet effective swing.

The leg muscles (quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteals) play a major role, generating a large portion of the golf swing’s power. The hips initiate movement down into the ball, while the mid-section (abdominals, obliques, and erector spinae) transfers force from the legs to the torso and is responsible for swing acceleration.

The upper torso (pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, and deltoids) produces the actual swing and plays a big role in generating club head speed. Finally, the arms (biceps, triceps, and forearm flexors-extensors) control the accuracy of the club head on impact with the golf ball.

Strengthening and increasing overall flexibility in all of the muscle groups used in golf will maximize swing power and club head speed, improve control, increase overall endurance, and help reduce the risk of injury.

About the Author:

Clint Howard is a certified personal trainer in Tulsa, OK. He is the owner of Fitness Together in Bixby and Jenks/Riverside. He has been helping Oklahomans achieve their fitness and weight loss goal for over 9 years. He is certified with the American College of Sports Medicine(ACSM) and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). His website is www.personaltrainertulsa.com

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Golf is a game of prestige, status, and skill.  It is one of the only truly fluid games where the venue makes all of the difference.  One can be a champion at one course and a loser at another.

One of the most interesting aspects of the game is that there is a certain level of challenge when it comes to the course itself.  Some courses favor power drivers, with long par fives, tall trees, and greens that are just out of reach for all but a few.  Other courses favor those with a strong short game with terrain that can take a ball in 3 different directions on its way to the cup.

Then, there are some courses that are just plain hard.  To highlight what many consider to be the most difficult golf course in the world, regardless of a golfer’s skill level, below you will find information of the 4 runner ups, Pine Valley, Meland Golfklubb, Mollymook, and Widow’s Walk.  After those, we have declared a winner.  Visit them with caution — they can break a golfer’s spirits as quickly as a double bogie.

Pine Valley Golf Club, Pine Valley, New Jersey

Regularly ranked the number one course in Golf Digest’s list of America’s 100 greatest courses, Pine Valley is praised for the consistent level of challenge and conditioning on each hole, requiring thoughtful placement of the ball from tee to green. Among its many accolades, Pine Valley has arguably the best collection of par fives and par threes in the world. The course prides itself in being one of the toughest challenges in all of golf, with a slope of 155 from the championship tees.

Meland Golfklubb, Bergen, Norway

With a stroke rating of 151 from its back tees, no other European course can compete with this (the highest possible rating is 155) and thus Melands par-73 course has been crowned Europes hardest test.  The playing area is fairly generous but nearly every hole runs through a corridor of trees and creates problems in the mind.  In addition to its distractingly beautiful setting, with both mountains and sea as neighbors, Meland Golf Club has a very aesthetic design. You won’t be the first to slow your pace and let others pass you on holes 8 through 13; the view toward the city of Bergen and its seven mountains, perhaps capped with snow even in May, is exceptional, and well worth missing your turn at the tee.

Mollymook Golf Club, Mollymook, Australia

The Championship Hilltop course is 18 holes of bushland beauty, situated so that you can still hear the waves rolling in on the pristine Mollymook Beach. The course is affectionately known as “The Ultimate Challenge” - a name earned from the players, not the designers.  With meandering tree-lined fairways and undulating greens, Hilltop provides a stern test for any golfer.

Widow’s Walk Golf Course, Scituate, Massachusetts

When Widow’s Walk Golf Course opened in 1997, to much fanfare from the likes of Golf Digest, the story goes that a foursome of local golf club professionals came by one day to play a round.

Widow’s Walk had its way with them: When the group finished they had lost around 10 golf balls, declared the course too difficult and vowed never to return. Everyday duffers complained as well. Members of Scituate’s board of selectmen, which oversees the golf course, had to admit that it wasn’t very player friendly.

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The World’s Most Challenging Golf Course: Ko’olau Golf Club, Oahu, Hawaii

When the USGA declared Ko’olau as the toughest course in the country, it was only because their jurisdiction did not extend to the entire world.  Carved out of a magnificent tropical rain forest, Ko`olau Golf Club is one of the most inspiring golf experiences you will ever play.  Nestled below Oahu’s popular Pali lookout, Ko`olau features dramatic vistas of the windward side of the island and the Pacific Ocean, extreme elevation changes, winding ravines and an abundance of lush native vegetation.

The rugged landscape of this tropical jungle course uses ravines as the target for holes and boasts lush vegetation and huge sand bunkers. With a slope rating of 152, Ko’olau’s spectacular setting will inspire from beginning to end.  With hills, valleys, and traps that make finding the ball difficult if you lose track, it can frustrate any golfer into calling it a day before finishing the front nine.

Watch this shot — not a true representation of the amazing difficulty level, but it seems to be the best “teaser” on YouTube right now:

Are you good at Golf?  One visit to Ko’olau and you might not think so by the time you leave.

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