Fitness
Golf Fitness Tips: Three Ways to Get Stronger in 2024
By Ryan Adams, PGA
Published on
The forearm plank
With 2024 now underway, there's no better time to assess how you can get better at golf.
One way is to incorporate fitness into your improvement plan, and no, that doesn't mean intense workouts or expensive new equipment. In fact, a lot of these can be done at home! You'll just need a golf club and some dumbbells.
We rounded up three of our favorite fitness tips from PGA of America Golf Professionals, who are the experts in helping you improve. Take a look at the list below and try these moves today!
Mini Deadlifts
Stand in your best upright posture – like the assessment pose. Hold a golf club in front of you, allowing your arms to hang down in front of your body. Soften the knees, draw the shoulders back and down. Inhale as you hinge forward from the hip joint, keeping the spine long and reaching the top of the head toward the opposite side of the room. Keep the abs engaged to support the spine. On the exhale, push through the feet, fire up the glutes and drive yourself back upright to the starting position. Throughout the exercise, the club should remain close to your body and track vertically along the legs. For a more challenging variation, this exercise can be done while balancing on a single leg.
Forearm planks
An important part of strengthening your overall upper and lower body is making sure that you are activating your core muscles. This first exercise to try this idea out is through a normal forearm plank. The key to accurately performing this plank is to create a flat back, tight core, straight legs and 90 degrees at the elbows. This position will allow you to feel the most muscle activation in your core.
Perform a plank for 30-60 seconds, for 3-4 rounds.
Dumbbell Single-Arm Rows
This move targets two muscles that play an important part in the golf swing: the traps and lats. Here's how to do it: Begin by placing one knee and hand on a bench, with the other foot on the ground.
Hold one dumbbell in the opposite hand, allowing it to hang straight down. Begin to pull the dumbbell towards your chest, ensuring that you keep your elbow close to your body. Lower the dumbbell back down to finish the move.
Perform this exercise in three sets of 8-10 reps.