Brian Gay's X-Factor Golf Workout

good article but jazzed up for no apparant reason. resistant bands are fine but why not dumbells? why do overall exercises instead of lower body vs upper body?

we all agree that golf is a series of specific movements harmonised into a complete total movement but it causes imbalances which have to be addressed. the reason for using dumbells rather than a barbell is that a dumbell will address imbalances. rather than doing squats do single legged squats as you will identify imbalances straight away.

** last but not least- plyrometrics!!!! stay a mile away from theses execises for a golfer. these exercises are really advanced and were used heavily by russian in track and field and advanced to other sports. a golfer is looking for trouble doing such as plyrometrics due to the fact that the stresses involved especially on the knee and especially achilles tendons just aint worth it. plyrometrics are all about ground contact and explosiveness which is more applied to downtime sports such as sprinting/powerlifting or any jumping sport ie- basketball etc etc

Originally Posted by Yoda Thanks for your post, x-man.

Not recommending any exercise regimen -- least of all my own -- but I gotta admit that this idea appeals to me.

At least as an 'addition to' exercise (as opposed to 'instead of').

trust me lynn the plyrometrics are a no no and please advise brian on avoiding them. they are pointless for a golfer and can be disasterious. also free weights are better as you can see you progress better with the amount of weight you can handle compared to bands ! there is a place with bands but i honestly do not think this is the place and i have concrete evidense.

carl lewis never touched weights until he was around 35 but he got his stimulous from plyrometrics. he was a sprinter and a jumper and plyros are specifically designed for such events.

thanks for responses lynn but i really find strenght coaches going way OTT. brian would get better results from yoga compared to bands

Originally Posted by x-man trust me lynn the plyrometrics are a no no and please advise brian on avoiding them. they are pointless for a golfer and can be disasterious. also free weights are better as you can see you progress better with the amount of weight you can handle compared to bands ! there is a place with bands but i honestly do not think this is the place and i have concrete evidense.

carl lewis never touched weights until he was around 35 but he got his stimulous from plyrometrics. he was a sprinter and a jumper and plyros are specifically designed for such events.

thanks for responses lynn but i really find strenght coaches going way OTT. brian would get better results from yoga compared to bands

I am not a trainer but have worked out since college. The best trainer I ever had incorporated plyometrics into my workout. In fact, many trainers I have spoken with suggest a golfer should work out like a sprinter, not a distance runner, becuase of the explosiveness of the sport.

Yoga is wonderful but it will not develop explosive power.

Hi Lynn,

In response to golf specific exercises, what do you think of Mr Bertholy's deltoid lifts? He said that he knew of practitioners gaining up to 30 yards...

Simply Practicing your golf swing at various stages and monitoring all the components, will build stabilizing muscles in your back. It seems to me that the back of this machine should be strong enough to handle the outward force instead of being thrown around by it. So the machine should be stabilized, feet bolted to the ground, stationary post and strong stabilizing leg and back muscles on the back of the machine. When practicing always practice 'proud posture' and your back muscles will build swing after swing. Soon proud posture will be automatic as the muscles have built up enough in the upper and lower back that the spine is pulled back straight enough without consciously doing it.

+1 to lynn's comments, the true swing does not use muscular effort, getting stronger can help to control the motion better but the speed and thrust are not created by muscular effort and so one should not concern himself with building arm muscle for power in a true swing. In fact be very careful of any amount of stress being put on the deltoids and rotator cuffs, the tour is filled with guys who've gone through career stalling shoulder surgeries.

My friend who is a true hitter and has tremendous distance, attributes all his power to this one exercise he has done thousands of times. It's a straight right arm extension with a cable pulley machine, with a turning body like the straight right in boxing only with both feet shoulder width apart and facing forward this builds his tricep muscles and stabilizing right shoulder muscles while stabilizing the core as well.