Golfers are Athletes

The relationship of golf and fitness is a very funny storyline when thinking about the actual game. In high school, many kids would make fun saying, “golf isn’t a sport.” Even to this day, I get the odd buddy giving that tongue in cheek reply when a conversation about sports comes up. While it may not be physical like football or basketball, many of the best players in the world are training like world-class athletes in the gym. 

The thought process behind this type of training is all thanks to a couple people by the names of Tiger Woods and Gary Player. Tiger’s military-focused childhood and love for the Navy SEALs inspired his will to win. Not only that, but he looked at the game differently, and pushed his body to the absolute limit. As for Player, he revolutionized fitness in golf. He is responsible for incorporating fitness into the game when it was widely disregarded.

While Player was doing his daily push-ups and sit-ups, many of his competitors weren’t. Fitness wasn’t on the short list of things a professional golfer would be worrying about. Although most weren’t overweight, a pro golfer wouldn’t necessarily have an athletic build, and definitely wouldn’t have the strength to hit it 350 yards on a calm day. Golfers would show up, maybe grab two or three clubs at once to move some weight, but wouldn’t do much more before eventually beginning their warm-up routine.

Then comes Tiger. He was pretty lanky and full of flexibility in his early 20’s when he turned pro. That all changed after his first couple years on the PGA Tour. He ran 6 miles each morning. Hit balls. Had a weightlifting session. Hit more balls. Chipped and putted. Played nine holes. Then lifted again before going to bed and doing the same thing day in and day out.

Here is Tiger’s daily routine in his prime: Daily Routine

He hit it further, straighter, and was more consistent than his peers. Above all of that, he has the strongest will and mental control in the heat of battle. He credits a lot of his dominance to his long and tough practice days. Just like that, his competitors and the world took notice.
As Tiger’s winning days came to a close due to injury, along came the freakish athletes with finely-tuned motor skills. Guys like Brandon Matthews and Cameron Champ are two names you should know. Tall, strong, and flexible, these guys can hit it upwards of 400 yards. Golf may start turning into a game where you give a 6 '7'’ kid a pair of clubs strictly for the distance component.

Now we move all the way to the COVID pandemic in 2019, where Bryson DeChambeau claimed he was going to put on upwards of 40 pounds in 6 months in an attempt to gain massive distance and clubhead speed. Spoiler alert: he did it. Bryson officially changed the way golf is now played, as he proved distance trumps accuracy winning the 2020 US Open, and dominating that season before injuries started to creep in. The old saying “Drive for show, putt for dough,” may officially be wrong as driving distance leaders on the PGA Tour are consistently playing better than the best putters on Tour.

Here are some areas of the body that help in the golf swing:

Quad/Glutes

Core

Lower back

With a strong core, you will be less prone to injury.

The bottom line: golf is not only a sport, but many golfers take care of their bodies more than one may think. You will find PGA Tour players working out before their round, after their round, and during their offseason at home. Golfers can benefit from getting the most out of their body, just like we have seen in the recent years. Below you will find one of our workouts we do at school (2 to 3 days a week), which combines both strength and mobility.

Workout in season - Remains pretty light in weight, but keeps body active throughout a season.