The Best Off-Season Golf Drills to Improve Your Game Year-Round
Mike Bailey
If you’re lucky or unlucky enough to live in a climate where courses close for months when the weather gets colder, you don’t have to completely put your golf game on hold before the upcoming season. In fact, even if you can’t compete this winter, you can look at it as an opportunity to get better.
If you do live in an area where you can play year-round, the following may apply to you as well. You may have fewer opportunities to play in the winter (the days are shorter, after all), so this would be a great time to get in better shape for your golf game through exercise and exercise.
If you’ve never done regular exercises specifically designed to help you play golf more easily, it’s never too late to start. If you’ve had it in the past but not recently, it might be time to start over. Regardless, we’ve identified 15 exercises and drills you can do during the offseason that, if done regularly, will have a positive impact on your game.
That being said, before diving into anything, be sure to start slow. Some of these exercises involve weight, so start with a lighter weight or no weight at all and work your way up. (You really don’t want to experience too much muscle soreness or muscle strain.)
1. walk
It seems simple, but developing a regular walking habit during the offseason can help build endurance, promote weight control, and help maintain your health. Of course, if you enjoy walking while golfing, why not continue walking during the offseason? After all, it’s not uncommon to walk more than 6 miles during an 18-hole round of golf, often while carrying a bag or using a stroller.
For added benefits, you might consider using a weighted vest while walking. Of course, the recommended amount of walking varies greatly based on your age (if you’re very young, a running program may be right for you) and your fitness level. But if you can drive 10 to 15 miles a week, do yourself a favor.
2. Yoga
If you think about it, almost all yoga principles apply to golf. It can help you build core strength, flexibility, stability, and endurance—all of which are good for your golf swing.
Katherine Roberts, author of “Yoga for Golfers,” says practicing yoga not only improves flexibility, strength and overall fitness, as well as better balance, it also leads to a quieter mind and better breathing. The last two points are definitely underrated when it comes to performance on the golf course. Offseason yoga could yield some amazing results next spring. Even after you resume golfing, you may still want to continue.
3. Squat
With or without weights, squats aren’t just good for golf, they’re good for life, especially as you age.
Not only do squats help strengthen your legs, they also improve mobility in your hips, knees, and ankles. The lower body is the foundation of the golf swing and is a huge powerhouse. This is how you gain ground strength and also helps maintain balance. If you only do one exercise regularly, this is it.
4. Speed training
There are several speed training systems available, but the most well-known is probably SuperSpeed Golf, which uses three weighted trainers to help the body move faster and reach maximum speed. The program comes with an app and a protocol for exercising three days a week.
Best of all, this super-speed training promises dramatic results in just 6 weeks. If you don’t play golf in the winter, this is a great way to maintain your swing and increase your swing speed during the next golf season.
5. Weighted clubs
Swinging a weighted club regularly can benefit golfers in several ways. First, it helps improve tempo, but it can also help you increase swing speed by strengthening key muscles in the golf swing.
One of the most interesting training aids available today is the Lagshot club, which comes in a driver, 7-iron and wedge. The entire club is weighted with a very flexible shaft designed to instill proper rhythm and load. The weight of the club actually helps with tempo as well, but swinging it regularly can also help you build strength. You can hit balls with these clubs because they have club heads, which is great if you have practice time and a driving range (think indoor domes in cold climates). But even if you don’t get a chance to hit the ball during the winter, swinging these balls regularly can be beneficial.
6. Sit-ups
Everyone knows that a good core is essential for the golf swing, and sit-ups not only strengthen your abdominal muscles, but also your back muscles. (Please note that we don’t say sit-ups here to avoid injury.)
Gary Player boasted that even in his old age he did 1,000 sit-ups a day, and now, at age 90, he still has a smooth, efficient golf swing.
7. Push-ups
Pryor is also known for his one-arm push-ups, and the results speak for themselves. In his 80s he could still hit the ball 250 yards off the tee.
However, you don’t need to do one-arm push-ups to benefit your golf game. Just use both arms, and you can certainly vary them depending on your age and fitness level. Traditional push-ups are done with your face facing the ground and your back straight, with only your toes and hands touching the ground as you use your arms and chest to raise and lower your body. One variation is to use your knees instead of your toes. If that’s all you can do, you can still benefit from building upper body strength and arm strength, especially your triceps.
8. Resistance Band Training
There are many different exercises you can do with resistance bands that are great for golfers who want to target important muscle groups in their golf swing.
One of the best resistance band tools, the GolfForever Swing Trainer is a specially designed weighted pole with a loop on one end that attaches to a resistance band. The other end of the resistance band can be connected to an anchor point, and from there, you can perform a series of exercises to simulate the movement of golf. Using resistance bands can strengthen the large muscles used in the golf swing while increasing speed. The GolfForever program has a series of spin exercises designed to help you play golf forever.
9. Side lunge
Side lunges can help improve your golf swing by strengthening your glutes, hips, and legs to support lateral weight transfer, which is necessary for strength and balance.
To do this, first step to the side with your feet together, lowering your hips while keeping the other leg straight. You then drive back to your starting position. Do a few sets of 10 reps on each side.
10. Throw a medicine ball
This is best done with a partner. Find a medicine ball that you feel comfortable with (anything between 2 and 8 pounds). Facing a partner a few feet away, turn around and pass with your right or left leg, then throw the ball to your partner.
To pitch, you have to be loaded and relaxed. These exercises involve the core, shoulders, obliques, chest, arms, and lower body, all of which are great for building the strength you need in your golf swing. In addition to tossing, you can change it up by slamming with a medicine ball. Doing three sets of these moves every week can pay big dividends next season.
11. Straight arm high pulldown
This strength training exercise is great for building strength and speed. It works many of the larger muscles, especially the lats, or lats, which are the muscles used to pull the arms down and closer to the body, which is essential for good golf swing power and accuracy.
To do this, you face a rod or rope attached to the machine, whose weight resistance you can set. Then, with your arms straight, use your lats and shoulders to pull the barbell or rope down in front of your body. This also strengthens your triceps and hands.
12. Hip Hinge or Deadlift
There are a lot of variations on this, but basically it’s using your legs and glutes to lift some kind of weight (dumbbell, kettlebell, or barbell) from the ground while keeping your back relatively straight. The idea is to hinge at the hips while pushing against the floor to lift the weight.
Deadlifts will help you build power and distance in your golf swing because they train the top-down movement of the golf swing. It will strengthen your glutes and hamstrings and help you achieve hip stability. It also enhances grip strength. Be sure to start with lighter weights and gradually increase. A few sets of 8-10 reps would be a good starting point.
13. Hand strength exercises
While there is debate about how securely a club should be gripped, there is no doubt that stronger hands are beneficial in the golf swing. Many of the previous exercises will help build grip strength, but if you want to take it even further, here are some suggestions.
Squeezing a tennis ball regularly while watching TV can help. Or you could buy a handle, which is a handheld device with two handles and a spring that creates resistance when you try to squeeze the handles together. Again, this can be done almost anywhere. Three sets of 10 reps, three to four times per week, will help you build grip strength, which means better control of your golf swing.
14. Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch
Hip mobility is crucial to the golf swing, so regular hip flexor stretches are very beneficial.
To perform this move, start by placing one knee on the ground and the other leg in a lunge position. Hold the club in front of you with both hands, then raise it overhead and hold for about 30 seconds. Make sure your back is relatively straight, hips aligned, and not lunging too far forward (the lunging leg should be at about a 90-degree angle to the knee). Repeat a few times, alternating legs. You should feel a stretch in your hip flexors as you lift the club.
15. Practice your mental game
There may be no better time to work on your mental game than the offseason. It will give you a fresh outlook and a new mindset for the upcoming season.
One way is to read a popular book by a sports psychologist. One of the classics is Golf is not a perfect sport Author: Dr. Bob Rotella. His clients include many of the best players on the PGA Tour and the best players on the LPGA Tour to create a better competitive mindset. This book has also helped countless amateurs, teaching them to lower their expectations, live in the moment, and enjoy the process. Golf’s inner game W. Timothy Gallwey wrote the more famous tennis version of this book, and it’s a great offseason read.
final thoughts
Sure, we could add more exercises to our offseason training list, but what’s the point? You can only do so much. Just doing all of this takes a lot of effort.
So identify areas that may need improvement and pick a few to help address your weaknesses. Or maybe you can pick a few. The most important part is commitment. Develop a routine you can stick to, and you might be pleasantly surprised in the spring when you start playing golf again.
