The Essential Core Golf Workout
This workout is an essential core golf workout starting point. If you pay attention to our Core Cues and Positions it will help you generate more power, improve consistency and control, and will help reduce back tightness and pain.
Workout Focus:
- Activate your upper, middle and lower core
- Improve hip mobility
- Stretch your lats and mobilize the shoulders
Core Cues and Positions:
- Brace your abs: Pull your belly button towards your spine, bracing as if you're preparing to take a punch, or as if you’re blowing air out through a straw, and then hold that tension in your abs to activate your mid core.
- Grip your glutes: Squeeze your butt and hold the tension to activate your lower core.
- Corkscrew your elbows: With your arms straight, rotate the insides of your elbow pits outward to activate the upper lat and scapular muscles of your upper core, which will help stabilize your shoulders.
- Base Position: Sit your hips back behind your knees (option to place a rolled-up towel behind your knees if you have knee tightness or discomfort), then walk your hands out until your arms are fully extended in front of you.
- Slope Position: Set up with your hips forward of your knees and your shoulders stacked over your wrists so that your body is in a straight line from the back of your head to the back of your knee.
Hip Flexor Stretch:
Reps: 5 reps each side
This exercise will reduce tightness in your hip flexors and thigh muscles, which, when tight, create weakness in your glutes and abs. Improving your flexibility will help you to maintain your posture and generate more power in your swing.
Set up in Split Kneeling Position with your left foot forward, and your right toes tucked up under your ankle, pressing into the floor. Using a wall for stability, arch and tuck your hips, then push your hips and your left knee forward while squeezing your right glute until you feel a stretch in the front of your right hip and thigh. Hold the stretch and breathe, pushing the ball of your right foot into the floor to help the stretch, then return to start. Arch and re-tuck your hips between each rep to reset. You should not feel any pressure in your lower back, so be careful not to arch your lower back or lean your upper body forward. Keep your upper body nice and tall, and keep your hip tuck throughout the entire movement with your abs braced and your right glute gripped. Repeat the set on the other side.
Hip Flexor Stretch:
Reps: 5 reps each side
Hip Arch and Tuck:
Reps: 8 reps
This exercise will help you activate your mid core, which will reduce lower back pain and improve your ability to transfer power between your lower and upper body in your swing.
Set up in Plane Position with your back against the floor and your knees bent. Tilt your belly button toward your knees, allowing your back to slightly arch, then pull your belly button to your spine, bracing your abs and flattening your back against the floor. Hold for 3 seconds with your abs braced, then repeat.
Hip Arch and Tuck:
Reps: 8 reps
Glute Bridge:
Reps: 8 reps
This exercise will strengthen your glutes, which will not only reduce lower back pain, but will also improve your ability to maintain your posture, stabilize your body, and generate power from the ground up in your golf swing.
Set up in Plane Position with your back against the floor and your knees bent. Arch and tuck your hips, flattening your back against the ground to fully engage your core, then grip your glutes and raise your hips to the ceiling by driving through your heels. Hold for 5 seconds and then lower with control, keeping your hips tucked. Arch and re-tuck between each rep to reset, and only lift your hips as high as you can without feeling any cramping in your hamstrings. Don't let your back arch up when you lift. Re-tuck your hips and grip your glutes to maintain good form, keeping the tension in your glutes, not your hamstrings.
Glute Bridge:
Reps: 8 reps
Dead bug leg extensions:
Reps: 8 reps each alternating side
This exercise will strengthen your abs and glutes, stretch your hip flexors, and reduce lower back pain.
Set up in Plane Position with your back against the floor and your knees bent. Tuck your hips and brace your abs, flattening your lower back against the floor to fully engage your core. Extend your right leg parallel to the floor, driving through your heel and gripping your right glute, then return to your starting position and repeat with your left leg. Extend your leg to a height where you are able to maintain contact between your lower back and the floor throughout the entire movement, and be careful not to let your foot rest on the floor. If you feel tension in your lower back, re-tuck your hips and brace your abs.
Dead bug leg extensions:
Reps: 8 reps each alternating side
Hip Drive:
Reps: 6 reps
This exercise will strengthen your mid and lower core through motion as you drive your hips from a flexed position into extension, which mimics the mechanics of the backswing and downswing, and builds greater lower body power while reducing lower back pain.
Set up in Base Position with your hips back behind your knees, then pin your shoulders back and down and walk your hands out until your arms are fully extended. Keep your abs braced and grip your glutes as you drive your hips forward into slope until your shoulders are directly over your wrists, then corkscrew your elbows. Hold, then slowly pull your hips back into base without rounding your shoulders. Don't let your back sag when you drive out. If you feel tension in your lower back, re-tuck your hips and grip your glutes.
Hip Drive:
Reps: 6 reps