What muscles for golf?

To me it's more about maintaining a balance.

If you strengthen certain areas and neglect others, over time you will develop muscle imbalances and cause injury.

This is why professional players spend so much time in the gym, not only working on strengthening and flexibility but keeping the balance between the muscles used predominantly in the swing and those that aren't.

Interesting how no one mentioned legs :D

Take Tiger (Knee, Calf, Achillles), and Westwood (Calf) as an example of just how much of a pounding your legs take through the swing and why work here is important as anywhere else.

In short. Work your body as a whole and not just in sections. After all you don't just swing a club with your core, or your shoulders, you swing using them all, using certain muscles to power the swing and others as support/stabilize. No one area is key.
 
Check out the european tour website and the Fit fr golf section it is excellent, core strength and balance.

Luke Donald has huge legs for a slim man. Looking at Bubba he does not look like a gym monkey like Tiger or Quiros for that matter. I do think the one that cant be thought is Timing.
You never mentioned Ernie Els who makes hitting the golf ball a nice distance look slow motion.
 
Check out the european tour website and the Fit fr golf section it is excellent, core strength and balance.

Luke Donald has huge legs for a slim man. Looking at Bubba he does not look like a gym monkey like Tiger or Quiros for that matter. I do think the one that cant be thought is Timing.
You never mentioned Ernie Els who makes hitting the golf ball a nice distance look slow motion.
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Or you could just follow this mans Ballyliffin training regime :o

15 pints, pick up a local bird, take her home, be posted missing all next morning then come stumbling through the car park with a stupid big grin on your face, step on the first tee and away you go.

All that and only one muscle needed strength :D
 
Or you could just follow this mans Ballyliffin training regime :o

15 pints, pick up a local bird, take her home, be posted missing all next morning then come stumbling through the car park with a stupid big grin on your face, step on the first tee and away you go.

All that and only one muscle needed strength :D
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The man was a machine... Can still see the silly grin even now!
You made the group photo by seconds, literally!
 
The pros in question all have good flexibility and great technique.

If you want to talk muscles then speed of contraction rather than muscle size gets you distance. Some people naturally have the necessary muscle types (a higher proportion of) while others will develop them through playing (eg hitting balls using a swing speedometer :)...some have both and they're the ones that are extra long.

Core muscles are important in every sport...balance, rotation etc. You can be a fatty and still have a very strong core (as pointed out earlier).

Speed of muscle contraction is why I can dunk a basketball despite having relatively weak legs.
 
Natalie Gulbis.
If she is playing in one of those dinky little skirts, I quite often think "Cor!" and go and play with my muscle.
So yes, cor muscles do come into it.
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There's an image I didn't need whilst having my breakfast.

Puts sausage down... :(
 
To me it's more about maintaining a balance.

If you strengthen certain areas and neglect others, over time you will develop muscle imbalances and cause injury.

This is why professional players spend so much time in the gym, not only working on strengthening and flexibility but keeping the balance between the muscles used predominantly in the swing and those that aren't.

Interesting how no one mentioned legs :D

Take Tiger (Knee, Calf, Achillles), and Westwood (Calf) as an example of just how much of a pounding your legs take through the swing and why work here is important as anywhere else.

In short. Work your body as a whole and not just in sections. After all you don't just swing a club with your core, or your shoulders, you swing using them all, using certain muscles to power the swing and others as support/stabilize. No one area is key.
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I mentioned legs :) :)
 
The other thing with having a strong core is that it is going to protect your back from injury. Most golfers I know with bad backs have terrible core strength, and bad posture.
 
I don't think it matters how big your muscles are, timing and balance are more important imo. A good solid base helps though I would say, from the ground up, good leg strength and as most have stated a good core. I have seen the you tube sessions of the Nike golfers, lots of squats, kettle bells for ARM and shoulder strength and plenty cardio.
 
From a couple of exercises the pro had me do recently, I would suggest that a strong core is very useful. More bio-mechanics than muscle maybe?

Tests involved sitting on the edge of a chair, holding a club in front of me and seeing how far I could turn (couldn't quite get 90 degrees), standing with back as flat to a wall as possible, holding a club in front of me at arms length, and then trying to lift the backs of my hands to the wall above my head (pathetic attempt) and another one that I can't think of that was equally poor.

Thinking of starting Pilates to strengthen core and back muscles.

I will never go to a gym (unless under doctor's orders) as it bores the a**e off me!

However, I know several very good golfers who aren't physically fit or muscular (and I don't mean Smiffy here for obvious reasons! :D :D :D).
 
This is a serious thread. If you wish to call me names or hurl abuse, please do so on another thread.

What muscles groups are most important for golf, and how best to develop them? Before your answer, please consider the following professional golfers and tell me what they have in common.

Tiger Woods (gym man)
Luke Donald (skinny)
Lee Westwood (not skinny)
Colin Montgomerie (anti-skinny)
Scott Stallings (won yesterday)
Bob Estes (runner-up yesterday)
Rory McIlroy (supple)
Alvaro Quiros (powerhouse)
Tom Watson (old)
Rickie Fowler (young)
K.J. Choi (stocky)
Bubba Watson (lanky)

Any common physical features?
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I've posted a lot on this in other threads, so I'll try not to repeat too much here.

First off, looking for commonalities isn't the best idea?
Courtney Lawes and Peter String both play international rugby, yet physically they are worlds apart. They are suited to the positions they play and the way they play.

The same applies to the pros you list, they pay the game in different ways. The way a bomb and gouge player plays is not the same as a fairways and greens man.

You also can't judge strength, flexibility and athleticism just on appearance. Most shot-putters just look like fat blokes, but would you suggest they are not strong?

That said, I think there are certain areas that will help most people. Excuse me for being generic, most people get bored to death of my fitness posts anyway, if you want more specifics on anything, feel free to ask.

Strength is all well and good for golf, but only if you can apply it quickly (power). Its no good having all the strength in the world, if you can't use it quickly. You may have the strength to accelerate the club to 150mph, but if you can't apply it quick enough to have the club doing that speed before the ball, its wasted.

Mobility - Most people would benefit from having more mobility in these regions:
Ankles, Hips (particularly internal rotation), thoracic spine (particularly, extension and rotation).

Balance - Its also no good being able to swing at 120mph if you fall over doing it. Most people prescribe slowing the swing, but really you want to improve your balance.

Strength\Mobility Balance - Its no good having really strong and flexible hips, if you have a weak core. All the power generated won't be transmitted. Example: Imagine a 5 litre V10 engine connected to the driving wheels by a rubber driveshaft, all the power will be wasted and unusable.
The body is the same, you're only as good as your weakest link. If you have any muscle imbalances or weaknesses, you need to resolve these before working on other areas.

The final part is what everyone else has said, call it timing, technique, sequencing - whatever. Having the best strength, mobility etc is again useless if you can't use it properly. That's why most people don't benefit from and dismiss fitness. You have to have a technique that gets the max out what fitness level you have now, or be willing to modify technique to match your fitness level to really make great gains.

Ok, I can already see Smiffy and a couple of others sleeping in the back, so lecture over! :D
 
In terms of muscle groups, it's probably legs that are most important. Not necessarily their size or psi rating, but as much their length and flexion/extension. Jack Nicklaus put his physical success down to having played a variety of sports that developed good leg strength and mobility when he was young.

Luke Donald's career was nearly ended some years back with chronic back pain and occasional shoulder pain. It transpired the source of his problem was actually his hamstrings. He worked on these very hard, and suffered with form during this period, but came back minus the back and shoulder problems and has gone on and...well, we know where he ended up.

That said, working on your agility and flexion/extension would be far more beneficial than any weights-based program.

But given how few people can even be bothered to warm up prior to playing, I'm not sure there will be a great deal of interest in your responses to the question timgolfy.
 
Tests involved sitting on the edge of a chair, holding a club in front of me and seeing how far I could turn (couldn't quite get 90 degrees), standing with back as flat to a wall as possible, holding a club in front of me at arms length, and then trying to lift the backs of my hands to the wall above my head (pathetic attempt) and another one that I can't think of that was equally poor.

Thinking of starting Pilates to strengthen core and back muscles.

I will never go to a gym (unless under doctor's orders) as it bores the a**e off me!

However, I know several very good golfers who aren't physically fit or muscular (and I don't mean Smiffy here for obvious reasons! :D :D :D).
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Try this to give you an idea of how much your body can do.

Standing up put your right arm in front of you then rotate your arm clockwise as far behind yourself as it will go.

Then relax your arm, close your eyes and visualise the same action only your arm rotating all the way to your left shoulder.

Now try the exercise again.........
 
Isn't there a link somewhere in the distant past to a titleist site that had core exercises for golf.
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I think it's called "MyTPI"
 
Ah exercises and muscles! I believe that in life as a whole we need to exercise. if we actively take part in a sport then we must exercise. One thing it does is lessen the chances of an injury as does a proper warm up.

As Golf uses specific muscle groups these should be exercised. These are the core muscles (abdominals and lower back) and the leg muscles.

As has been pointed out earlier the core helps give power in the swing and aids in stability as well.

Cardiovascular is good as well as it makes the lungs and heart work more efficiently. There is no need to go mad and spend ages in a gym.

Best advice about this is to see a fitness instructor that specialises in Golf fitness.

Yes it is also a good idea to exercise the muscles not used in Golf to keep the body in balance as well.
 
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