today you're gonna learn a ton of core
exercises for golf that I use with my clients to help their golf game. Now I
should warn you! Some of the core exercises for your golf game can be
advanced. We will progress through these core exercises for golf from the
beginner level all the way up to the more experienced gym goer. So no matter
where you are starting from, these exercises when performed regularly and
properly will get you results. I'm Rob Connors, the founder of Signum Golf. We
have a lot to cover in this video so let's dive right in. Years ago I launched
my search to find the best core exercises for golfers to help gain some
distance off the tee as well as strength in my overall game.
I was seeing PGA Tour
players adding loads of distance and wanted to catch the rising tide. Trying
to find what really works today is tricky. If you do a simple google search
of core exercises for golf you will find a couple hits with lists of only a few
exercises at best. But the movements I'm going to share with you in this
series is much more. Which is why my blog post ranks number one on google for core
strengthening exercises for golf. Now I can't go over all of them it would take
too long and I want you to start taking action on strengthening your mid lines
today.
So if you want to find our expansive posts on this subject just
check out the link in the description after you watch this video. So without
further ado let's get started. let's start off with some beginner level
abdominal core exercises first there is the basic ab mat sit up you will need an
ab mat or a rolled-up towel to fill the space between the floor and your lumbar
curve start with their feet together or underneath a set of dumbbells you want
to brace your core and sit up until your shoulders are over your hips and then
slowly lower back down to the ground until your shoulder blades touch the
ground next there's the rkc plank or plank for short it's a static movement
that helps develop some basic level core strength for your golf swing for these
you will start on the floor in a flat position isometrically holding your
forearms in contact with the ground as well as your
keep your core braced and body in a straight line you want to avoid having
your hips being too high or too low hold for a set amount of time before resting
and then repeating in the next movement we are combining the dead bug as well as
the reverse crunch you'll need a stable structure or object to hold on to make
sure that when you are extending your legs you're also exhaling and keeping
your anterior core nice and engage extend one leg at a time and alternate
legs this is a core exercise for golf where you will lie on your side with one
elbow in contact with the ground if you want to make these a bit more
challenging you can add some weight overhead the weighted side Bend is great
for working those oblique muscles which are used during the rotation of the golf
swing you will need a dumbbell or kettlebell for these get into a hip to
shoulder width stance engage your core and try to stay pretty strict on these I
personally love farmer carries as a core exercise for golf because it also
strengthens the grip it's pretty straightforward movement and you will
need either a pair of dumbbells kettlebells you can even do with if you
have a pair of barbells keep your core engaged and eyes on the horizon and
simply pick up your two objects and carry them with these you can really
vary the distances and weight next let's review some more advanced abdominal core
exercises for golfers this is a weighted version of a regular set up but it has a
couple variations you will need to anchor your feet with another set of
dumbbells you can hold a single dumbbell or a pair of dumbbells on your chest or
shoulders but you want to brace your core and sit up until your shoulders are
over your hips then slowly lower back down to the ground until your shoulder
blades touch ABS with the plates which is a great exercise for golf because it
will really test the stability and balance of your core while performing a
dynamic movement I'm going to start in what we call a hollow body position you
will be holding a small plate maybe even just a two and a half five pound plate
to start you want to move into flexion raising your torso up and tucking your
knees and at the same time past the plate underneath both of your knees to
the other and and returned back to that hollow
body position v-ups are one of the more advanced core
exercises for golfers on this list you will start again in a hollow body
position lying on the floor face up you want to extend your arms over your head
and your legs will be straight with your feet together and knees locked out
simultaneously bring your feet in hands together while maintaining locked out
knees and arms you want to feel as if you are being folded in half on this one
the glute/ham developer setup or GHD setup for short it works the entire
abdominal structure as well as the hip flexors you want to set up with the pad
just below your butt and knees slightly bent keep your look legs bent as the
torso descends down and back go down until your torso is parallel with the
ground if you feel comfortable you can go all the way until you can actually
touch the ground behind your head with both hands initiate the return by
extending your legs you want to keep your core brace and complete the
movement by touching the pads that are in front of you my advice is to ease
into these if you get too aggressive you will really feel it the next morning up
next we have the barbell rollout you need to set up a barbell so it can roll
along the ground start on your knees and grab the barbell about shoulder-width
apart then start rolling forward and back
while maintaining a nice braced core and arms locked out the entire time in my
opinion the l-sit is the hardest of all core exercises for golfers on this list
you will need a set of parallettes but you can also perform these in a dip
station at your gym you want to support yourself by actively pressing up through
the arms and extend your legs out attempting to keep your knees locked out
hold for a set amount of time now let's work on some rotational core exercises
for golf let's start off with a pal off press this is an anti rotational
exercise because we are resisting the rotation that the band wants to put on
us you want to loop a band around a fixed object either in the gym at about
belly height and you want to grab the band with the
that is closest to the anchoring point the other hand simply overlaps take a
shoulder-width stance with your feet you want to brace your core and press out
holding for a one-second count next we have banded rotations you want to anchor
the band around a rig or other object in your house that is pretty stable okay
use a double overhand grip about shoulder width apart we want to keep
your core nice and engaged rotate your core with arms extended and then also
repeat on each sides next up is the bandit alphabet you need a light to
medium band thickness and loop it around a support structure the focus here is on
resisting the rotation the band's going to put on you you're going to graphs the
band in the hand that is closest to the anchoring point and then cusps it with
your other hand simply extend and lock out your elbows forming a nice triangle
of your arms and chest then simply spell the alphabet with your hands focusing on
rotating with the chest and core rather than the arms make sure that for this
one you spell the alphabet with both sides okay next up we have some landmine
rotations for this you want to take your barbell and wedge it into a nice stable
corner you're going to keep the barbell in front of you and rotate from side to
side to really work that a interior core abs stay nice and tight while the feet
are allowed to pivot side to side landmine rotations are really
challenging you to move dynamically through the movement similar to what you
have to do on the golf course the Russian twists you may have seen this
one before or even done it this one will begin in a seated position with the
chest and legs elevated in your body somewhat resembling a V you want to hold
the dumbbell or even a medicine ball in your hands and twist your upper body
attempting to just tap the bottom of the dumbbell or medicine ball to the ground
and then rotate and repeat on the opposite side now it's time to add a
throwing motion into the mix with some power as well for the half kneeling
rotational throw you want to set up by kneeling next to a wall with one knee on
the ground and the leg bent and in front with the heel flat on the
as well the forward leg is gonna be the one that's closest to the wall I'm going
to grab your medicine ball rotate away from the wall using just your cord then
rotate towards the wall and toss the medicine ball off the wall the core is
much more than just your abs but we won't get into a study of anatomy just
yet let's move on to some posterior core exercises for golf that are a good place
to start from a beginner standpoint first up we got the single leg glute
bridge it's a great exercise can be done at home with no equipment it strengthens
the low back glutes and even hand streets start by lying on your back with
one leg extended and one planted on the ground squeeze the glute so the hips and
low back come off the ground shoulders hips and legs should be in one nice
straight line hold for a one to two second count per rep and then switch
sides bird dogs really strengthen the spinal erectors the glutes the
hamstrings and even the lower back all of which are major movers in the golf
swing everyone this can be done not only as a main exercise but also as a warm-up
or part of your cooldown you want to start on the ground on all fours next
you want to extend the right arm and left leg out at the same time hold for a
short isometric hold and then switch arms and legs and hold
again you want to be feeling here as if you are reaching your arms and legs
towards the walls in front and behind you for the Cobra you're going to set up
by lying face down on the floor with the arms to the side and legs straight and
together squeeze your lower back and your glutes to raise your torso
shoulders and arms off the floor keeping your head in a nice neutral position the
chest comes off the ground a few inches and you want to hold the top of the rep
for anywhere from one to second count before you start lowering yourself back
down it's time to add some coordination and balance with the Aquaman you want to
set up by lying face-down on the floor and to begin you're gonna lift one arm
and the opposite leg off the ground for example if you lift your right arm up
you want to raise your left leg as well hold for a 1/2 second count per rep and
then reverse sides the band of goodmorning is a great exercise to
strengthen the muscles in the lower back and hamstrings and glue
here you want to start off with a light to medium band thickness stand in the
band with your feet about shoulder width apart bend down and carefully place the
band over your head to rest it on your traps maintain a neutral spine
throughout the movement you want to hinge at the hips moving your hips back
while your chest drops down to the floor only go down as far as possible while
maintaining a nice flat spine then squeeze the glutes and hamstrings to
return back up to the standing position let's move on to some dead lifts with
the band you want to fold the band in half step on the band so that it's
underneath the arches of your feet and your stance should be hip-width or even
slightly narrower bend at the hips and flex up the knees keeping your back nice
and flat everyone grab one end of the band in each hand then push with the
legs so that your hips and shoulders rise together at the same rate keep your
body weight in your heels the entire time and the rep is finished when the
hips knees and shoulders are fully locked out in one nice line nothing
better than the conventional deadlift when it comes to posterior core strength
for golfers this is such an awesome exercise because it strengthens the back
the hang strings as well as the legs all of these are vital in the golf swing
it's important to maintain a nice flat back throughout the movement start with
a hip-width stance and your hands are gonna be just outside of your hips with
a full grip on the barbell set up with your shoulders slightly in front of the
bar hips and shoulders are gonna rise at the same rate you want to keep those
heels down and finish at full lap out of the hips knees and shoulders with the
shoulders behind the bar next up is a sumo deadlift for some this may be a bit
easier to perform because their recruits more of the hips legs and even glutes
than the conventional deadlift unlike other deadlift variation your
hands are actually going to be inside your feet with your legs set out wide
the width of your stance will really vary but generally speaking the width
should allow for you to have your shins nice and perpendicular to the floor and
your back flat with your shoulders directly over the bar take a grip that
is just inside with you want to really engage your lats
and feel as if you're squeezing golf balls underneath your armpits from here
perform similar to a conventional deadlift hips and shoulders will rise at
the same rate you're gonna keep your heels down and finish that full lockout
with the hips knees and shoulders forming one nice line and shoulders
behind the bar okay it's time to get into a very advanced movement called the
banded deadlift before you try this please make sure
you're comfortable performing regular deadlifts and start out light everyone
you will be using accommodative resistance of a band to provide a
different stimulus this core exercise for golf really really develops
explosiveness in the hips and glutes for that golf swing so to set up you want to
drape the band over the bar make sure that the band is evenly spaced and from
here get into the mixed or overhand grip feet are standing on the band about hip
width apart really activate that core and make sure your back is nice and flat
perform similar to a conventional deadlift really try to explode through
the range of motion and squeeze those glutes at the top the Russian kettlebell
swing is a fantastic exercise to work that posterior core and develop some hip
explosiveness which translates very well to the golf swing it's also great to
develop your grip strength you want to start with the kettlebell in the hang
position between your legs feet are set about shoulder-width or slightly wider
apart hips art will descend down and back but stay above the knees your back
will be nice and flat knees stay in line with the toes and from here squeeze the
glutes quads rapidly while also extending the hips to fire the
kettlebell up to eye level the banded kettlebell swing is just like the
Russian kettlebell swing but you'll will be adding accommodative resistance of
the band to really develop much more hip speed this is one of my favorite core
exercises for golf people make sure you are comfortable performing regular
swings before trying these unlike a conventional kettlebell swing these keep
tension high as the kettlebell rises to set up loop the band around the handle
of the kettlebell then place your feet in the
to anchor it to the floor feet are set slightly wider than shoulder-width from
here perform a regular Russian kettlebell swing but only swing up to
eye level we highly advise that you do not go over a head with these because
you will have a headache that will last for days the barbell gluten hip thrust
is a great core exercise to generate a little more power in your swing you will
need a bench maybe a pad or towel as well as a barbell and weights you want
your shoulder set against the bench shins are perpendicular to the floor
place that barbell in the hip crease if this is uncomfortable you can add a pad
or towel between the barbell and your hips so to begin the movement you want
to thrust that barbell up by squeezing the glutes at the top and holding for
about a half second count start light here and as you become more comfortable
add some load as you progress to wrap things up we are going to give you a
full body exercise the hang power clean it's a very dynamic it not only does it
rely a lot on your core but it also recruits the legs the backs and even the
arms it mimics the golf swing and that the power will be generated from the
hips core and legs before finishing off with the arms and similar to the golf
swing an early arm pool here will result in a loss of power feet will start hip
to shoulder width apart hands are about 1 thumbs distance from the hips you want
to lower the bar to just above the knee while maintaining a nice flat back heels
remain down in arms are straight torso will then rotate to a vertical position
before you fire the legs and hips at the same time shoulder shrug to pull that
barbell up on to your shoulders and the movement is complete with the full hip
knees locked out and the barbell resting up on the shoulder start out light here
focus on form before you really start adding some weight and adding some speed
well that's it those were just a few of the core exercises for golf that I like
to program for my clients here at signum golf if you want the full list click the
link in the description to be taken to our blog post
there's even an option to download the entire list
for free we also sell a full workout golf program where we incorporate many
of these movements into our programming if you like this video please comment
and subscribe to my channel or check out some other popular videos have a great
day and remember everyone strength and flexibility in the gym equals distance
and confidence out there on the golf course