Strength Training For Golf
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the two factor model Of Sports Performance
The concept of the Two Factor Model of Sports Performance is credited to Mark Rippetoe, author of one of the foremost strength training books Starting Strength 3rd Edition.
All sports benefit from a two pronged approach that encompasses two factors, training and practice, but where many athletes miss out is in understanding the massive leverage that the right kind of training can bring, golf is a good example of this.
Why You Want to be training not just practicing
Coaching golfer Andy Kidd on the bench press exercise.
If we even out the technical ability of golfers and match you against someone of a comparable skill level, then in almost all instances the more athletic (powerful) of the two of you will be the winner; this article specifically addresses the untapped and highly trainable athletic advantage you can bring to your golf game to help make sure you are the more athletic of the two competitors.
In recent times golfers such as Bryson DeChambeau have leveraged exactly this kind of training approach to their advantage.
Understanding Training and Practice
For clarity let’s unpack the two concepts of practice and training:
Practice is the time spent on the course, driving range or putting green learning and refining the technique of executing increasingly improved golf shots. Practice is the game of golf in entire rounds as well as its constituent parts.
Training takes places away from the golf course. It is the process by which you enhance athletic capability with specific exercises designed to increase strength, power, endurance, balance, range of motion and all the physical attributes of a well rounded athlete.
A correctly designed strength training programme would harmonise the process of training alongside existing time you’ve planned for golf.
Image credit Anvesh
The Advantages strength Training Brings to golf
When applied to golf over a relatively short amount of time you would most likely notice the following advantages in your golf game: The ability to drive the ball further and with increased precision.
An increase in stamina throughout the game, a heightened ability to focus during the execution of shots and a reduction in tiredness over longer rounds of golf leading to also being able to play back-to-back days of golf or to play longer rounds if so desired.
These training effects apply to both men and women.
“As your strength improves, by default the power to drive the ball further will increase”
Image credit Andrew Lomas
The Science of Strength Training for Golf
Strength can be defined as the production of force against an external resistance. In golf this is the use of the body and club producing force to drive the ball to the desired target point.
Power can be defined as strength that is displayed explosively.
Referring back to Bryson DeChambeau, it is both strength and power that he is using to drive the ball vast distances, this is combined with the precision that comes from finely tuned practice in the movement pattern of his golf swing.
The scientific formula for strength is: S = F x D
Strength is force applied times the distance something is moved.
The scientific formula for power is very similar: P = F x D / Time
Power is force times distance divided by time.
How to build a powerful golf swing
Upon closer investigation the formula for power unravels to us one very important conclusion that must be taken into consideration if you want to leverage any kind of competitive advantage from training into your golf game. In two out of the three components we can do very little to nothing to affect change!
Distance: If measured from the head of the club in the raised position overhead (start position for your golf swing) to the point of contact with the ball on the ground this will virtually always be the same, with minor variation for length of the golf club.
Time: When it comes to teeing off, this is cannot properly be done slowly. All golf swings to tee off are fast and explosive and measured in fractions of a second. Any improvement to this variable will be relatively minute.
Conclusion: Therefore we can conclude with a scientific level of certainty that the only element of the power equation that you can affect is F – Force. A.K.A Strength and your ability to get stronger, train your central nervous system to recruit into contraction the most amount of motor units (the muscle fibres and nerves that innervate them) and produce more force.
The Key Takeaway means that as your strength (force) improves, by default your power (the ability to drive the ball further) will increase. This puts you in a position to close down the distance to the hole more efficiently as the length of your drive improves.
Starting Strength Training
The beauty of strength training is that it does not require much equipment. It is scalable to be as light as needs to be to meet your current strength level and it can be progressed incrementally to keep your strength developing over years.
It is perfectly measurable, enabling you to track results on a session-to-session basis which many people find very reaffirming and motivating.
One of the reasons it is so effective is because the method uses barbells. Barbells can be loaded to a fractional amount, as little as 0.5kg, which means you can move up in strength at the pace that best suits you, there are no unmanageable leaps and things can be started as light as they need to be.
In strength training with barbells we focus on what your body needs to be able to do. This means focussing on movement patterns the human body naturally does and getting those stronger.
When people move, and move any objects from a golf bag to luggage to picking up their kids many muscles and joints are involved. We rarely isolate muscles in normal human movement. Barbell training mimics the normal human movement patterns in a way that can be carefully trained and improved. As a side note, this is whey many of the people I have coached go on to report back to me with delight that as they get stronger all other tasks they do at home or in their daily lives begin to feel easier to do!
The principle barbell exercises we use that mimic human movements are as follows:
The Shoulder Press, reaching up over head and maintaining good balance as we do so.
The Squat, a sit to stand movement that trains vast amounts of muscle on the body, and is perfect for building strong legs and hips.
The Deadlift, a hip hinge movement that builds a strong, resilient back and teaches the art of lifting any object from the ground safely and precisely.
The Bench Press, done lying down on a bench and develops a strong chest and the movement of pushing and object away.
In relation to golf all 4 exercises will come together to have an impact on the power of a golf swing.
In particular the bench press and shoulder press will play a key role driving the ball with new levels of speed and precision. The squat and deadlift will support the bio-mechanics of the movement as the body drives force from the feet through the kinetic chain of the body to the golf club and into the ball. Deadlifts and squats also build a strong back which helps mitigate against back pain and muscle tweaks.
The programme used to match this training to a golfer is customised to their weekly diary and starting point.
I would suggest a minimum of two strength training sessions/week and for many people three training sessions will yield the best results, with exercises performed for three sets of five reps each at working weight for that session.
In The Long Term
In the long term whether your a professional golfer or have only just begun the game, the chances are that you’ve grown to love your time on the course.
The strength training approach matches the method I use with men and women for a heathy ageing outcome. An outcome that I explain is used to keep us strong and healthy into our later years, and importantly keep us independent in life and doing the things we love, and that absolutely includes time spent on the golf course for many years to come.