FITforeGOLF™ Strength
FITforeGOLF™ - Strengthen Your Game
Jason Zuback, the World Long Drive Super-star, was once asked what his best advice was to help the average player hit the ball further. His response was simply to strengthen the abdominal muscles.
The abdominal muscles are some of the strongest muscles in the body. There are actually several layers of abdominal muscles in the trunk and not all of these are involved in trunk rotation. The oblique and transverse abdominal muscles are the main muscles involved in trunk rotation. In addition to rotating the trunk, these muscles have the additional benefit of bracing the spine thus protecting it from injury. The POWER and PROTECTION offered by the abdominal muscles makes them the most important golf muscles in the body.
​
The following are two very effective abdominal/core exercises that can easily be performed at home. The advantages of the exercises are that they have been shown to target the same abdominal muscles used in the golf swing. The Abdominal Fit Fore Golf exercise can be performed by carefully attaching elastic exercise tubing to an existing golf club or by purchasing an inexpensive ready-made FITforeGOLF™ device soon to be available in the Products section of this website.
ABDOMINAL FIT FORE GOLF EXERCISE
Place the anchoring strap in a door frame at about mid-thigh height and close the door so the stopper prevents the tubing from being dislodged. With the tubing securely fastened move away from the door until initial resistance is felt at the set-up position shown in the Backswing diagram.
While holding the Strength Trainer grip like a normal club, start the backswing exercise by first GENTLY drawing in your lower tummy and belly button about 1 cm. Now slowly move your arms straight back (as one stable unit) against the elastic resistance. Your arms will not get very far before the elastic resistance stops further motion. DO NOT let your trunk or hips move; only your arms. Your elbows should remain straight.
Return to the start position and repeat 15-25 times. CONCENTRATE on feeling your abdominals tighten on each repetition. Once you have finished the Backswing direction, turn and face the opposite direction so you can repeat the exercise in the Downswing direction.
BACKSWING
DOWNSWING
ABDOMINAL SIDE-BRIDGE EXERCISE
Lie on your left side and prop yourself onto your left forearm.
Keep your trunk and upper thighs straight and bend both knees to 90 degrees (not shown). Firmly “draw-in” the skin between your belly button & pubic bone (transverse abdominis contraction) then raise your hips and pelvis off the ground. Stop if you feel pain in your left shoulder.
Hold this position while continuing to draw-in your lower tummy. You should start to notice a moderate fatigue in the lower torso (usually takes about 10-15 sec). Once there is a moderate fatigue from holding the side bridge position, slowly perform as many dynamic up and down repetitions as possible (typically about 10-15 reps). Repeat on the right side. The exercise can be made much harder by keeping the knees straight (shown).
