Get In Shape For Golf

Now when most people think of golf, physical exertion hardly comes to mind. But we all know that a round of 18 holes can really take its toll on the body and the mind. While I am no expert on golf fitness, just looking at how most top professionals train will show you the amount of importance they place on their physical conditioning.

Improving your fitness could potentially help improve your control over the club, your concentration and consistency, your balance plus the power of your swing. However, I?m guessing that a lot of you really aren?t very interested in starting a full-on fitness program in the hope that it will help your golf game. But here?s just a few simple ways that any player, regardless of their current physical condition, can get in shape for their next round, with really no effort at all.

Strength

Sure you can go to the gym and bulk yourself up to crush the life out of the ball, but that?s not always necessary. If you?re looking to improve your strength specifically for golf, it would be best to stick with exercises relating to the movements of your swing. Such things as rotational exercises with weights in different positions will only take a few minutes of your time each day, but will improve your core strength as well as your flexibility, balance and control.

Flexibility

It?s one of the main areas people need to work on. There are a range of different stretches that you can do that will help your movement when you swing, but one thing most players ignore is performing a proper warm up. A few light stretches and a couple of swings with a heavy club (or two clubs) will help loosen up your joints and muscles for the round. Doing it often will help keep your golfing muscles loose all of the time.

Endurance

Again there are many ways to improve your endurance, but if you are looking for a quick golf specific solution, you can?t go past walking. I mean it?s what we do for the majority of the time that we are out on the course, and if you can learn to walk longer distances without getting tired then your swing is not going to suffer as much later on in the round.

So even if you don?t want to commit to a serious training program, you can still get in shape for golf, and maybe even improve your game just by performing a few of those simple exercises every now and then.

Matthew Roberts is the creator/author of The Golf Files. It's a FREE weekly golf newsletter shaped by the readers, and includes a range of articles on all sorts of interesting golf topics.

Feel free to check it out at http://www.TheGolfFiles.com/