This short article is derived from Strength Training For Golf – The Fit For Golf Guide. That article goes into detail on everything you need to know about strength training for golf. In this shorter piece, I provide some clarity around “golf specific training”.
Most of what’s called “golf-specific training” is nonsense. It’s usually prescribed by people who don’t understand how physiology underpins performance. They get caught up in movement pattern similarity and ignore, or don’t understand, the need to actually stimulate adaptation.
There’s no such thing as “golf strength.” Strength is a product of the physiology in our muscles and nervous system. These same muscles and nervous system are what produce force in any activity we carry out. Our specific skill and movement mechanics in the sporting task, in our case, the golf swing, is what determines how well our strength is transferred, not whether the exercises we used to develop this strength are “golf specific” or not. When you are trying to swing a club at high speed, you’re relying on the adaptations you stimulated in training, not what the exercise looked like.
The vast majority of high level athletes in rotational sports train almost identically, because the adaptations we’re targeting happen at a basic physiological level. Track and field throwers, baseball hitters and pitchers, hockey players, hurlers – these athletes often display enormous potential for club head speed without ever having practiced golf, never mind performing “golf-specific” exercises in their training. They’re powerful because their neuromuscular systems have been developed to produce force quickly, both through their physical training and sports practice.
Now, is there a middle ground? Of course. Some exercises that resemble the golf swing can be highly effective, and I include them in Fit For Golf Programs. The key is that these exercises must still stimulate adaptation in the nervous system or muscles, otherwise there is no training effect, and you would be better off simply practicing your swing.
Sure, you can develop some swing feels in the gym, but there’s a strong chance you are using time poorly and neither improve your swing nor develop physically.
The vast majority of golfers, even those who’ve exercised with weights for years, still have massive room for progress with basic, structured, progressive strength training. This is what delivers real physiological adaptation, the kind that moves the needle.
So yes, there’s a place for “sport-specific exercises”, but they are a very small piece of a quality strength training program. The biggest transformation for most golfers will come from getting much stronger, while simultaneously working on swing mechanics and .
Swing mechanics and practicing swinging fast are where the golfer develops the ability to transfer their physiological capabilities to their swing.
Get brutally strong → develop great swing mechanics through intense practice → do targeted speed training.
That’s the combination that builds real performance
If you want to learn more about strength training for golf, check out my most comprehensive article on the subject, Strength Training For Golf – The Fit For Golf Guide.
It’s been a gamechanger for many golfers who were disappointed in the results their workouts were providing.
