Weight lifting for golf.....

[speed dawg]

Any of you have any weight lifting ideas for golf? I used to lift for football and baseball, but now that that's over, I play golf. I use sports as my motivation to lift weights.

What lifts equate to the golf swing? I figure stuff for forearms, hips, triceps? Whatever Tiger does....

 

[Throttle]

Well, a good swing (or even a fairly bad one) uses the whole body, although obviously the arms and core are extremely important. so you should be able to benefit from the same sort of 2 or 3 day split as anyone else, with perhaps a bit more accessory work. flexibility is very important, though, too.

tiger's workout 'revealed':

http://www.golfdigest.com/features/index.ssf?/features/gd200408tigerworkout.html

you'll notice that he still puts plenty of work into big compound lifts for 6-8 reps. that's the foundation for anything else.

 

[mrRuckus]

From Throttle's article:

"But what Woods does differently from a typical weight lifter, says Deep Bunker, is that he tries to perform various exercises in movements and positions that mimic the golf swing. He works on his golf posture and grip strength while, say, lifting dumbbells."

If nothing else, that probably increases strength neurally for that movement. I've been considering doing something like that in the gym for my softball swing. I thought maybe using a pulldown pulley type machine, setting the handle/pulley at waist height, and going through the motion of swinging a bat with the weight.

My softball swing in general... I hit harder since i started working out, and I think it's mostly from squats and deadlifts because most of the power of a swing comes from the hips, legs, and back.

I've moved down to a 26 oz bat since lighter is faster but still i know i swing the bat faster than i used to so i hit harder. It's obvious comparing my first season to my now 3rd season, though I'm still not a homerun hitter (occasionally) since I tend to hit hard line drives.

I'm not sure what the point is of Tiger Woods improving his grip strength because from what I understand you're not supposed to have a really tight grip when you swing.

 

[speed dawg]

I played baseball in college so I can help you with a softball swing. Bat speed is very important, but there absolutely can NOT be any give in the bat when it makes contact. Thus, wrist strength is vital. You can generate all the speed in the world but it's the actual torque that you need. Plus wrist strength generates even more speed when you snap the bat.

 

[Hockey Playa]

im glad someone made this thread, do you think the more muscle u put on, will have negative effects on your golf swing, because you are less flexible, and bulkier?

 

[BluEyes]

Not at all. Any muscle you have can be conditioned to be flexible. Unless you're some sort of Cirque du Soleil contortionist, muscle shouldn't reduce your flexibility, as long as you do full ROM.

Just afew thoughts though, because I also lift weights in addition to sports:

1) When you just start playing again after developing your body for awhile, your muscles have poor muscle memory, so it takes awhile to train the muscle you put on. When I came back from off-season this year, I couldn't serve(tennis) for ****. After a little while, about three weeks, I developed my strokes again, and this time they were more powerful and had alot more on them(spin/ppsi).

2) When you put on muscle, you'll naturally have to condition it. As far as golf goes, that means hitting the driving range for 30 minutes each day, for muscle memory.

All in all, muscle is good for any sport, as long as it doesn't hamper speed. I have to watch how big I get, because every lb I gain, is one more lb that I'll have to be dragging around the tennis court late in the 5th set of a ball-busting match. For sports, make sure you know what muscle groups you'll be utilizing most, and train those(accessory work if necessary). As Throttle and others said though, for any sort of physical activity, developing a foundation of strength in your legs, core, back, and chest couldn't hurt anybody.

 

[mrRuckus]

I played baseball in college so I can help you with a softball swing. Bat speed is very important, but there absolutely can NOT be any give in the bat when it makes contact. Thus, wrist strength is vital. You can generate all the speed in the world but it's the actual torque that you need. Plus wrist strength generates even more speed when you snap the bat.

Errr, velocity is a component of torque.


Wrists:
http://www.batspeed.com/messageboard/output/4832.html
Note particularly: " I recommend not gripping the bat too tight, just tight enough to keep it from flying free"

More on wrists:
http://www.batspeed.com/tf04.html - snapping the bat pointless
http://www.batspeed.com/tf03.html - no rolling the wrists