If you think the golf course is the only place you can improve your golf game, you may be surprised to learn that your own home is one of the best places to work on any habits on the course/driving range that need improvement. However, this is often neglected and it can lead to frustration when trying to make changes on the range or course.
The good news is that you can start building your ideal body for golf right from the comfort of your own home using simple training exercises and little to no equipment.
Here, we’ll look closely into the ways that at-home training can improve your golf game in just a few minutes a day and the best golf exercises to do at home.
The Importance of At-Home Exercises for Your Golf Game
Think golf is a low-impact, gentle, easy sport? Not quite. While golf is one of the best low-impact workouts you can enjoy, golf also requires excellent physical fitness, flexibility, mobility, and strength to haul your golf bag and clubs around, walk the course, and execute a proper golf swing.
Golf involves ballistic movements, meaning it involves sudden bursts of exertion at maximum velocity and acceleration. Golf is also one-sided. Players can swing dozens of times from one side of the body during a single game, leaving the body susceptible to overuse injuries and muscle imbalances.
Exercises that address mobility in the shoulders, upper back, and hips are especially important, as are compound exercises that train the muscles to work together as a unit. Increased mobility ensures a better range of motion to hit the ball farther while also reducing the risk of lower back issues.
Exercises that increase flexibility in the hip flexors are also crucial as tight hip flexors can increase the risk of a lower back injury and prevent you from executing a good backswing.
4 At-Home Golf Training Exercises
Here, I’ll go through 4 essential training videos to improve your golf game at home. Each move is designed to address important aspects of an effective at-home golf exercise program, including movement patterning (repeating certain movements until they become second nature), balance, mobility, flexibility, and strength.
By regularly committing to these simple golf exercises you can do at home, you can improve your golf swing, decrease your chance of injury, hit the ball further, and improve your golf scores.
1. Resistance Band Training
One of the major issues many golfers struggle with is lateral movement and swaying from the right side across to their left side in their swings. This is often a result of tight hip flexors or weak glutes.
This drill is an excellent exercise to work on at home and uses just a resistance band. It is an effective way to help you activate the proper muscles and develop the right support, rotation and coil with your backswing.
Once you master this drill using just a resistance band, you can increase the difficulty of this exercise by holding a small medicine ball or barbell against your chest.
2. The Grip
In this video, I’ll go over some tips on finding the proper golf grip. The wrong grip can lead to many bad shots, but grip is one of the hardest habits for a golfer to change.
Although it can be difficult to successfully correct your grip, you are sure to see huge improvements in your golf game once you do. However, working on your grip in a high-pressure situation is a recipe for frustration.
Instead, work on your grip in non-pressure situations, such as at home in front of your favourite tv show. Work on how you hold the club and practice different grips to work on getting a sense of the proper form and how different grips feel.
By repeating this movement pattern and making a habit out of gripping the club properly, you’ll automatically see positive changes next time you are on the golf course.
3. Club Behind the Back for Correct Rotation
In this instructional video, I demonstrate a simple training exercise that can help you learn proper rotation for a golf swing. Rotation is often taken too literally in the golf swing.
The fact that we are tilted over and behind the ball means that we need to understand the correct way to stretch away from the golf ball. This simple drill can help you learn the feeling of proper rotation and correct form using only a golf club or alignment stick.
4. Weight Distribution and Tilt
Creating a strong supportive base with your legs and a natural tilt behind the ball is an effective way to create a strong golf swing. Once you are comfortable with the proper posture, revisit the sensation of being grounded through your feet.
Many people tend to stand with their feet literally shoulder-width apart. While this common posture may look or feel okay, feet that are too close together can lead to wobbling and instability.
To improve balance and increase stability for a strong golf swing, feel your feet planted firmly on the ground. To practice this at home, look at your posture in a mirror and observe how your weight distribution affects your natural tilt and rotation.
For instance, standing completely square rotates the body but does not mimic the actual golf swing. It is crucial to keep your weight evenly distributed. Feel the right shoulder sitting a bit lower than the left and learn the feeling of even weight distribution.
The proper stance and weight distribution put you in the ideal position to make the proper rotation. Repeat this drill over and over until you get the ideal weight distribution.
Want More Golfing Tips and Golf Training Exercises?
Following a comprehensive, structured at-home workout can significantly improve your physical fitness and translate to a better golf game, allowing you to reduce your risk of injury, stay pain free, and play longer.
For more instructional golf videos on everything from at-home golf drills, tips to improve your putting, how to properly grip a golf club, which club to use, and so much more, check out my online golf academy page or my regularly updated blog.
