How to Get Your Golf Game Fit and Ready for the Season

Reality Check: Start getting your golf game ready -- it's never too early. Get your game fit for the season!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• An open mind
• a little desire
• a little discipline
• a little determination

1. It may be cold and brown -- or white! -- but it's time to start getting your game ready! Make a commitment to improve your golf game this year, and get beyond conventional theories -- if you're following the same old conventional theory then you'll receive the same old conventional results. If you're still trying to keep your head down, you definitely need to see a pro...
2. Use a golf club to help stretch -- it will help you get in the spirit of the game! Good fitness, equipment fitness, good instruction, and a some common sense -- these aren't secrets, but they are the four keys. Any one will help. All four will compound your improvement. It's winter, and you have just a few months to get your game in shape ... Start now!
3. Loop your elbows around the shaft and slowly turn... don't swing your body around quickly or bounce to stretch. Fitness: If you're committed this will help more than you know, and besides, it's cold outside! Consult a doctor before you start. Make a schedule and commit to it even if it's only 30 minutes twice a week. You need to take a couple of months to strengthen your legs and core, stretch, and do some aerobic exercise. If your legs can't support what your mind wants to do then your balance is already affected. If walking is all you can do, then start doing it.
4. Use a slow side lunge to stretch your hips, thighs, and ankles. Do golf-specific stretches regularly -- say 3 to 5 times per week, and before each round. Warm your muscles first by doing 10 - 15 minutes of walking or other aerobic exercise. Legs, hips, back, shoulders -- stretching your hamstrings and strengthening your quads takes stress off your back. Stretching your waist and back helps you turn your body in your swing. Stretching your back and shoulders creates a bigger turn and more power. Good fitness adds up to strength, flexibility, speed, and stability. Put those into a golf swing and you have better directional control and more distance.
5. If you see them for several visits, a massage or physical therapist can really help you with muscles and stretching. Muscles like to go back to where they were, so one visit may not help as much. Some are golf-specific, so search the web.
6. Make sure your clubs fit your balanced swing. Don't buy clubs unless the recommended fitting club actually performs better than what you have. Fitness for your clubs: a precise fitting for clubs is essential. Can you play with clubs that don't fit? Sure, but can you play well with clubs that don't fit? For every one who does there are hundreds that can't. If your clubs don't fit a good swing then you won't make one. Get a club fitting from a certified teacher/club fitter!
7. If nothing else, at least have a golf pro test your equipment. If your clubs don't fit, at least it's nice to know whether the ball might go left or right. Be warned that clubs that don't fit can actually cause injuries -- for example if the shaft is too stiff and the loft is too low you'll fight to hit it higher which puts unnecessary stress on your back, hips, shoulders, and arms. And, consider if all that's happening and you're trying to keep your head down, you're making it worse. Are you talented enough to compensate for clubs that don't fit? It may be hard to hear, but it's not likely.
8. Good fitness in both health and clubs helps you do what your mind thinks. Instruction: Get some one-on-one instruction from a good, reputable golf pro. If the pro knows the benefits of proper equipment and the right swing, then you're ahead of the game. Balance is first and foremost. If you're off balance then you're losing power and accuracy. In an effort to hit it straight, if your club doesn't fit it can throw you off balance.
9. Slopes and hillsides -- if the course were flat we probably wouldn't want to play it. Ask the pro to go beyond the golf swing, however. Why can't you hit the ball solid and straight every time? Guess what? It's not supposed to: for one thing, common sense says the golf course is not flat! For example, if your ball is on the side of a hill the ball is not supposed to go straight. Or, if the ball is in the rough you may not be able to hit it solid. Ask the pro to go on the golf course to teach you. If they can't or won't, find another pro. Playing better golf is not all about the golf swing...
10. Common sense says PRACTICE. Ok, the driving range is fine. But do some practice on the golf course in your first 2 or 3 outings. Best way: Go out when the course is not busy. This is a great way to learn and improve. Just remember not to hold up the play of others. Or, tell your playing partners you're playing a practice round and hit some extra shots on the course for practice. Encourage them to do so as well.
11. How can you learn from hitting extra shots on the course? One way is to immediately try to correct what went wrong on the last shot. You may not be successful, but by trying to correct it you will learn in the long run.
12. A fit you, a fit club, and good instruction support great positions, balance, and power! Combine fitness, club fitting, instruction, and common sense and you'll play better golf.

Tips & Warnings

• Equipment Fitness -- it's not just for pros. In fact, the less accomplished you are, the more club fitting helps.
• You can play golf with a bad back, but consult your doctor. Softer shafts, and sometimes longer clubs will compensate for your ability to bend. Don't try to overextend your backs wing -- move your chest and hips together and you'll take stress off your back. See a pro for more help.
• Many beginners quit the game because they can't hit the clubs they try.
• Health and Fitness are the new keys on the pro tour. For those of us old enough to remember, we always new Gary Player was on the right track.
• It's difficult to say how many injuries have been caused by clubs that don't fit a good, biomechanically correct swing. If your clubs don't fit a good swing, chances are you'll compensate to try to hit it straight. Swing compensations are not advised as they force your body into movements that are not correct. A pro should be a certified club fitter and have a clear understanding of the relationship between the proper swing and the proper fit of the club.