Top 2 drills to set your body up for a powerful swing

Following on from the theme of our previous article titled ‘Top 3 Mobilising Exercise to optimise your golf backswing’ we are now going to address the body faults that can affect a powerful set up position.

The Problem: Many golf players suffer from body faults limiting them from getting into the correct position at address. If we look at all the powerful hitters at address we see a very relaxed athletic looking position that is balanced and loaded, ready to
explode. However, this is not a common theme that runs amongst the mass majority of ‘every day golf players’ that I see. In players that struggle to get into this athletic position at address we typically see limitations in calf’s, hamstrings and hips. Restrictions in these areas will prevent your ankles and glutes (bum) to load in the backswing, therefore inhibiting your power transfer at impact.

The Solution: As with all the solutions to body faults affecting the golf swing there is not a definitive list and there never will be because the body is so complex and human beings are so individual. However, we can identify some key players. As I
mentioned before, the major culprits preventing your from achieving an athletic posture are your calf’s, hamstrings and hips. In order for these areas to be affectively loaded at address they need to have the appropriate range of motion (flexibility) and stability. At GPA we now know that training flexibility and stability in isolation is not going to improve your swing. Instead you have to train them together through integrated exercises specific to golf. GPA have developed a training method called Flexstability™ to help players take their game to the next level.

1. Glute Mobiliser: Fully functional glutes are fundamental to produce a powerful swing and they typically become tight. As glutes are the major power source to the swing they should not be neglected. Perform this drill through movement (moving in and out of the stretch). 8 times both sides before you play golf and every morning
and evening for the next 2-3 weeks.

2. Glute Activation: This drill is specifically designed to activate the glute’s through rotation. Once you have achieved a greater range in the glutes (above drill) you now need to tell the glutes to activate through that new found range, which this drill is designed to do. We are tweaking this drill with an extra forward tilt to turn on the glutes. Perform 10 drives each side every time you have finished the above drills, never hold! If this is to difficult toe touch the floor with the other foot and progress to a 1 leg balance.