The days of yesteryear when golfers were viewed as non-athletes is over. Nowadays, walk the range at any professional event and you’ll notice players don’t look like golfers from back in the day — they’re much more fit. That doesn’t mean you have to be fit to play golf, and there are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part, if you want to be an elite golfer, you’ve got to be in shape.
The trouble is, not a lot of golfers know how to get in golf shape. It’s a little different than training your muscles for other sports, so you need to know what to work on to get it right. That’s where Jamie Greaves comes in. He’s a golf-fitness guru located in the UK, and he’s made it a goal of helping get golfers stronger and swinging harder.
Below are the five most common mistakes he sees golfers make in their fitness journeys.
1. Lifting too much
Golfers might be athletes, but they aren’t bodybuilders. Your exercise regimen should be focused on increasing athleticism, not just gaining strength.
2. Too much mobility training
You need to be mobile to make a good golf swing, but you don’t need to be too limber. As long as you have a solid range of motion in your swing, you should be fine. Greaves says a few minutes of mobility training every day is plenty.
3. No in-season training
Just because the weather starts getting nicer doesn’t mean you should abandon the gym. If you do, you’ll lose all the gains you made in the offseason. Keep yourself in shape through the season by working out between rounds on the course.
4. Overcomplicating exercises
In golf, the simpler, the better. That holds true in your golf fitness journey as well. Don’t overcomplicate things.
5. Overworking
Don’t push yourself too hard in the gym. If you work out so hard that you can’t move the next day, you’re probably going too hard. Greaves says that golfers can make substantial progress with two to three hours in the gym every week.
