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Every golfer wants more speed. You’ll never attain it if you hang back on your trail side through impact. Or simply slide forward or think only of finishing on your front foot. Your move must be more athletic to deliver the club at the speed you’ve been looking for. What you’re missing is a right side push.

I liken the move to what an MLB pitcher does. Sure, he finishes on his front foot. But what gets him there? The answer is a big push off his trail leg. It’s this push that has the potential to send your swing speed off the charts.

Fitness

You can work on this at the gym or at home with the help of a resistance band and a buddy.

Have your friend hold one end of the band and you the other, as you see above. Load up as normal on your backswing, where the band will go loose, then swing through by really pushing off that trail leg and not just rotating your hips. Think of it as a knockout punch.

Do 10 reps like this, then swing a club. You’ll feel the difference — and a lot more speed.

Tony Ruggiero is a GOLF Top 100 Teacher and the founder of Dewsweepers Golf.

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The post A PGA Tour trainer is helping me add swing speed. Here’s what’s working appeared first on Golf.

The post A PGA Tour trainer is helping me add swing speed. Here’s what’s working appeared first on Golf.

Hitting the ball longer has long been a goal of mine. Only recently, though, did I decide to get serious about it.

After years of procrastinating, I began chasing speed in earnest last summer. And much to my dismay, that pursuit required something I’d long avoided: the gym.

As someone who’s not exactly a gym-bro type, that was a tough pill to swallow. But after consulting with speed experts from across the game, one thing became clear — if I wanted more speed, I needed more strength.

Starting small

In the beginning, I kept it simple. A couple nights a week in the gym, learning what to do and how to do it. The work wasn’t glamorous, but it laid an important foundation.

Slowly, my swing speed began ticking up on the radar. The progress was encouraging — but I also knew I could be more efficient. That’s when I connected with PGA Tour trainer David Sundberg.

Working with a Tour trainer

Sundberg works with multiple Tour players, including Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. If anyone knows how to build golf-specific strength, it’s him.

“Whether you’re a Tour player or a recreational golfer, the principles are the same,” Sundberg told me. “Move well, get strong, and the speed will come.”

By the time I started Sundberg’s foundational strength routine (which you can read more about here), I’d hit a bit of a plateau. But once I began training with more structure and intention, my speed jumped almost immediately.

From the start, his approach was methodical. Before adding more speed-specific work, he wanted to see where my strength levels stood.

“I’d like to see where we’re at from a strength-development standpoint and how your strength-to-bodyweight ratios look,” he said. “We want a good amount of strength in comparison to body weight before we fully lean into speed-strength training.”

In other words: earn the right to train for speed.

After seeing those early gains, I asked Sundberg to build me a 90-day offseason plan. Now, roughly halfway through, the results are still coming.

Off-season gains

A lot of golfers dread the offseason. I’ve always enjoyed it — it’s usually when I make swing changes. This year, though, the focus shifted. Instead of just grinding on mechanics, I committed to three (sometimes four) days a week in the gym, with the remaining days reserved for simulator work.

The basic strength plan I followed late last year helped build a foundation. This offseason program has taken things up a notch. I’ve been sore more days this winter than ever before — the good, “functionally sore” kind — and my swing speed continues to climb.

As the program progresses, the emphasis will gradually shift.

“We’ll start phasing down the heavier lifting and move more into speed-strength work,” Sundberg said. “Lighter loads, more explosive intent — but only once the strength base is where we want it.”

The biggest surprise so far, though, hasn’t just been raw speed. It’s endurance. It may not look taxing, but maintaining solid mechanics over a four-plus-hour round — or even a long simulator session — is demanding. Once fatigue sets in, posture slips, sequencing gets sloppy and bad swings follow.

Even though we’re training primarily for max strength, Sundberg explained that endurance benefits are a natural byproduct.

“Even when you’re training for max strength, there’s a downstream effect on endurance and overall capacity,” he said. “You’re able to do more for longer before you fatigue.”

That’s been one of the clearest changes I’ve noticed. I can hit more balls without my mechanics breaking down. I don’t feel my posture collapsing late in sessions. And when fatigue doesn’t creep in, practice actually stays productive.

“It happens gradually, so you may not notice it in the moment,” Sundberg said. “But if you’re maintaining posture and swing mechanics deeper into the round, that’s a huge win.”

And if that translates to holding form on holes 15 through 18, that’s where real scores start to drop. Yet another reason the gym is becoming a permanent part of my routine.

Check out below for a breakdown of the offseason workouts I’ve been doing.

Off-season training program

Weekly structure

Day 1 – Lower Body (55–65 minutes)

Warm-up

Plyometrics (Level 2)

Strength

Rear-Foot Elevated Split Squat

Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift

Core Circuit

Day 2 – Upper Body (50–60 minutes)

Warm-up

Upper Body Plyometrics

Strength

Rest 90–120 sec between sets

DB Incline Bench Press

2-Arm Prone DB Row

Accessory Work

Core Circuit

Day 3 – Full Body (55–60 minutes)

Warm-up

Plyometrics

Strength

Half-Kneeling Landmine Press

Goblet Squat to Box
Rest 90 sec between sets

1-Arm Half-Kneeling Lat Pulldown

Tall-Kneeling Cable Chop

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The post This stretch is trusted by elite amateurs. You should use it, too appeared first on Golf.

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In the first two parts of this series, we looked at how elite players train connection and balance to build a swing that holds up under pressure. In this third installment, the focus shifts away from the swing itself and onto something that often gets overlooked: how the body prepares to turn before the club ever moves.

During the 2025 Walker Cup, my student Jase Summy, a standout at the University of Oklahoma, regularly used a simple resistance-band stretch to prepare his body for one specific goal: creating enough internal rotation in his trail (right) hip to make a full, athletic turn behind the golf ball.

At first glance, the stretch looks basic. In reality, it addresses one of the most common limitations in the modern golf swing, and one that affects amateurs far more than they realize.

Why internal hip rotation matters

Many golfers assume a short or restricted backswing is a swing flaw. In reality, it’s often a mobility issue. When the trail hip can’t internally rotate, the pelvis struggles to turn freely. The body then looks for motion elsewhere, often showing up as a sway off the ball, an arm-driven backswing or a rushed transition.

Elite players understand this distinction. They don’t force a bigger turn; they create the physical capacity for one.

By improving internal rotation in the trail hip, the pelvis can rotate around a stable base instead of sliding laterally. That allows the upper body to coil more naturally, setting up better balance and sequencing as the swing transitions toward impact.

Internal hip rotation stretch

In the drill (pictured above), Summy anchors a resistance band and uses it to guide his trail hip into internal rotation while maintaining posture. The movement is controlled and deliberate, not aggressive. The goal isn’t to stretch harder, it’s to prepare the body to move correctly.

One subtle but important detail is his trail foot position. Rather than letting the foot flare outward, Summy slightly pinches the trail foot inward. This small adjustment increases the demand on internal rotation in the right hip and deepens the stretch, making it easier to feel the pelvis turning behind the ball rather than drifting sideways.

As the band creates gentle resistance and the foot stays slightly turned in, the stretch encourages a true coil. The hips rotate, the upper body loads, and the motion stays centered — exactly what elite players want to feel at the top of the backswing.

This is a stretch Summy uses not just during warm-ups, but throughout the day, especially before practice sessions and competitive rounds, because it directly supports how he swings the club.

How it can help recreational golfers

For everyday golfers, the takeaway is simple: Better swings often start away from the ball. If making a full turn feels restricted or forced, the issue may not be mechanics at all.

Spending a few minutes improving trail-hip mobility (while paying attention to simple details like foot position) can make it easier to rotate without effort, reduce compensations and create a backswing that feels more connected and controlled.

Elite players like Jase Summy don’t rely on flexibility alone. They prepare their bodies to move the way the swing demands. By improving internal rotation in the trail hip, and using subtle setup details to deepen the stretch, they create the freedom to turn fully, stay balanced and repeat their motion under pressure. For golfers at any level, this stretch is a reminder that a better turn often starts before the club ever moves.

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Have you ever worked on a swing change with your instructor, felt like you really had it on the range, and then completely lost it the moment you stepped onto the first tee?

Here’s the thing: It’s not that you forgot what to do. It’s that your body literally doesn’t know how to do it yet. Not really. Not when it counts. I’ve watched golfers get frustrated because they can’t make their swing changes stick. They understand the concept. They know what they’re supposed to do. But the second they’re standing over a ball with a club in their hands, especially when there’s a little pressure on? Right back to the old pattern.

When you’re out there playing golf, you’re in performance mode. Your brain is thinking about where the ball needs to go, what the wind is doing, whether you can clear that bunker, and about 17 other things. In that moment, your body defaults to what it knows best — the movement pattern you’ve grooved over thousands of swings. Even if that pattern isn’t great, it’s familiar. It’s comfortable. It’s what your nervous system trusts.

That’s where these three exercises come in. They’re going to do two huge things for your game. First, they’re going to develop the strength, the mobility, and the stability that make a good golf swing possible in the first place. Second (and this is the part most players miss), they’re going to help your body actually learn new movement patterns in an environment where you’re ready to receive new information.

When you’re doing these exercises, there’s no ball to hit. There’s no target to worry about. There’s no scorecard making you anxious. You’re just training movement. You’re teaching your body what the new pattern feels like, over and over, until it becomes familiar.

These are simple exercises that every golfer can knock out in five to ten minutes a day, max. You can do them in your living room, your garage, or even your office if you’ve got a few feet of space. They’ll transform your swing, and help your body feel better in general.

3 exercises to help your golf swing

Exercise 1: The Backswing-to-Downswing Pattern

This one’s all about teaching your body the fundamental loading and unloading sequence that powers every good golf swing.

Grab a stretch band (one of those resistance bands you can pick up at any sporting goods store) and hold it across your chest. You’re going to stretch it out a bit, keeping tension on it the whole time. Now, step back with your lead leg to create a split stance.

Make a backswing keeping the band stretched across your chest, loading onto your trail leg. You’re going to be internally rotating into your trail hip, not sliding away from the target. Your goal is to keep that trail foot flush on the ground. 

Switch to the downswing side, keeping the band across your chest but pulling your trail leg back. As you make your shoulder turn with the band stretched, feel the vertical pressure pushing through your lead leg. 

Do 10 reps of the backswing load, then 10 reps of the downswing fire-through. Feel the difference between the two positions. Feel how your body moves from one to the other. That’s the pattern you’re after.

Exercise 2: Early Extension Ender

If your hips thrust toward the ball in the downswing and you lose your posture, you need this exercise. For this one, you’re going to need either a friend to help you out or an anchor point where you can attach your stretch band. If you’ve got a buddy, have them hold one end of the band. If you’re on your own, loop it around a door handle or a sturdy post — something that’s not going to move.

Set up in a split stance with your trail leg back. Hold the other end of the band in your hands, and there should be some tension on it. You want to feel like you’re pulling against resistance.

Turn through like you’re making a downswing, and as you do, feel your trail side (right side for a right-handed golfer) pushing through the shot. Your right shoulder should be working under, not out and around. Under and through.

The band is going to want to hold you back. You’re fighting against that pull, which forces you to push against the ground to maintain your posture and rotate instead of extend. Do 15 reps of this one. 

Exercise 3: The Dynamic Step Drill

Golf is not a static sport. You’re not standing still and just rotating in place. There’s a dynamic shift happening. There’s movement. There’s rhythm. And if you only train static positions, you’re missing a huge piece of the puzzle.

For this drill, hold your stretch band out in front of you with both hands and stretch it. You want tension on it, so pull it apart to engage your upper back and shoulders.

This one has a backswing and downswing component. For the backswing version, start with your feet together. Now, step back away from the target with your trail leg, and as you finish the step, turn into your backswing. The band stays stretched in front of your chest, and you’re rotating your upper body as you step back and load into that trail side.

This is training the dynamic loading pattern of the backswing. You’re not just turning in place. You’re stepping into the turn. You’re creating width. You’re loading with movement. This is how the backswing should actually work when you’re swinging a club. Do 10 reps of that. Step back, turn, feel the load. Step back, turn, feel the load.

For the downswing version, start with your feet together like before. This time, step toward the target with your lead leg, and as you finish the step, make a full shoulder turn through. The band is still stretched in front of you, and you’re rotating your upper body as you step forward and then fire through. Do another ten reps of the downswing movement. 

One thing to keep in mind as you do these: Make sure you’re giving as much attention to your backswing as you do your downswing. They’re equal elements of the same motion, and you want to make sure you’re addressing them both the same amount. Focusing too much on one vs. the other leads to imbalance or even to an injury.  

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The post I followed a PGA Tour trainer’s strength routine. The results shocked me appeared first on Golf.

The post I followed a PGA Tour trainer’s strength routine. The results shocked me appeared first on Golf.

This year, I came to a devastating realization: If I wanted to hit the ball further, I’d have to start working out in the gym.

I know this may seem obvious, but it’s a truth I’d avoided for years. I figured with the proper technique and a little speed training, I could pick up some swing speed. And while that is true, there’s no substitute for getting in the gym.

Mike Carroll, a strength and conditioning coach and founder of Fit for Golf, explained it succinctly when I spoke with him for a story over the summer: “Think of it like upgrading your engine.”

For someone who hadn’t so much as looked at a set of weights in over a decade, this was a tough pill to swallow. Nevertheless, I was desperate for more clubhead speed — so I headed to the gym.

Getting started

For the first four months of so of working out, I didn’t really have a plan. I’d go to the gym and work on legs one day, upper body another. It was certainly helpful for getting my muscles used to working out again, but as far as gains on the course went, the returns were minimal.

That’s when I met David Sundberg. Sundberg is a strength and conditioning coach who works with multiple top-ranked PGA Tour players, including Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, and he explained that working out is foundational to generating clubhead speed.

“Whether you’re a Tour player or a recreational golfer, the principles are the same,” he said. “Move well, get strong, and the speed will come.”

So, what exactly should I be doing in the gym? Well, Sundberg had a plan for me. He was kind enough to put together a five-week basic strength training plan, which you can see at the bottom of this story. And if I followed it, Sundberg was confident I’d make meaningful swing speed gains.

The program

When I first started the basic strength training program, I didn’t think it would generate many gains. In fact, after the first week of working out, I told my girlfriend it was “easy.”

The exercises might’ve felt easy, but that didn’t diminish their effectiveness. Thanks to Sundberg, I was targeting the correcting muscle groups and building strength in the places I needed to build swing speed.

“Even though our program was only five or six weeks, it still had a planned progression: certain sets, reps and weights,” Sundberg told me during our post-program debrief. “The idea is to start at a level that’s challenging enough to create a new stimulus, let your body recover, then hit the same movement pattern again with slightly more load the next week. That gradual increase forces the body to adapt and get stronger without doing too much.”

Each week, there were small tweaks to the program. Early on, it called for more reps, while later in the program, we added even more weight. I was doing the same set of exercises the whole time, and each week I got a little bit stronger.

Best of all, the program was tailored to building muscles used in the golf swing, giving me functional strength I could actually use on the course.

“In the golf swing, you load into your glutes in the backswing,” Sundberg said. “At impact, you’re pushing through the ground with your lead leg — using the quads — to stand up and transfer force through the body. So those exercises directly support that movement. Same with pushing and pulling [with your arms]. They give you the most return for your time compared to isolated exercises because they target pretty much the entire front and back sides of your upper body. For most golfers, especially those newer to structured strength training, that’s plenty to drive improvement.”

The results

Like I mentioned before, I’ve been doing some gym work and speed training since the summer in hopes of upping my ball speed. But after a few months, I felt like I’d hit a plateau.

When I began training in earnest, I topped out right around 100 mph of swing speed and 150 mph of ball speed. After those few months, I could get up around 102 mph swing speed and 152 mph of ball speed — but that seemed to be my limit.

After a few weeks of Sundberg’s basic strength program, I shattered both records. Over the past month, I’ve seen my max swing speed increase to 105 mph with my max ball speed reaching 154 mph. I know that progress is rarely linear, and those aren’t quite Bryson numbers, but adding that much speed over the course of a month was an exciting development.

What’s next

It’s officially the offseason up here in New York City. Although I’ll make a few trips to warmer climates throughout the winter, there will be no more golf in the Northeast until things thaw out in the spring.

Most people hate the winter for that reason — but I see it as an opportunity. Last offseason, I drilled the fundamentals like my life depended on it, and I came out of the winter much more technically sound. This winter, I plan to go all out getting my body ready for the season ahead.

I’ve already spoken to Sundberg, and he’s creating an offseason plan that I’ll stick to all winter long. If the results are anything like they were after his basic strength program, 2026 should be my best season yet.

If you want to give Sundberg’s basic strength program a try, check it out below

Basic Strength Routine (3 Days/Week)

Goal: Build foundational strength, control, and stability with moderate loads, unilateral emphasis and minimal fatigue risk.

Structure:

DAY 1 — LOWER BODY SESSION

Approx. 50-60 minutes

1. Warm-Up

After 5-10 minutes of light cardio, perform:

Intro Plyos (Level 1) — Rest 60 sec between sets

Goal: Prepare tendons, joints and the neuromuscular system for strength work.

2. Strength Block (Main Work)

Focus: Unilateral control with quad/hamstring balance.

A. Single-Leg Quad Dominant

Rear-Foot Elevated Split Squat (DB or bodyweight)

Rest: 120s between sets. Choose a weight you can perform 12 reps with (good technique).

B. Single-Leg Hamstring Dominant

Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift (DB)

Rest: 90s between sets. Choose a weight you can perform 12 reps with.

3. Hip Stability and Core

Perform as a circuit. Minimal rest between exercises; 90s after each round.

Goal: Reinforce pelvic stability and trunk stiffness during rotation.

DAY 2 — UPPER BODY SESSION

Approx. 45-55 minutes

1. Warm-Up

After 5-10 minutes of light cardio:

2. Strength Block

A. Push (Horizontal Focus)

Dumbbell Incline Bench Press

Rest: 90s between sets. Use a weight you can perform 12 reps with.

B. Pull (Horizontal Focus)

Two-Arm Prone DB Row

Rest: 90s between sets. Use a weight you can perform 12 reps with.

Perform A and B back-to-back, then rest 60s. Repeat for total sets.

C. Push/Pull Accessory (Scapular Focus)

3. Core and Stability

Perform exercises consecutively, then rest 90s. Repeat for total sets.

DAY 3 — FULL BODY SESSION

Approx. 45-55 minutes

1. Warm-Up

After 10 minutes light cardio:

Intro Plyos (Level 1):

2. Strength Block

A. Push (Scapular Focus)

Half-Kneeling Landmine Press

Rest: 90s between sets

B. Squat Pattern

Goblet Squat to 18″ Box/Bench

Rest: 90s between sets. Box teaches proper hip sit-back and neutral spine. Start with a dumbbell ~30% bodyweight.

C. Horizontal Pull

One-Arm Half-Kneeling Lat Pulldown (High Pulley)

Rest: 90s between sets

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Golfers obsess over quick ways to gain speed — new drivers, swing tips, speed training, you name it. But according to David Sundberg, a strength and conditioning coach who works with multiple top-ranked PGA Tour players, such as Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, the best way to gain speed is by taking care of your body.

“The first thing we always want to do is keep players injury-free,” Sundberg says. “Once they’re healthy and moving well, that’s when we can start adding the performance stuff — and for most players today, that means speed and distance.”

Sundberg begins every new player — pro or amateur — in the same place: with a movement assessment. He looks at posture, hip and shoulder mobility, core stability, and how well a player can hinge, squat and rotate. Those patterns are the real foundations for speed.

If something’s tight or restricted, the body simply can’t produce power efficiently in the golf swing. It also makes you more injury prone.

“If the hips aren’t moving well, the lower back takes a beating,” Sundberg says. “If the upper back isn’t moving well, the lower back takes a beating. And if the upper back is tight, the neck or shoulders take a beating.”

One area he prioritizes above all: hip internal rotation. Without it, golfers can’t load into their glutes — and without that glute load, speed is basically capped.

“Hip internal rotation is super important,” he says. “If you can’t load your hips properly, you can’t produce maximum power.”

The simple way to unlock more speed

Before players ever step under a barbell, Sundberg has them get their body moving. A typical pre-round or pre-practice routine includes loosening the hips, activating the glutes, engaging the core, freeing up the upper back and stabilizing the shoulders.

That combination, he says, helps a golfer rotate more efficiently and creates the separation needed for producing clubhead speed.

“Once you mobilize something, you want to activate it so those gains stick,” Sundberg says.

Only then does strength training enter the picture. And the good news? It doesn’t need to be complicated. Sundberg trains Tour pros with basic, full-body movements — squats or lunges, hinging patterns, rows, presses, core work and a bit of rotational or med-ball power.

“You can strength-train anyone with anything as long as you can progress it over time — make it heavier, harder, more challenging,” he says.

Sundberg likes to remind people that even though the pros he works with like Schauffele and Cantlay can bomb the ball 300+ yards off the tee, they aren’t superhuman.

 “They’re just people,” he says. “Their bodies aren’t necessarily better — they’re just incredibly skilled at hitting golf balls.

The takeaway? The things that hold back Tour players are the same things slowing down recreational golfers — tight hips, limited rotation, weak glutes, unstable cores. And the path to fixing those things is similar.

How often should you train?

If you’re not doing any gym work, Sundberg says even one or two sessions per week will help. But for golfers who really want to see meaningful speed gains, three sessions per week is the sweet spot.

Even better: pair that gym work with a short warm-up before practice or a round. Five minutes is enough to get the body moving the way it’s meant to.

In the end, Sundberg says the formula for more speed is refreshingly straightforward: better movement leads to better loading, better loading leads to more force, and more force leads to more clubhead speed.

“Whether you’re a Tour player or a recreational golfer, the principles are the same,” he says. “Move well, get strong, and the speed will come.”

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The post 3 easy exercises every golfer needs to protect their shoulders appeared first on Golf.

The post 3 easy exercises every golfer needs to protect their shoulders appeared first on Golf.

If you’ve ever watched tour pros on the range, you’ve probably noticed a crucial part of their pre-round routine: a proper warm-up. These key moves often help to boost their mobility, rotation and prime the “golf muscles” for a demanding day on the course.

While each of their moves is designed to activate different areas and muscles in the body, today we’re going to get into one of the lesser known (but highly important) areas of focus for pros: the shoulders. 

According to Marty Jaramillo, a sports injury and performance expert, amateurs often neglect their shoulders during their warm up. Likely because they don’t realize how important they are to the golf swing.

Healthy shoulders provide the mobility, strength and stability needed to generate power in your swing. Without proper shoulder function, players are prone to injury and might even sacrifice power, consistency and overall performance. 

But Jaramillo says you can prevent all of that by simply training this key area of the body once a week with three easy exercises: 

1. Shoulder circles

Stand with your feet together, arms stretched wide with your hands at shoulder height. You should form a “T”. From here, start making small circles forward. Once you hit 10, reverse the move and make 10 small shoulder circles in the opposite direction.

“There are 17 muscles that attach around the shoulder blade,” Jaramillo says. “All working together to provide you stability [in your swing].”

These shoulder circles are going to help with your basic range of motion and activate all of those key muscles in your shoulder blade.

2. Straight-arm band pull aparts

You’ve probably seen tour pros stretching brightly colored bands across their chest on the range, wondering: what are they doing?

Straight-arm band pull aparts are a great exercise to activate and strengthen the key muscles that attach at the shoulder, creating more stability in your swing. 

So, how do you perform this shoulder activation exercise pros swear by? Start by grabbing a long exercise band, one that allows you to fully extend your arms fully across your chest while still offering a bit of resistance.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees relaxed, yet athletic. Hold the band with both hands straight out in front of you at chest height. Slowly pull your arms apart until the band stretches flat across your chest, engaging key muscles in your shoulders and upper back. Your hands should end up in line with each other at shoulder height.

From there, bring your hands in slightly, then extend them back out to the sides, keeping the movement controlled and intentional. Repeat the motion, adjusting your hand position slightly between reps to target different areas of the shoulder. Aim for 6–10 slow, controlled repetitions, depending on your strength and mobility level.

“You can also then go above your head and start expanding,” Jaramillo says. 

This is a great option for golfers who are looking for a more challenging variation of the move. 

3. Bent-arm band pull aparts

The last exercise you can use to build healthy shoulders is a bent-arm band pull apart. For this one you’ll need a smaller exercise band with more resistance. A good rule of thumb is to pick a band you can only pull apart slightly, a few inches at most.

With that band in hand, stand with your feet shoulder width apart and arms bent at a 90-degree angle, elbows tight to your body. From here, you’re just going to open up and release.

“You’re going to keep repeating it until you feel that burn,” Jaramillo says, “which is the beginning of fatigue.”

The key for this exercise, Jaramillo says, is to keep your moves slow and controlled.

Once you’ve completed all three moves, your shoulders are primed and ready to swing. Incorporating this routine into your pre-round warm ups and weekly workouts is an easy way to keep your shoulders strong and healthy all season long. 

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The post Looking for a good golf warm up? These 4 moves will prime your body to swing appeared first on Golf.

The post Looking for a good golf warm up? These 4 moves will prime your body to swing appeared first on Golf.

Range sessions often set the tone for how we feel heading into a round. When you’re striking the ball well, you step onto the first tee feeling confident, focused, and ready to attack the course. So why not give yourself a bit of insurance by incorporating a simple warm-up routine that primes your body to have your best round possible?

The right warm-up will not only increase your mobility, stability and activate key golf muscles—it will also reduce your risk of injury. The result? A longer, healthier season that gives you the best chance at having that big breakthrough you’ve been working toward.

According to Marty Jaramillo, a sports Physical Therapist and performance coach with over 30 years of experience, all you need to have the perfect pre-round warm up is a wall, four easy moves and five minutes. Follow along with his simple routine to get your body moving and key muscles firing before you even touch a club.

To remember this quick routine, Jaramillo says to visualize a clock.

“You’re going to have one exercise at 12, one exercise at six, two at three and two at nine,” Jaramillo says. 

12 O’Clock – Lunge with upper body stretch (6 times)

Starting at 12, you’re going to get into a slight lunge. As you set your lower body, lean your upper body forward and extend your arm up the wall toward the ceiling. The arm you extend should be on the same side as the leg that steps back. 

“You’re going to get a nice lat stretch as well as calf and achilles stretch, and sometimes, depending on how inflexible someone is, you’re going to also feel a little bit in the hip flexor,” Jaramillo says. 

6 O’Clock – Squats with calf raise (6 times)

Next up is a dynamic move designed to activate your glutes, spine, calves, and achilles—all essential for creating stability and power in your swing. Start by squatting down and touching a spot on the wall that’s parallel to your knees. Then, as you rise, don’t stop at the top of your stance, continue driving up onto your toes. 

3 O’Clock, 9 O’Clock – Side lunge (6 each side)

At both the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions, you’ll perform a side lunge by stepping with your outside foot. Keep your toes pointed toward the wall as you lunge, arms extended out wide at shoulder height. Then reach in opposite directions with both hands—you should feel a stretch in your inner thigh and activation in your upper back as you extend.

“You really want to feel a separation of the shoulder blade as you reach your hand,” Jaramillo says. 

3 O’Clock, 9 O’Clock – Full body rotation (6 each side)

To wrap up the routine, Jaramillo recommends full-body rotations at both 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. Stand about an arm’s length from the wall with your feet facing forward. Whichever direction you’re rotating, place your outside hand (same side that you’re turning towards) on the wall. Then, thread your inside arm underneath the planted arm and rotate fully through the movement—including your trail foot—engaging your core and upper body.

This drill not only primes your body for rotational movement, but also helps improve hip mobility and prevents common swing faults that can kill your consistency and power.

“So much of our opening up too early, even early extension in our swing is the lack of hip mobility. Specifically hip internal,” Jaramillo says. 

According to Jaramillo, this exercise is an effective way to build that mobility and keep bad habits from creeping into your swing.

With all four moves complete, you’ve activated key muscle groups, improved mobility, and set yourself up for a stronger, more consistent round.

The post Looking for a good golf warm up? These 4 moves will prime your body to swing appeared first on Golf.

The post I copied Scottie Scheffler’s warm-up routine. Here’s what I learned appeared first on Golf.

The post I copied Scottie Scheffler’s warm-up routine. Here’s what I learned appeared first on Golf.

After Scottie Scheffler’s dominant victory at the Open Championship last week, a lot of golfers — myself included — have been trying to figure out how to steal a bit of his magic. While most of us will never be able to replicate his putting stroke or effortless ball-striking, there is one aspect of his game that you can copy that will help you tap into more power and consistency on the course: fitness. 

Like many of his fellow tour pros, Scheffler follows a carefully tailored fitness regimen to keep his body strong, flexible and in peak performance. One of the key tools in his training toolbox? GolfForever, a fitness system that’s helped him, and other pros, fine-tune their bodies for their game.

In fact, if you pay close attention, you might even spot GolfForever in Scottie’s bag during his range sessions. But this golf training system isn’t just for tour pros. Amateur golfers, like you or me, can benefit from using GolfForever. 

What is GolfForever?

GolfForever is a smart fitness system designed specifically for golfers who want to improve their strength, flexibility and mobility in a way that directly translates to better performance on the course.

The star of the show is their Swing Trainer — a portable, easy-to-use tool that can be mounted to nearly any gym equipment, wall, or even your golf cart. It allows you to incorporate targeted fitness exercises into your routine, helping you build a stronger, healthier foundation for your game.

And if you don’t have a team of experts behind you like Scheffler, don’t worry. One of the best things about GolfForever is how accessible it is. When you purchase the swing trainer, you get access to the GolfForever App, which has an extensive library of exercises designed to improve your golf-specific fitness — like this video of Scheffler’s pre-round warm-up with Troy Van Biezen, the director of performance at GolfForever. 

Curious, I wondered how GolfForever could help my game, and if Scheffler’s warm-up routine could be just the boost I needed before my rounds. So I figured if it’s good enough for Scottie, it’s good enough for me. I snagged one of the swing trainers above and headed to the course to put it to the test.

Scottie’s winning warm-up

All I needed was 10 minutes to complete Scheffler’s winning warm-up routine. I arrived at the course with an additional 10 minutes baked into my schedule to follow his fast, five exercise warm-up below.

1. Split-Stance rotation

2. Downward spine angle rotation

3. Single-leg eccentric lateral hold

4. Step back, turn press

5. Side lunge hold with rotation

Each of these meticulously selected exercises is designed to activate, strengthen and stabilize the key muscles used in golf, while enhancing your balance, mobility and rotational ability.

“We’re creating movement patterns in the gym that translate to the golf course, helping load the right side for a more repeatable swing,” Van Biezen says. 

Take, for instance, the single-leg eccentric lateral hold. This exercise targets your lateral muscles, including the core and glutes, which play a vital role in stabilizing the body during your swing. It also helps prevent sliding — a common mistake that often leads to inconsistent strikes.

As I worked through the warm-up, I quickly realized how much I’d been missing out on with my usual half-hearted stretching routine. After finishing, I quickly stowed the swing trainer in its compact bag and tossed it in the car before heading to the range for a few warm-up swings.

Within three swings, I noticed a significant difference in how my body felt. My swing seemed smoother and more effortless, and the muscles that typically tightened up after sitting at my desk all day felt more stable and primed for action. 

While I wouldn’t claim this will fix your swing overnight, I can say I saw an immediate boost in my consistency. I hit a few more greens in regulation and secured a couple of extra pars where I usually would’ve settled for bogey. A coincidence? That’s up for debate.

Parting thoughts

Overall, it’s clear why Scheffler relies on GolfForever for his pre-round warm-up. This routine prepped my body to perform and the swing trainer was easy-to-use as well as compact enough to toss into my bag.

Looking ahead, I’ll be making the GolfForever swing trainer a regular part of my routine — both before rounds and in my workouts. It’s an effective way to integrate golf-specific movements, helping me strengthen the key muscles that drive my swing.

To add Scheffler’s trusted golf-fitness tool to your arsenal, head over to Fairway Jockey today and pick up your very own GolfForever swing trainer today.

The post I copied Scottie Scheffler’s warm-up routine. Here’s what I learned appeared first on Golf.

The post Use this 5-minute warm-up to get loose before your next round appeared first on Golf.

The post Use this 5-minute warm-up to get loose before your next round appeared first on Golf.

If you’re anything like me, your pre-round routine isn’t exactly robust. Living in New York City, playing a round of golf is an all-day affair. Between the time it takes to commute to and from the course plus the time spent on the course, total time spent can exceed seven or eight hours.

Given the considerable amount of time it takes just to play 18 holes, I seldom have time for a proper warm up pre-round. While I’d love to hit balls and stretch for an hour, I just don’t have that sort of flexibility in my schedule. So, when I do play, I’m usually loosening up with a few swings on the first tee and then getting to it.

This isn’t exactly ideal, but I make do with what I have. If I needed a perfect warm-up routine before every round, I’d play considerably less golf.

But just because I don’t have time to warm up like the pros do doesn’t mean I can’t get properly loose before I play. In fact, with the five-minute routine from fitness coach Mike Carroll, getting my body ready to play is easier than ever before. Check it out below.

1. Leg swings

Your legs are an integral part of your golf swing, so having them ready to fire properly is crucial. Carroll suggests some legs swings to get the hips and the hamstrings loose.

2. Pelvis rotations

You’ve got to coil your body correctly to generate swing speed, and part of that equation requires you to get separation between your pelvis and torso. The pelvis rotation stretch below will help you get your body ready to move in this manner early in the round.

3. Full-body rotation

It can be tempting to get lazy and just use your arms and hands to swing the club, but when you do this, you cost yourself in consistency and power. Get your body used to the feeling of proper rotation with a full-body rotation exercise.

4. Arm circles

Don’t entirely take your arms out of the equation when you swing, though. You still need them to function when you swing. Use some arm circles to loosen up your arms on the first tee.

5. Neck rotations

You might not think of your neck as an important element in the golf swing, but it certainly is. No one can swing to their fullest capability with a stiff neck. Use some neck rotations to loosen it up.

The post Use this 5-minute warm-up to get loose before your next round appeared first on Golf.