What is fitness training equipment specific to golf? Is there such a thing? I'll bet you thought you go to a gym and bang on the machines for a couple of hours right?
First off...it is not in a gym, and secondly it's not expensive or painful. There are fancy and very expensive fitness for golf machines, but they are total "overkill" in my opinion. You don't need to spend $2500 to improve your golf swing!
The golf swing is a "free flowing" dynamic movement completed in space with your whole body. So any kind of training or golf fitness equipment should be able to accommodate this.
I've designed all my programs, dvds and books to utilize the below equipment for one reason. Convenience. Which will save you time to do what you really want to do. Play golf!
Dumbbells (handweights)
For starters, a pair of hand weights (dumbbells) are inexpensive, portable and can be used for dozens of golf-specific exercises. They don’t have to be heavy or cumbersome. You’d be surprised what a 5 to 8 pound pair of dumbbells can accomplish with the right golf exercises.
Golf Exercise Tubing
Next on the list of golf fitness equipment is tubing. You may have seen it in articles, on the television or in a catalog. Exercise tubing is extremely portable, very inexpensive and also can be used to mimic many phases of the golf swing, but with resistance.
I personally use exercise tubing in all of my programs, with all of my personal clients and in my own golf workouts. It can give you one heck of a workout if you have the right resistance. These bands come in varying tensions from light to extra heavy.
Golf Exercise (Stability) Ball
Another piece of golf fitness equipment is a stability ball. It’s the big ‘beach ball’ looking thing that is used in offices to sit on, in many exercise classes, at most health clubs and all of the physical therapy clinics.
Why? Because again it’s portable, inexpensive and very versatile. Doing golf exercises on the ball incorporate core stabilization, balance and stability. All important factors in a mechanically sound golf swing.
Golf Medicine (weighted) Ball
And the last piece of golf fitness equipment is a weighted medicine ball is the . You might remember them from several decades ago as the big leather balls that the old fitness fanatics used to improve strength and power.
Well now they’re back! They are used in every sport-specific strength program in existence. You can do so many sport-like movements with them and they weigh as much as 20 pounds, so you can imagine the benefit from a power standpoint.
I have a couple of my ‘bread-and-butter’ exercises I use in all my programs that incorporate the weighted medicine ball and they are very effective.
So there you have it! Three or four pieces of inexpensive and portable golf fitness equipment.
Mike Pedersen
Golf Performance Expert
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!
I'm now offering my membership for free to give back after 10 years of golfers paying $97 a year.
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Mike Pedersen is the creator of the "Power Golf Training Online Membership - What Every Golfer Should Know About How To Hit Longer Drives And Play Pain-Free Golf", and has taught thousands of golfers how to add up to 40 yards to their drives.