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By Lance Gill
Titleist Performance Institute

Improving distance and power is a common goal among golfers. After all, it is that well struck driver on the 18th hole, or the 5-iron over water to the back pin that keeps us coming back for more.

SEE THE EXERCISES

• Leg Overs • Hip Twisters

Leg Overs

Hip Twisters

Even PGA TOUR members are continually striving to improve their distance and power and there is nothing sweeter than hitting a perfect golf shot. The problem is that these superlative shots occur with far less frequency than most of us would like.

The good news is that help in attaining these goals is now readily available! Regardless of your age, current physical condition or playing expertise, you can take a "proactive approach" to achieve greater distance and power. There is no piece of golf equipment more important than your body. If that piece of equipment is unable to function properly, it becomes impossible to perform at a high level.

One of the main issues in obtaining power and distance in the golf swing is the ability to control and generate adequate power from what is referred to as the "core." The core is a grouping of muscles in and around the midsection including but not limited to the abdominal, low back extensors, and hip abductors and adductors.

To generate optimal power, not only is it important to develop core strength, but also core mobility. Having core mobility allows a golfer to separate the "upper" from the "lower" body and vice versa. Mobility is defined as the possession of adequate ranges of motion in both a muscle and joint complex.

Along with mobility, the core must be trained to encourage stability. Stability is defined as the possession of adequate strength in a muscle group to control motion in that body segment. The combination of core mobility with core stability results in core separation, which in turn creates the torque and fluidity needed to optimize your swing.

This month I want to give you two exercises, Leg Overs and Hip Twisters geared to achieve greater core separation. One will address mobility and the other will address stability. Used together, these exercises will help your core separation increase greatly, resulting in more distance and power generated in each swing.

Exercise 1: Leg Overs

While lying on back, raise one leg to an upright position. With both arms outstretched to side, allow raised leg to gently fall towards opposite hand. While lowering leg, maintain upper body position with shoulder blades firmly on floor and not elevated.

This stretch is aimed at obtaining more core mobility via movement of the lower body upon a static upper body. This stretch should be performed 10-15 times on each leg and should be held for approximately 2-5 seconds each time. (Always perform any stretch in a slow controlled manner, and never to the point of pain).

Exercise 2: Hip Twisters

While in golf stance, and arms crossed over chest, slowly rotate the hips to the right and then back to the left. While rotating the hips, maintain a quiet, non-moving upper body. This stability exercise is designed to improve the ability to rotate the hips while not moving the upper body.

This Body-Swing connection is central to the philosophy of ClubGolf Performance Center. ClubGolf's mission is to make better golfers through specialized training techniques. These techniques have been proven to work on many of the top players in the world, including Vijay Singh, Davis Love III, Brad Faxon, and Phil Mickelson.