By Sean M. Cochran
Special to PGATOUR.com

You hear the terms all the time. Address. Takeaway. Backswing. Transition. Downswing. Contact. Finish position. Most every golf coach in the country uses these words to break down the golf swing. But it’s also the way most every strength and conditioning coach does it as well. The difference is we want to find ways to strengthen the basic parameters of the body – flexibility, balance, strength, endurance and power – so you can work with your coach to create the perfect golf swing.

So, the goal here is to show you some exercises that will help you with every part of the swing. Now, first things first. Before starting an exercise routine, or changing an existing one, it’s best to consult a physician. Also, when doing these exercises, please take each one to your own level of tolerance, perform it in the correct position and maintain a range of motion that’s in your comfort level and perform repetitions in accordance to your level of fitness. The most common mistake I see is a person sacrificing correct technique to do a few more reps. That defeats the purpose of the exercise. It’s better to do fewer reps, but do them all correctly than do more reps using improper technique.

Also, please remember it takes time to develop things like flexibility, endurance, strength, balance and power. It’s not done overnight. The body takes time to adapt – and it will adapt – but you must be consistent with the exercises and training. That’s the mental battle that many people lose because they don’t see immediate results, become frustrated and quit the training. Be patient, consistent and good things will happen.

So back to the golf swing, the thing to remember is just like swing faults, if you have body faults, it’s going to show up in one, if not all phases, of the golf swig. More importantly, it will be a precursor to compensation and swing faults in the golf swing. It’s a domino effect.

Let’s start with the address position. It appears to be a very simple thought process, put body in a proper position to start golf swing. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as it appears. Just look at how much time coaches spend on the address with amateurs on the range adjusting everything from alignment to grip to weight distribution to spine angle to, well, the list can go on and on. It’s obviously much more complex than just lining up and hitting the ball.

But for our purposes, the address is difficult because it puts the body in a specific posture at the address, which requires certain levels of strength, endurance and flexibility. There are several common problems I see all the time, things like tight hamstrings or hip flexors. These compromise the body’s ability to stand with the proper posture at address. Or maybe there are issues with lower back strength and endurance. A tight lower back makes it difficult to get a proper spine angle and right off the bat, you’re in a poor position and the outcome of the swing is already compromised.

Now, I can’t solve every problem when it comes to the address, but I can offer a few exercises over the next couple weeks to help the most common problems I see week in and week out. The first one is called The Spider and it helps with most of the common problems like tight hamstrings and hips and weak lower backs. It increases flexibility and endurance and helps with overall posture.

It’s very easy to start The Spider as you get in a standard pushup position, with back flat, hands shoulder width apart and slightly separated. A common error here is having your butt in the air or the hips sagging to the ground. A flat back is a must.

From the start position, begin by taking your left foot and placing it outside of your left hand. How far forward you go depends on your current flexibility. If you only get a couple inches forward, that’s OK. Like I said earlier, it’s better to do the exercise properly than try to do too much and use bad technique. After you move your left foot outside your left hand, hold it for two seconds, then slowly attempt to press your left forearm to the floor, keeping your hand in place. This will create a greater stretch for the hips and hamstring. You should really feel it in your hamstring and gluts when you press the forearm down. Lower the forearm down as low as possible and hold for two seconds, then return to the start position. From there, do the same exercise, but move your right foot outside of your right hand, etc. I recommend performing 15 to 20 repetitions of this exercise.

Remember, the key here is to maintain correct position of the body, perform the technique correctly and do the number of reps you can with the correct form. Don’t sacrifice more reps if you have to use bad technique to do them. If you do this exercise three times a week, you will eventually see a marked improvement in your flexibility and endurance.