The worst feeling as a Golfer is walking up to my ball after a drive and being the first one to hit because my ball is 30 yards shorter than everybody else. If you want to change from being the first to hit to the last to hit, I’ve got some amazing stuff for you.
So let’s first ask, why am I not hitting the long ball? It’s because you’re missing puzzle pieces.
Golf is a game of puzzle pieces. You must acquire all of these pieces to hit the ball pure and at the distances you desire.
Assume that we’ve already covered the pieces of the puzzle that require the proper equipment, even the lessons that will help your consistency, let’s talk about the pieces that most people aren’t considering.
FITNESS.
Even more so specifically grip strength. Golfers must have strong forearms. You’re swinging a club more than 100mph a lot of the time and your forearms are tasked with directing the club properly to the ball at the sweet spot of the club.
A lot of the time when Golfer’s don’t possess the grip and forearm strength necessary, they’re hitting slices and pushing / blocking the ball. This is due to the club face not turning enough through impact leaving the club face open at impact which causes the slice or push.
Your body is a machine and it needs to be working in sync with each other. If your hips are rotating faster than your forearms are able to turn the club over at impact, then you’re not going to be hitting the ball like you desire.
Gary player is well known for his physical condition that he’s maintained throughout his life. In his book “The Golfer’s Meaning to Life” he talks about the importance of fitness in his Golf game and without it he would be missing out on a lot of potential in his Golf game.
Let’s not forget he’s regarded as one of the best to ever play in the game. For me, I would take his words very seriously.
So in this article I want to specifically talk about grip strength and forearm strength, simply because not a lot of people are talking about it.
Even though you’re supposed to keep a soft grip during your swing, you still need to hold on the club enough to get the club through the ball with enough stability in the head to follow through properly.
See this video about what a club head looks like at impact when the club head isn’t stable through impact and you’ll start to understand why grip strength is important with every Golf swing.
“Stable through impact” is exactly what I’m talking about.
So let’s talk about how you’re going to gain the stability through impact that you need to hit better, and further.
Whether you have a gym membership or not, I’ll give you exercises for both at home as well as the gym.
My favorite exercise to do in the gym for grip and forearm strength are; FARMERS WALKS.
Simply picking up a pair of heavy dumbbells and walk around with them till they’re falling out of your hands.
So you can easily see how this can be done at home as well. Pick up something heavy and walk around with it till it’s practically falling out of your hand. Also this is going to build a strong core and strong back. All of which is essential in developing the power needed to hit the long ball.
Some of the other exercises that you can do are wrist curls with a dumbbell or barbell at the gym. These are a little harder to do at home if you don’t have any equipment at all. But like I said earlier, if you don’t have equipment; find something heavy and walk around with it.
Is this the quick fix?
Absolutely not, fitness is never a quick fix. It takes dedication and some sore muscles. You got to be willing to put in the work to reap the benefits. Nothing worth anything came easy. If you put in the work I promise you’ll see huge rewards that you’ll be proud of.
Thank you for reading. If you have any further questions, leave a comment and I’ll respond to any questions.
Keil Cronauer
About the Author
My name is Keil Cronauer. Former United States Marine, during my enlistment I quickly fell in love with health and fitness. I became a fitness instructor for Marines that had a hard time passing the fitness tests along with the body composition requirements, each of which are the strictest in all of the US military branches. The Marine Corps paid a lot of money to put me through tons of classes on training and nutrition to help Marines. Also I am a certified Fitness Specialist in the state of South Carolina. I am certified through the Underground Strength Coach program which is internationally recognized.
After the Marine Corps, I fell in love with Golf. So I decided to study the biomechanics of Golf so I can give back to this great game. I want to help Golfer’s as much as possible in helping them achieve the fitness that’s required to reach each Golfer’s maximum potential. Thank you to Chris for giving me the opportunity to write to you all and provide some content. Look forward to writing more in the future.
