Feel Good Cross-Training for Golf to Keep You Playing

Cultivate the strength, balance, and mobility you need to keep playing the game you love for life!

Whether you are a competitive golfer or simply play for fun, golf can take its toll on an aging body. In addition to normal morning stiffness, you may also have one sided aching and pain from the one-sided nature of the game.

If you play one game of 18 holes, it’s not a problem, your body will recover with few repercussions. However, swinging in one direction over an over for a weekend, a summer, or a lifetime will add up. Over time, this one directional range of motion will increase imbalances in your body and can lead to overuse or Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI).

The concept of cross-training has been around for a long time. Professional athletes and people serious about their sports turn to cross-training to improve their performance and feel stronger and less sore. When you prepare the body for movement, the movement feels easier.

Problems that arise from not Cross-Training

Repetitive Strain Injuries

Repetitive Strain Injuries occur when you only move your body through one plane of motion. Common injuries for right handed golfers are right sided elbow or shoulder pain and left sided hip or lower back pain. I also see wrist and knee issues as well.

When you overwork one muscle or muscle group, and don’t do anything else, that muscle/group can get tight or strained from overuse. This leads to muscular imbalances that can affect how you move through your day.

A lifetime of swinging in one direction will leave your body completely out of whack. I often recommend going to the practice range and swinging many times in the other direction. It won’t be pretty, but swinging in the opposite direction for awhile can help balance you out. I don’t recommend this for game play, especially since it would require a different set of clubs.

Imbalances lead to daily pain

You already lead a one-side dominant life. You use one hand to write and eat, one foot leads to step forward or upstairs. Driving also uses one foot. Even when you drive a manual, you use each foot differently. Over time, these physical imbalances can lead to pain in daily life.

Golf, when played regularly, becomes part of your daily anatomy. If you look at yourself in the mirror, you might find yourself leaning to one side or that your torso is slightly rotated. Ideally you want to stand vertically with your joints stacked one on top of the other. Because nobody leads a symmetrical life, and we are one-side dominant creatures, by 50 (or before) your body is already a mess, even without playing golf.

Benefits of Cross-Training with Yoga

Yoga is a wonderful tool to use to cross-train for golf and for life, especially as you age. Aging is not kind to the body, as we lose muscle and bone mass every year. Yoga supports bone and muscle strength/mass, plus has numerous benefits for both your mental and physical health. All of this will help your golf game.

Yoga is a bilateral practice

One of the biggest benefits of yoga is that it’s bilateral, where everything you do on one side, you do on the other. This creates a more balanced body so that you have fewer one-sided pain symptoms and injuries. Yoga also supports the non-dominant side to balance you out. Instead of getting stronger on one side while the other side is mostly ignored, yoga strengthens both sides so that the lasting effects of golf are less.

Building functional strength

Yoga builds functional strength and moves the body through all planes of motion. It will increase your strength in the muscles you need for golf, while also strengthening the muscles that are ignored. I often hear beginner yogis exclaim “I used muscles I didn’t know I had!”

Because there are no machines in a yoga practice, you rely on your own body weight and gravity to build strength. The poses create strength that you can immediately use on the course during your game.

• Utkatasana/Awkward pose—this builds strength in the legs for when you are setting up your putt or preparing to swing. Plus the quad and glute strength will support you while you are walking from one hole to the next.
• Parivrtta Anjaneyasana/Revolved Low Lunge—this pose improves your rotational range of motion. It also strengthens your obliques so that you get more power behind your swing. In addition it stretches the hip flexors so your hips feel looser.
• Phalakasana/Plank pose—every athlete in any sport should practice Plank pose regularly. It is one of the best core and overall strengthening poses you can do. It targets nearly every muscle in the body to build stability, strength, and power for movement.

Building core strength

Yoga cultivates a strong core and body awareness for using those muscles when you play. When you engage these core muscles regularly, it’s easier to access them when you need them.

Golfers need strong legs and glutes to push off the back leg and swing through. Strong abdominal muscles, including the obliques, give power to the swing. A strong and mobile back gives you a bigger range of motion when you swing.

Targeting your glutes, obliques, spinal muscles, rectus abdominis, and transverse abdominis muscles will give you a solid foundation from which to play. Building core strength through the year will support your body, both on and off the golf course.

In addition to Plank pose, my favorite core strengthening poses for golf are Setu Bandhasana/Bridge pose, Vasisthasana/Side Plank, and Salabhasana/Locust pose.

Improved balance

While you are not actually standing on one leg while you play, golf does require a shift of weight from one foot to the other. This requires balance, something that wanes with age, unless you practice.

Yoga involves many one-legged balancing poses, such as Vrksasana/Tree pose, Eka Pada Utkatasana/Standing Figure 4 pose, and Dekasana/Airplane pose, which challenge your balance in different positions. Each balance pose creates a new challenge that improves proprioception, as well building as core and body strength.

You may not think of needing balance for golf but you do. The more you train your balance when things are easy (on a yoga mat) the more access you’ll have to it when things are hard (during a difficult shot).

Improved functional mobility

Yoga improves functional mobility, stretching your muscles mindfully and intentionally. You never want to force a stretch, try to relax into it using your breath. That way your body acclimates safely to what you do with it.

I like to think of the body like a rebellious teenager. If you try to force it to do something, it will fight back. If you give it some space and breath, it often does what you want it to do, but on it’s own schedule. Just because you want to touch your toes, doesn’t mean your body is ready for that. Over time, with practice, it might be possible.

Some stretches for golfers:

• Yoga Mudra/Interlacing your fingers—when done behind your back, this stretches the shoulders and chest which can get tight from grasping the club. If your hands don’t connect you can use a strap and walk your hands toward each other. This can also improve your breath capacity as it opens your chest, making it easier to breathe. As a strengthening pose, it targets the Rhomboids, the muscles between the shoulder blades, which support upright posture and upper back strength.
• Baddha Konasana—this stretches the lower back, hips, and inner thighs. This can be a frustrating pose when you have tight hip flexors, but sitting on a block can make it a bit easier. I go into a lot of detail on this pose here: If you only have time for one stretch, this is the one
• Supta Parivrtta Kapotasana/Reclining Figure 4 Twist—this stretches the hips and lower back, and can sometimes stretch the hip flexors depending on your body. It’s one of my favorite poses for this.

Mental benefits

Yoga helps you feel calm, both mentally and physically. When you practice yoga, you are better able to cope with life’s challenges as they arise. Yoga teaches you to notice, breathe, and respond, rather than react. You learn how to be calm under stressful situations. When you have a tough shot or are frustrated, knowing how to keep your mind clear and calm. It can give you the wherewithal to let go of all previous shots and focus solely on this one. What you learn on the mat, you take with you off the mat.

It also helps you be more present so you are aware of both your body and mind. Your mind isn’t flashing to the past or future, you pay attention to what you are doing right now. I find that students who lack body awareness initially gain control over their body through practice.

When you feel in control over your body (it’s pretty much the only thing we have control over) anxiety lessens. Yoga teaches you to control your breath and your movements, leaving you feeling peaceful, grounded, and centered. You improve your concentration, observation, and self-reflection skills. These skills will benefit you while your play.

Yoga for Golf Cross-Training Video

Practice this sequence between games, 2-3 times per week to improve your swing, your mental focus, your strength, and your mobility. It only takes 25 minutes!

Join me on the mat, online!

If you are looking for a more varied practice, join me Monday-Friday live online! I teach a variety of yoga classes to strengthen, improve balance, and increase mobility. Classes range from 30-75 minutes with Beginner Yoga options available. Take the classes live or on demand! Check out the full schedule here:

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