9 of the Best Core Exercises for Golfers

Golfers of all ages and abilities should be working to strengthen their core. The core contains some critical muscles for golf performance, creating clubhead speed, and building resilience/longevity.

However, there are many misconceptions about "core" training that I want to knock out of the park before discussing how we go about it at SCRATCH.

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First, the core is not THAT important

When I talk to golfers about what I do, oftentimes it's one of the first things they think of.

"So you help strengthen golfers' core and stuff?"

Yes, I suppose I do... but it's not important enough to get it's own shout out.

The core is simply a collection of muscles around the spine, just like those around the knee, or around the shoulder.

Strengthening the core is important... but it's not any more important than strengthening the lower body, upper body, or every other muscle in the body.

Second, the core is more than what you see in the mirror.

Your core wraps around your body.

It's not simply the washboard abs you see in the mirror.

I would say it extends all the way from the hips to the chest.

Therefore, when talking about core training, we are talking about strengthening the musculature from the hips to the chest, and 360 degrees around your body.

Lastly, the strengthening the core requires MOVING the core.

Strength can be very positional specific. By this, I am referring to the joint angles and therefore the muscle length that we are training.

For example, if you only train your biceps with your elbow joint at 90 degrees (not moving up or down) your biceps will primarily strengthen in that position.

If you train your biceps in a full range of motion, it will strengthen across the range of motion.

Now relate this to the core.

If you only train in positions where the core is stationary, are you strengthening the core muscles in a full range of motion? Probably not.

But, your golf swing moves your core through a large range of motion.

Move your core. Move your spine. Strengthen the full range of motion.