LATERAL TRAINING FOR GOLFERS.
WHAT IT MEANS TO TRAIN LATERALLY.
I think of "lateral" as being fairly synonymous with "sideways."
So instead of 'lateral lunge' you can think of this like a 'sideways lunge.'
Our body can move in three different planes of action, due to it being three dimensional.
Sagittal Plane
Frontal (Lateral) Plane
Transverse (Rotational) Plane
While it is nearly impossible to truly separate all three of these planes of action, within the exercise shown above we are primarily challenging the frontal plane.
In order to be the best athletes and the highest functioning humans we can be, we should challenge all three planes adequately within our training.
WHY IS THE FRONTAL PLANE IMPORTANT FOR YOUR GOLF SWING?
While swinging a golf club, we want to generally AVOID frontal plane movement, but this doesn't mean we aren't USING the frontal plane to create force and move our body.
All great golfers make use of shifting their weight between feet. The backswing takes them onto their trail foot, and then they transition onto the front foot in the downswing.
This weight shift can't happen without some frontal plane force production.
Secondly, we need to AVOID excess frontal plane movement during our golf swing.
This is often termed swaying or sliding and COULD be a limiting factor. I emphasize COULD because professional golfers make use of swaying and sliding to very differing degrees and there is no one correct way to swing a golf club.
Nonetheless, we want to be rotational in our golf swing, in part because this is the most powerful plane of action our body can produce and doing so helps us hit nukes. Therefore, if we have too much frontal plane (side-to-side) movement occurring, the rotational component of our swing may be limited.
How do we avoid frontal plane movement in our swing?
Work with a good swing coach.
And make sure you are strong enough in the frontal plane to handle forces being passed around.
This exercise may help the cause... BUT REMEMBER:
WE DON'T FIX OUR GOLF SWING IN THE WEIGHT ROOM.
We simply improve the physical qualities that will hopefully help us on the course.
The GOBLET LATERAL LUNGE
I love this exercise for golfers.
It challenges the frontal (lateral) plane, and places a massive unilateral load on the lunging side leg.
What is the "Goblet" piece of this exercise?
Goblet is a way of holding a dumbbell.
I honestly couldn't tell you why it's called that, I'm guessing because you're kind of holding the dumbbell like a chalice or big goblet/cup thing?
Point is, when you see "goblet" think of that dumbbell position (identical in the goblet squat - shown below).
How to complete the lateral lunge part of this exercise:
While completing this exercise, 3 important keys:
Keep an upright torso. Your chest should be looking at the wall in front of you.
DO NOT push off the trailing side leg. That leg should simply drag along for the ride. The lunging (bending) leg does the work in this exercise.
LOAD EM UP. Just because we aren't using a barbell or completing a "traditional" lift, doesn't mean we can't PUSH this exercise. Go heavy.
YOU GOLF? TRAIN LATERALLY!
Golfers should train laterally multiple times per week.
Try incorporating between 3-5 lateral based exercises weekly.
Here's 2 other ways to incorporate the frontal plane into your training!
Skater Broad Jumps
Landmine Cossack Squats
TRAIN HARD. GOLF BETTER.
Let's go low.
Carter Schmitz
Founder: SCRATCHGolfTraining.com
