The IDEAL Weekly Golf Training Schedule
I get this question a lot...
Carter, how should I organize my weekly golf training?
Let's figure it out.
First, how much time are you willing to invest?
The time commitment you are willing to invest in yourself and your training will, in many ways, determine your ideal weekly training schedule.
Willing to invest 5 hours per week?
Willing to invest 3 hours per week?
Willing to invest 15 minutes per week?
Whatever it is, we need to organize this time in a way that is most effective.
I wrote THIS ARTICLE about organizing your time, whether it's 3 hours, 1 hour or 15 minutes only!
For purposes of today's article, I am going to assume that you have ~7 hours of time to commit to training per week.
Secondly, there isn't one RIGHT way.
You can create physical gains with many different training organization strategies.
Speed before strength or strength before speed?
Upper body/lower body days or total body days?
Active recovery on rest days?
All of these questions are important, but matter substantially less when you look at the picture holistically.
Are you training consistently?
Are you loading the body?
Are you moving fast often?
Are you going for walks daily?
These are questions that matter much more in the grand scheme of things... but if we are going for IDEAL, these questions do matter.
YOUR WEEKLY SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE
Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday Workouts
3 days per week you will train total body strength and power.
Each session will attack multiple muscle groups and patterns, but the "primary stressor" will constantly change.
For example, on Monday the primary stressor may be squats and vertical pressing, while on Wednesday it's hinges and horizontal pulling.
I believe every workout should stress the majority of muscle groups.
I'm not an upper body/lower body day guy, or worse, a bodybuilding splits guy.
By training total body, we maximize the weekly loading that we are placing on the various muscles and patterns of the body - and more loading, means more adaptations.
At SCRATCH, we believe that a great workout should include three things...
[1.] Something FAST
[2.] Something HEAVY
[3.] Something until FATIGUE
If you do those three things, with varying exercises and patterns, 3 days per week, every week, your physical growth is going to cruise to the moon!
For example, here is what SCRATCH Athletes on the SCRATCH-STRONG program did for a session last month...
Training Session 2C
DB Bent Over Row - 4x6e
Seated Squat Jump - 4x3
Seated Shoulder Press - 3x12
Rotational Hollow Hold - 3x30 seconds each side
Boulder Shoulders - 2x4+4+4
Single Leg Wall Sit - 1xMAX hold each side
Something FAST? Squat jumps.
Something HEAVY? Shoulder press and bent over rows.
Something to FATIGUE? Boulder shoulders, single leg wall sits and hollow holds
Tuesday and Friday SPEED Workouts
When it comes to organizing our week, we ideally want to separate our speed training sessions by a minimum of ~48 hours and we want to complete it when we are freshest.
If you are completing both STRENGTH work and SPEED work on the same day... do the SPEED work first.
A SPEED DAY should look something like this...
Warm-Up thoroughly.
Warm-up a little more (because I doubt you warmed up enough).
Pick a set and rep scheme... probably something that gets you between 15-25 max swings...
4 sets of 4 max swings
3 sets of 5 max swings
5 sets of 3 max swings
Then SWING HARD.
Take plenty of rest in-between sets (~more than 2 minutes).
And, ideally, you should be using a clubhead speed radar of some kind that provides real-time speed feedback for each swing you take. I use THIS RADAR.
Join the SCRATCH SPEED BLUEPRINT if you want to gain some serious speed this off-season.
Thursday and Sunday RECOVERY
Just as important as our training days is RECOVERY.
When we train, both speed and strength, we create stress - We physically damage our bodies.
In order to turn this damage into muscular and physical growth, we need proper RECOVERY.
Here's what I recommend you prioritize on recovery days...
Daily 30-60 minute walks
When it comes to golf performance there's a few things we must have.
Speed.
Power.
Force.
Strength.
Mental, emotional, psychological health.
Technique.
Tactical ability.
And an aerobic base.
A small aerobic base is critical to a high functioning golfer, as well as a human for that matter.
Going for 30-60 minute walks daily is so beneficial I can't recommend it strongly enough.
Benefits include...
+ Mental, emotional, and psychological well-being.
+ Zone 2 cardiovascular training.
+ Be outside with nature and absorb sunlight.
Fit walking into your weekly schedule!
WRAP IT UP
There is no singular correct way to organize your weekly training sessions.
You can succeed and create physical growth with many different organization strategies.
BUT, if we are working off of the notion of "ideal" the above is what I recommend.
It checks all the boxes...
✅Strength
✅Power
✅Speed
✅Resilience
✅Health
✅Cardiovascular health
✅Athleticism!
Reach out, or JOIN SCRATCH, if you need help organizing your golf training!
Carter Schmitz
Founder and Head Coach - SCRATCHGolfTraining.com
CSCS, TPI
Carter is a strength and conditioning coach out of the Milwaukee area working with athletes, in-person and virtually. Having helped hundreds of athletes, ranging from the middle school to the professional level and beyond, Carter brings a breadth of experience and knowledge to every athlete he works with. He launched SCRATCHGolfTraining.com in the summer of 2021 to help empower golfers to greater performance and longevity.
Carter believes ALL golfers are athletes, and they should be training accordingly.
Become a SCRATCH Athlete today, and start training like the ATHLETE you are!
