It’s a fact that if you lose your focus and intensity after a few holes and your shots begin to wander off line, your overall golf fitness may be at odds with your game.

Golf may not conjure up visions of tri-athletes, but golfers that walk the course can put as much as 5 miles in by the end of round. This alone certainly validates why good golf fitness exercises is essential to your game.

One, often overlooked, component when I discuss the aspects of physical fitness and in particular those specific to golf fitness, is the subject of nutrition.

Not only do you need to attend to the physical aspects of your golf fitness exercises, but your body needs fuel and it needs proper fuel. It’s not within the scope of this article to go into the various food groups and proper diet, but generally speaking, stay off the junk and highly processed foods.

Be sure to stay with fruits and veggies, lean proteins (easy on the red meats), and plenty of water. I think you’ll find that the stronger and healthier you feel, the healthier you’ll want to eat and the cravings for those dietetically forbidden foods will greatly diminish.

You don’t have to starve, just watch what you eat and control your portions. And you’ll do fine.

As all this begins to come together for you, and you begin to reap the rewards of your golf fitness exercises, first you will feel better. When you feel better, you will be able to focus and concentrate throughout your round.

Visualization is such a large part of a good golf shot. Lack of concentration and focus diminishes your chances of producing good results. Physically you will be stronger and mentally you will be tougher. Your scores will go lower.

Keep in mind that you should look at your golf fitness exercises as a long term daily routine. When it comes to fitness, it doesn’t happen overnight or even in a couple weeks. Remember, we’re not in training here. We are changing our habits.

If you’re persistent with your goal to improve your game from the inside out, your golf game will follow. Stay with it!

Like any physical attribute, endurance doesn’t just happen. And it doesn’t just happen for your golf game by hitting massive amounts of range balls either.

When I speak of endurance, I refer to actual aerobic fitness for you golf game.

Endurance or more precisely, the lack of it is probably the single most prevalent factor in one’s game losing its edge through the course of the day.

Even if you ride in the cart! Don’t kid yourself.

Golf is such a precise game and requires such precise timing and contact, that any deterioration in muscular execution can and will add strokes to your round. Even if you perceive yourself to be ‘tired’ or not. When your muscular strength begins to wane, so will your focus. So, endurance is a double edged sword. Without it your muscular execution begins to change and so does your focus and mental toughness.

The best golf fitness program there is for the endurance piece of your golf fitness routine is to get out and walk. It’s free, it’s actually quite relaxing, and it works. And I don’t mean a leisurely stroll for a few minutes around your local mall. Get outside. You golf outside.

You have to work your way up to where you are walking up and down some hills. Maybe not initially, but eventually.

If you can, walk across real terrain as part of your golf fitness program, not just down the sidewalk.

Get your muscles used to the ups the downs and the shifting of the footing underneath you. These types of golf exercises are invaluable!

If you walk only at the mall for example, then get out on the golf course where your muscles begin to experience, and have to adjust to hills, the bumps and clumps of grass, sand, and all the other terrain, you will find that this will bring other muscles into play… muscles that won’t be in shape and will tire and get sore.

Remember, the goal of (and by definition) endurance equates to aerobic fitness or cardiovascular fitness so; you’re going to have to work up a bit of a sweat to achieve this. But think long term.

Do not try to elevate your endurance over a short period of time. We’re not going into ‘training’ here. We are talking about a consistent golf exercise and golf fitness program that you can manage and enjoy for the long haul. Your endurance will come literally one step at a time. So let it.

O.K… back from your walk already!

Great!

Let’s finish up with complementing your golf fitness program with proper nutrition and how all this ties together to improving your golf game from the inside out.

I would suggest that we allocate some of that time and sweat to a golf fitness program for ourselves. You literally can change your golf game from the inside out.

Here is an all too often scenario that I hear in the locker room and at the 19th hole.

I started out struggling, hit my stride and hit some great golf shots during the middle holes then my golf game limped in to the finish line. Is this ever happen (or is happening) to you?

Are you seeing more missed putts? Is your short game not hold up for the entire round. Do your drives sometime begin to wander off later in round? For that matter, do allow the disappointment of one golf shot, or hole lead to another?

If any of this is becoming a characteristic of your golf game, I strongly encourage you to spend more consistent and quality time on the golf fitness side of the ‘how can I improve my golf game’ equation. Let’s take a look at the areas that are involved in the scenario and the questions brought forth just a moment ago as they pertain to golf fitness and improving your golf game.

First on the list is flexibility for your golf game. “It took me a couple of holes to get going, but once I did…” Ah, yes.

To be forever young and be able to step out of the car and into the clubhouse and sign off on my tee time just 15 minutes before taking the first tee. Only a distant memory?

Warming up a bit before that first tee shot is certainly helpful but, I’m talking about stretching on a regular basis.

Not just while you’re waiting for the foursome ahead of you to get out of range. When it comes to flexibility, a small amount of time invested on a regular basis will enable you to see significant increases in the range of motion of your muscles. This will not only free up your golf swing, but you’ll feel better overall. So start today.

For the obvious, a few words on strength. Incorporate some strength training in your golf exercises and your newly acquired golf fitness program. I’m not talking about putting on your bikini briefs and pumping iron.

But, I am talking about lower weight resistance and a higher number of repetitions. Working with flexible elastic bands designed for this type of exercise work great and are easily portable.

With the lighter weight and the higher repetition routine, I want you to concentrate on achieving a full range of motion with your movement and not just jerking the weight across a short range of motion.

Of course it goes without saying, that you should consult with your physician before embarking on any fitness or exercise routine, but at a high level you should go through your golf stretching routine daily, and your golf strengthening routine at least 3 times a week.

It doesn’t have to long amount of time each day. Just do them consistently within your schedule.

Up next let’s take a look at adding some endurance to our fitness for golf program and how that will benefit our game.

With just a little creativity and a few minutes a day, you can have a very positive impact on your game with some simple golf exercises.

Here is a quick and easy stretching exercise for your lower back, gluteus area (butt), and hamstrings.

The best part of this stretch is that you can do it while seated right there in front of your computer or your TV.

While seated in your chair with your knees about shoulder width apart, take on foot and pull it back toward you until slightly underneath you or until you bump up against your chair.

Next move your other leg out away from your body in the opposite direction until you have about a 10 degree or so flex in your knee. You don’t need to lock your leg all the way out. Now, with your extended leg, make sure only your heel is on the floor and your toes are pointing upward.

Now with your one hand on each side of your extended leg, slide your hands down toward your extended leg’s ankle.

As you gently descend toward your ankle (remember to keep only your heel on the floor and your toes pointed upward) you should feel the stretching taking place along the back side of your body.

Go slowly. Don’t bounce. Once you get to a point where you can feel the stretch and you aren’t struggling to hold your position, stop there and hold the stretch for about 5 to 8 seconds. Straighten back up for a couple of seconds then repeat this action. Do about 3 sets each for each leg.

This is an excellent golf exercise for the middle part of the body and is especially helpful for those of us that prefer to walk. Many times the act of walking around the golf course will cause the muscles in the lower back to begin to tighten.

This stretching exercise will help alleviate problems with the lower back by increasing the length of these muscles. Increasing the length of these muscles, your back will naturally stay flatter (no reverse ‘c’ or sway back posture) and a lot more pain free.

There are numerous quick easy golf exercises that you can do just about anywhere and anytime. If you do just a little bit of exercise each and everyday you will soon be feeling and seeing the results of your stretching.

As always, if you have any concerns or questions, consult with your physician before exercising.