Power Golf Training Fitness Tip

I did a little bit of research, as usual, in recent weeks, and came to the realization that there is one muscle group that most golfers do not work on much, but it is definitely a key to achieving distance potential. This group is the lats, the muscles of the upper and middle back. Women in particular tend to have much smaller lat muscles than men.

The reason this muscle group is important is that it is very involved in the winding and unwinding of the golf swing. The stronger these muscles are, the more torque you can put into the golf swing.

The best way to work out these muscles without much in the way of equipment, is the pull up. Unfortunately, pull-ups can be quite difficult, and most people, especially people who are a bit over weight, find it difficult to perform just one repetition. However, by simply using a chair to support some of your weight, you can still do pull-ups and increase your strength.

We do this by setting one foot on the chair. This takes away some of the body weight, which makes it a little easier to do a pull up. Doing our best not to push up with that foot, we pull ourselves up until our chin as even or slightly above the bar. If you lower yourself back down slowly, you will continue to work the muscles.

You can try a variety of grips on the pull up bar. First, try an overlapping grip with the hands shoulder width apart. A more difficult version would be to place the hands outside of shoulder width apart. Or you can also try a very narrow grip, with the hands just a few inches apart. You can also do a chin up, which is done by grabbing the bar so that palms face toward you.

Since the pull up hits the back and arms, and the shoulders to an extent, it is a great exercise for the golfer seeking to add some distance without spending hours in the gym.

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net