Golf Tip of the Day - Test Your Balance

Now that the cold weather is firmly entrenched here in the northern states, I will focus most of my posts on golf fitness for a while. Today, I want you to test your balance. If you have poor balance in your golf swing, you will never be a consistent ball striker. This doesn't mean you need to go out right away and by a swiss balance ball and try and hit golf balls while standing on that. While that would be an impressive feat, we'll leave that to the trick shot artists. It's completely unnecessary. It is also unnecessary to learn how to hit golf balls from any sort of device that makes it difficult to maintain balance. Without getting into specifics, recent research indicates that training on these devices is not helpful to swinging a golf club with better balance.

To test your balance, all you need to do is stand on one foot and then close your eyes. Try and hold the position for 15 seconds. It will be difficult for sure. If you struggle with this, do the following exercise.

Stand with both feet together. Shift your weight to your left leg and let your arms relax by your sides. Raise your right foot off the floor by bending your knee. Lean into a golf posture and allow your right leg to extend behind you. Allow your left leg to bend as you are doing this. Hold for a count of five, then return to the previous position, while keeping the right foot off the floor. Repeat this ten times, then switch legs and do the same. Gradually try to build up the time you hold the golf posture position on one leg for 15 seconds per repetition.

This exercise will help you develop better balance, which will translate into better balance for your golf swing.

Scott Cole
www.howtogolfyourbest.com