Boost your game in less than 10 minutes

BOOST YOUR GAME IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES WITH THIS AB CIRCUIT.

When it comes to training in the gym to enhance your golf swing, two vital areas to focus on are the core muscles and the shoulder muscles. Think of the core as part of your car’s engine and the shoulders more like part of the brakes.

One of Golf Digest’s Best Fitness Trainers in America, Jennifer Fleischer, says not only is it crucial to strengthen these muscle groups for power but also safety. “The core stabilizes the body so you can stay in control when you swing the club fast. And the shoulders? It’s been said that you can only swing a club as fast as you can slow it down. The shoulder muscles allow you to decelerate the club safely after impact,” she says.

In her Golf Digest fitness video series, Better than Yoga, Fleischer demonstrated a number of exercises that were inspired by yoga poses but enhanced for golf. One particular circuit of plank exercises was so popular and effective, she re-introduced it in a 2-Minute Clinic Golf Exercises: Core and Shoulders.

One of the exercises starts in a four-post plank on her toes and elbows, which tests the entirety of the core. She then incorporates arm-abduction swings that improve shoulder stability and mobility, both crucial to safely decelerating a golf club.

Another exercise in her plank circuit focuses on the rotational aspects of the golf swing. She starts in a side-plank position, being held up by one arm only. The other arm tucks her fingers behind her head and she rotates her torso down toward the floor and then back up to the sky. This move strengthens the obliques (the ones on the side of your belly), which are key muscles for rotation in the swing.

There are several variations of planks that Fleischer demonstrates during the circuit, all with the primary goal of strengthening the abs while adding various other challenges to make this short—less than 10 minutes—workout as efficient for golfers as possible.

You can watch them here, as well as dozens of other 2-Minute Clinics that will make you a better—and stronger—golfer the next time you hit the links.