I Jordan is a golfer and was curious… are there any downsides or things to be conscious of as it relates to powerlifting and golf?
I’m familiar with they the usual myths… lifting heavy ruins your swing, being to bulky limits flexibility, etc etc
but that said… most great golfers I know don’t exactly lift heavy, so maybe there’s something there?
Jurke,
Thanks for the post. Happy we have some more golfers here! To your question, I do not think there’s anything harmful to someone’s golf game with powerlifting-type training. Improving strength, power, and fitness is likely to improve the raw physical ingredients needed for better golf, provided that it translates to the swing. A person’s swing doesn’t really change in response to training (or not training) outside of injury, gross changes in mobility, or adopting a new strategy for the task (e.g. swing changes). Data shows that lifting weights improves mobility to a similar level as dedicated stretching. [1] We also know that increasing strength in a variety of different movements improves club head speed. [2] That said, I do not think powerlifting is the appropriate training style for golf or any other sport that isn’t powerlifting. There’s no reason to compromise training breadth if not competing or otherwise married to the Big Three. I think there are better options available for golf and other sport training.
As to why “most great golfers I know don’t exactly lift heavy”, I think that’s best explained by the finding that most people don’t exercise at all. Those that do, rarely lift. [3]And those that lift, rarely do so at high intensities. Most golfers would be best-served by doing something like the Beginner Template to build a broad base of physical development, then move onto something more specific after they’ve become more trained.
What options would you generally suggest? Do you think there is any viability to resistance movements that mimic the swing etc. ?
I’m not sure what you mean by the question “what options would you generally suggest?” Is this question pertaining to exercise selection, volume, intensity, conditioning, and/or something else?
To clarify, I think concessions must be made on all most training variables in order for it to be powerlifting-specific. I do not think this is a great option for people who are not competing in powerlifting with respect to athletic development. I would have far greater movement, rep, intensity, rest period, and conditioning variety to train for general development vs. powerlifting.
I do not think lifting weights slowly in a similar pattern to the golf swing is useful. Swing sticks for speed training may be useful for some in certain phases. I also think some rotational work may be useful, though I think many rotational athletes overdo this in sport.
Sorry I think I meant - as someone who is a competitive powerlifter but also golfs - would you recommend adding any exercises/movements to my previously existing programming that would be specific or beneficial to golf?
Example - I rarely (see never) do any type of rotational ab work, would adding something like that in generally be a good suggestion?