Nick D'Agostino SSC: Strength Training for Golf

[gilmour]

I'm a pretty decent golfer with a low singles handicap and I have to say that somewhat serious strength training, while having lots of other benefits, has not made any discernable difference to my length. Yes, I know N=1... But anyway, seeing as I am a youngish, tall guy with comparable driving distance to the pros, I suspect there is no great amount of low-hanging fruit in that respect for them either. Just look at Dustin Johnson, who hits it the longest and is regularly described as buff in the golf world.

It kind of makes sense that the pros can get away with silly training regimes if an optimal one won't make a big enough difference to immediately get them much more dough. The real issue is of course when injuries start creeping in, but cause and effect is too muddy to make the feedback all too clear. It is suspected that Tiger's injury problems are related to his period of Navy SEAL training (I would guess that the grind and tear of his particular swing was the greatest culprit) and I'll bet you that doesn't make golfers more keen on sensible strength training generally.

For an older population I can see a more obvious upside in helping their length - especially stopping it from dropping off too badly over the years - and it most likely will keep them out on the course to a more advanced age, which is obviously huge.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Who do you think this article was written for?

[Southpaw]

Dustin Johnson is close to #1 on the money list and close to #1 in driving distance. His workouts consist of... squats, deadlifts and cleans. Plus some other silly things, but we'll blame Paulina for that. Google "Dustin Johnson+Squat" for the magazine article.

On the PGA tour you have to finish in the top 125 to keep your card and stay on tour the following year. This year that guy earned over $800K. I bet the guy who finished 126th would have benefited from being just a little bit stronger.

[DirtyRed]

I played golf in high school, played throughout college, and played professionally (poorly, but not the point) for years. Just before turning 21 I started lifting barbells for realz, and ended up going from hitting a good drive maybe 290 yard to hitting a good drive at least 330 yards, one I remember in particular I hit 360 yards. I was also much more able to gouge the ball out of the knee high grass I kept hitting it into. So I 100% agree with and have personally demonstrated that strength = better golf.

That said, a lot of what was said about specifically golf was incredibly Wrong. A driver fitting is a VERY effective way, almost instantaneously so, to materially improve one's golf game. Simply getting fitted for a driver that didn't backspin into goddamn orbit added 20 yards of distance, and actually improved accuracy as my drives were thereafter MUCH less affected by the wind. All in half an afternoon. The driver is absolutely the most important club in your bag. I could put with an 8 iron if I had to (and have actually done so fairly successfully), but I absolutely need an appropriate driver to play at a high level. If you are the slightest bit serious about golf, or even just having fun while golfing (because being better and outdriving your friends is fun), get fitted for a driver. Preferably by someone that has several different brands of drivers and shafts and stuff, not a representative for Titleist or the like, that only has his one brand. The better you are, and the faster your clubhead speed already is, the more important it is to get a driver that fits you. The particular loft and weight distribution of the club head, and the stiffness, weight, and "kick point" of the shaft are effectively game breakers. Playing with a driver that doesn't fit you is like trying to deadlift 500 lbs with a badly bent barbell while wearing one shoe.

If you're going to spend thousands of dollars on the rest of your clubs, green fees, golf balls, doofy shoes, and absurdly patterned pants (a must for any golfer), spend $500 on getting fitted for and purchasing a driver.

Furthermore, the PGA pro certifications are about as useful as your average personal trainer certification. I know several guys who did that, and while most of them knew their ass from their elbow with regards to the golf swing and instructing others in the Path of the Swing, nothing about the certification process helped or even really tested them in that regard. It was mostly business management type crap about running the golf shop (inventory and the like) and coordinating golf events for fun and profit.

The best instructor I ever worked with, who worked with, among others, the reigning PGA Championship champion, I am pretty sure never had any PGA certification. And for clarity's sake, the PGA of America, that does the certifying, and the PGA Tour, are two different entities, though they naturally work together quite a bit. The PGA of America puts on the PGA Championship, which is recognized by the PGA Tour for the purposes of the Money List and FedEx Cup points, for example.

Also, my favorite club is the 9 iron, and Happy Gilmore was a better golf movie than Tin Cup.

Hilarious (Rory McIllroy)

It was probably a couple of years ago that he posted a video of himself squatting on Instagram or Twitter or some such. Golf commentators (old and useless to a man) lost their minds over how he was going to cripple himself lifting that much weight.

It might not have been 200 lbs, he was half squatting it, and he had his back to the rack. I don't know which of those three things was more alarming, but his idiot trainer that was filming him needs a punch square in the dick.

[sbrl_19]

I'm olderish with kids and only playing one or two times per summer for a while now which includes the time I've been strength training. Getting stronger hasn't really helped with length as far as I can tell (don't play enough to be able to really figure that out) but it has definitely taught me low back control, and that has done a lot for shot control and I'm sure kept me from tweaking it which used to happen fairly regularly.

[Fastmule]

Since doing SS and now the Baker Barbell Club I am consistently hitting the ball off the tee 285-300+ yards. I've had to club down every club in my bag on approach shots and can out distance everyone in my group (all mid 40s and 50 year old crew). I've added 40-50 yards to my drives and now have everyone in my foursome lifting weights. This works for everything in life, stronger is better.

[Thomas Jones]

Anecdotally, when I started focusing on the complex barbell movements and cut out the silly bullshit, my drive went from 240 to 300. This is as my lifts have continued to increase, of course. How crazy. It's like strength actually has application!

I've seen no increase in length off the tee as I've gotten stronger. To be clear, I'm terrible (13 index). At the same time, I hit a softball much farther. At least for me, golf is much more skill than strength dependent. With that said, the strength gains mean I can play 36 holes a day with no ill effects. That wasn't the case years ago.

[Thomas Jones]

Good luck with selling legit strength training to golfers . . .

Tiger Woods did us no favors. Took a huge step backwards here.

Now all I hear from people (friends; golf media; Dan Patrick; etc) is how he got too bulked up and too strong,

and therefore ruined his back and his "swing" (whatever that means) with all that "extra muscle".

All he did was bro-$h!t routines and junk . . .

Hilarious (Rory McIllroy)

Tiger was longer when he was younger and skinnier than when he bulked up. Of course, he was younger too. I'm not suggesting some muscle gets in the way of swing speed, just that in Tiger's case he was longer when he was thinner.