What is Golf Fitness?

When I tell people that I'm a Certified Golf Fitness Instructor it's always greeted with a little chuckle. "How fit do you need to play golf?", they say. I think they have the image of some overweight, middle aged man, riding in a golf cart while holding onto his beer and super sized hot dog. Every now and then he gets out of the cart, takes a hack at the ball and watches it roll for about 50 yards. He's too lazy to walk to it, so he hops back into the cart and drives right up to it to repeat the whole process. Yes, those guys do exist and those guys will always be around. But golf fitness is not about having 10% percent body fat, being able to bench press 225 multiple times or run a 21 minute 5k. Sure, being lean, strong and having a decent amount of aerobic capacity will help with your golf game. But there are other parts that make one fit such as: flexibility, joint mobility, and core stability. And if a golfer is lacking in any of those areas, I'm sure it's going to have some effect on their swing mechanics. They may already be a pretty decent golfer, but if they could bring up their golf fitness they may even become a better golfer. Let's take someone who has tight lats and a lack of mobility through their thoracic spine as an example. Chances are they may be having a problem getting the proper amount of shoulder turn no matter how much work they're doing with the club pro. But if these issues show up during a golf fitness screen, bingo. Address the lack o flexibility and mobility away from the golf course through a well designed training program. Then get back to the golf pro once some improvement in these areas has been made. Plus you might even be a bit a stronger to throw your clubs a lot further.

To learn more about what a Certified Golf Fitness Instructor can do for you, please call me @(617)835-0564 or send an email to rich@richruffing.com.


For a little chuckle, take a look at Charles Barkley's golf swing. Ugly....real ugly.