Poses designed with golfers in mind.
Many of my clients who play golf have asked me if they should be doing yoga. My short answer: sure, why not? Yoga is great for improving flexibility and strength, while relieving stress. But my longer answer is that if you’re interested in enhancing your golf game at the same time as those yoga benefits, there are better moves you can do. In fact, I’ve built a whole program that was yoga-inspired but is much more sport-specific.
To give you a taste of what it’s all about, turn the page for four exercises that look like yoga, feel like yoga but are supercharged poses for golfers. Give them a try. They’re a great warm-up if you’re playing today.
A stretches Â
Yoga inspiration: Downward Dog
Body focus:Â Hamstrings, mid-back
Key points:  Start on your hands and knees and push up, driving your pelvis towards the ceiling. Extend through your mid-back and press into the ground equally through your feet and palms [top left]. Next, grab your right calf with your left hand [top right], hold for a few seconds, then return to the pike position. This exercise will help you stay in posture when you swing – reducing fat shots – and improves your ability to separate movement of the upper and lower bodies. That’s key for generating power and swinging with good sequencing. Do two sets, five reps, each side.
Torque lunges  Â
Yoga inspiration: Crescent Lunge
Body focus:Â Thighs, hips, mid-back
Key points: Step back into a lunge position with the left knee just above the ground [above left]. Extend your arms out to your sides so they are parallel to the ground, and rotate your torso clockwise until your left arm is aligned with your right leg [above right]. Keep your lower body still and repeat this 90-degree rotation three times before standing up and starting another rep. This exercise trains the combination of upper-body mobility and lower-body stability, which is needed to generate torque in the golf swing. Do two sets, five reps, always rotating towards the lead leg.
Single-leg drivers Â
Yoga inspiration: Swan Dive
Body focus: Hips, hamstrings, calves, abs
Key points: Stand and lift your right knee until the thigh is parallel to the ground, then reach your arms to the ceiling, pressing your palms together [above left]. Next, slowly bend forward from the hips while extending your right leg behind you as your fingers drop towards the ground [above right]. Hold for a few seconds before returning to the standing position (you can use a golf club if you need additional support). This pose improves lower-body strength and flexibility and mimics the hip-hinging mechanics and ground-force production needed for more swing speed. Two sets, five reps, each leg.
Kick-out stretchesÂ
Yoga inspiration:Â Thread the Needle
Body focus: Shoulders, lats, adductors
Key points: Start on your hands and knees [above left], and extend your right leg out, planting the foot nearly flat on the ground. Drive your hips back as you move your left arm under your right and across your chest, touching your right knee. This stretch improves shoulder and upper-back mobility, which will help you swing on plane. The kick-out stretch trains your adductors (inside thigh muscles) to help prevent swaying when you swing. Do two sets of five reps, each leg.Â
Jennifer Fleischer, one of Golf Digest’s 50 Best Fitness Trainers in America, is based in San Francisco.
