My 3 Favorite Core Exercises for Golf

Mike Collette • August 4, 2020

In case you missed my blog post yesterday on my top 3 favorite mobility drills for golf, give it a read here before you move on! I always tell people that we need to have appropriate levels of mobility AND stability, so doing more strength training isn’t always the answer to your strength goals!

With that said, I wanted to share with you my top 3 favorite core exercises that can enhance your golf swing. It’s hard having a top 3 of anything, however, the reason why I love these so much is that:

1.) They’re effective.

Bottom line, these exercises, when done right can help build midline stability and you need that in your golf swing!

2.) Not overly complicated

You’ll see in the videos that they are relatively static in nature and there aren’t a lot of moving parts. So learning how to do them properly shouldn’t take you long!

3.) Requires minimal equipment

You don’t need a full gym set-up to do this. Sometimes coaches and trainers put a lot of weight into only doing fancy exercises (they all have their place) but for this, you need a light resistance band (you can also do this with a cable machine if you have one at your local gym).

4.) Serve multiple purposes

Depending on the duration of the hold, resistance, tempo, and rep range, you can use these exercises to build strength, stability, muscular endurance, power, and hypertrophy. They can also be used to prep other movements or be used as a corrective exercise.

5.) There are endless combinations and progressions.

I share with you a few variations of the anti-rotational versions of these exercises in these videos but there are countless progressions and regressions. Meaning, there are more ways to make them easier and harder without adding more resistance.

Before we dive into the exercises, the thing with these 3 movements is that they are Anti-rotational, stability exercises. This means that the resistance you use wants to pull you into a rotational pattern. The concept of these movements is to prevent rotation from happening (hence the name anti-rotational exercise).

The question you might be asking is, “why would you want to prevent rotation from happening? Aren’t you rotating in a golf swing?”  Yes, you are rotating in a golf swing but in order to produce force and move at high velocities, you need to have enough stiffness and stability to be able to control those actions.

So let’s dive in!

Pallof Press (3 Variations)

If you are a member of Prototype, you have seen the Pallof Press exercise mixed into our program over the years. In this video, I touch on 3 variations from the easiest (standing) to the harder variation (tall kneeling). Start with the standing and work your way down. Here are some things to think about when performing this movement.

  • Perform 2-3 sets of 6-12 reps
  • Keep the tempo controlled and pause at each position
  • Take a full breath in and exhale fully while bracing at the end range of motion (think like you’re breathing through a straw).
  • Add this into your warm-up or at the end of your training session.

Banded Chop

This high to low Chop exercise is the opposing movement of the high to low Lift (below) and it focuses on the extension patterns. You should be able to chop more than you lift (bigger muscles working + you’re not working against gravity) but the concept of tempo and tension is the same. I like using the bands for this exercise because the tension increases as you move through the range of motion, making it harder as you go.

If you notice, this movement is derived at the shoulders and I’m not rotating at my hips or torso. Same as the pallof press, you want to stay stiff and fully brace while exhaling at the end range of motion. A bonus in here (around the:19 mark) I show you another variation of this added a pull and a press when performing the chop. Start with the high to low straight arm option though.

  • Perform 2-3 sets of 6-12 reps
  • Keep the tempo controlled and pause at each position
  • Take a full breath in and exhale fully while bracing at the end range of motion (think like you’re breathing through a straw).
  • Add this into your warm-up or at the end of your training session.

Banded Lift

A banded  Lift requires the arms to move around a stable or ‘still’ torso in order to help the individual develop the ability to withstand the rotational forces that will affect the body. Similar to the chop and the pallof press, this exercise is anti-rotational. The Lift is the opposite of the Chop focusing on the flexion patterns and is the harder of these two variations. There is more than one way to do this, but this is a low to high, straight arm variation.

  • Perform 2-3 sets of 6-12 reps
  • Keep the tempo controlled and pause at each position
  • Take a full breath in and exhale fully while bracing at the end range of motion (think like you’re breathing through a straw).
  • Add this into your warm-up or at the end of your training session.

If your takeaway from this post is having a few more exercises that you can add to your fitness routine and perform them safely, that’s a win for me!

And just like I touched on in my previous blog post, just like improvements in your mobility can be a game-changer for you, adding in specific stability work can also pay dividends!

Now hit ’em long and straight!

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