You’ve probably been told to rotate instead of rocking or sliding on your backswing. You may also have been told to maintain your spine angle throughout the swing. These are the keys to quality ball striking, but you need plenty of strength and mobility to achieve it. If you’re looking to make your swing more functional, stable, and even powerful, try these exercises from LPGA star Nelly Korda.
“She does this using a looped band with variable external resistance,” says Andrea Doddart, a Golf Digest certified fitness trainer. “She works on keeping her knees in position by engaging her gluteus medius and lateral quadriceps against the resistance of the band.”
Also note that she performs the squats with 26-pound weights in each hand, increasing the difficulty. But Doddart recommends starting by doing this exercise without weights and focusing on form before adding external resistance.
“This type of exercise makes her very strong and allows her to ground her legs to load and unload with rotational force,” says Doddart. “This is key to the golf swing because it helps players eliminate sliding and swaying and instead gain the strength to coil and engulf in the backswing.”
“The underhand aspect of the row helps her upper traps move away from the movement, so she can focus on squeezing the middle traps (scapulae),” says Doddart.
Strengthening these muscles is important because they help keep your shoulders in the correct position during the backswing and follow-through. “This also helps to forcefully rotate the thoracic spine (mid-back),” says Doddart.
“As your arms perform the lat pull, your torso, core, and hips should remain horizontal,” says Doddart.
It is difficult to keep your body in perfect position throughout this movement.
“The biggest mistake people make with this exercise is not keeping their hips level. They tilt their hips toward the arms that remain on the ground, which cheats and leaks strength and power,” says Doddart. says.
Doing this exercise is a great way to train your body to maintain your spine angle during the swing.
