Glute Strength is The Key To Improving Your Golf Game
Everyone wants to know how to improve their golf game quickly. Well, the key to your improving your golf game is having strong glutes. Nope, they aren't just there to hold your pants up! This muscle group is responsible for creating tons of power in your swing, protection for your low back, and consistency in your game. The muscles I'm talking about are gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius. For now we will focus on max...for max potential.
Gluteus maximus is well know in the Titleist Performance Institute golf fitness community as "The King". This is the number one muscle group in the body that needs to be strong and firing. The reason I said "firing" is because for many, these muscles are completely inhibited or shut off. You can test yours right now: Lay down on your back with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle, then lift your hips off the ground until your body is straight from your shoulders to your knees. At that point, straighten out one knee keeping your thighs even. What do you feel? Do you feel your glutes (sides of your butt), your low back, or your hamstrings (back of the thigh) and is your hamstring about to cramp? If it's about to cramp- get out of that position...cramps hurt!! Hopefully you feel the glutes doing more work than your hamstrings. You've passed the test if your glutes are doing at least 70% of the work. If the hamstrings did cramp, well, your glutes are completely shut off. That means you still have distance on your clubs you've been leaving in your bag. If you felt your low back doing the work, there is opportunity to improve your core and glute strength to reduce the chance of injury.
You can use the glute bridge as a test, but it's great as an exercise too. I know many who would rather just start increasing their glute strength by deadlifting, hitting the squat rack, or doing lunges (wait, who really wants to do lunges?), but if your glutes weren't doing more work than your hamstrings when laying on the ground then that's where we need to start: strengthening from the ground. Otherwise, compensation occurs...and you're still not tapping into that full power potential then. Master the glute bridge and then move up from the floor! You'll see increased distance, have more comfort in your game, and hit more fairways pretty quickly by focusing on those glutes!