Home » Blog »
Golf Training in the GTA: 5 Essential Exercises to Prepare Your Child
Golf Training in the GTA: 5 Essential Exercises to Prepare Your Child
Are you looking for the best junior golf training in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)? Enrolling your child in golf has many benefits. While it improves their physical and mental health from a young age, it also develops their personality and social skills.
Golf is a low-impact exercise that involves gripping the golf club to deliver repetitive swinging motions. This repetitive action can, however, cause pain and may lead to injuries.
To master their swings and reduce their risk of injury, it is necessary for your junior golfer to have adequate strength, flexibility, stability, and balance.
Regular exercise will help them improve their fitness and overall performance. While your children learn their swings on the golf course, they can practice these exercises at the gym under the supervision of a trainer.
Let’s find out the best exercises to improve your child’s golf training, as provided by instructors in the GTA.
This is a great workout that develops power, strength and flexibility. Your children can more easily rotate and will improve their posture and balance when golfing.
How to Do Them
Ask your child to take a standing position by keeping their feet shoulder-width apart and their knees slightly bent.
Have them hold the medicine ball in their hands and lift it overhead. Check that their arms are extended
Make sure they are looking straight ahead. They should inhale as they squat slightly.
With the help of their arms and core, have them slam the medicine ball down in front of their feet with as much force as possible. They should exhale, bend their knees, and extend their hips backwards to maximize the force of the slam.
Have them pick up the ball by squatting down and rising up to their standing position immediately. Have them repeat this exercise a few times.
2. Inclined Push-Ups
Children might find it difficult to complete a full push-up. If so, have them try inclined push-ups. These are comparatively easier and aim to activate multiple muscles in the upper body. They also engage the core and lower back muscles as stabilizers.
How to Do Them
Have them place their hands on the edge of a sturdy elevated surface such as a bench or step.
Their legs should be straight and hip-width apart while their arms should be perpendicular to their body.
It’s important for them to exhale while they slowly bend their elbows to pull their chest towards their hands. They should lower their body to the extent that their upper arms are even with their back.
Then, ask them to exhale while slowly straightening their arms as they push back to their starting position.
3. Single-Leg Deadlifts
The single-leg deadlift emphasizes balance and stability. It improves core strength and coordination, thereby strengthening the spine, abdominal muscles, and leg muscles.
How to Do Them
They should start by standing with their feet shoulder-width apart and their knees slightly bent.
Tell them to shift their body weight to their right leg. Then, have them take their left foot back and extend it straight behind them.
They need to raise the extended leg as they pitch their body forward to form a ‘T’ shape. Their arms should be hanging straight down (perpendicular to the floor).
Now, ask them to slowly bring their extended leg back to position and repeat the exercise with their other leg.
As your children progress into advanced training, they can hold dumbbells or kettlebells in each hand.
4. TRX Row
Utilizing the TRX activates your child’s core muscles and strengthens their upper back and shoulders. It will also help reduce injuries while improving their overall coordination.
How to Do It
They should take hold of the handles of a suspension trainer with both hands. See that they stand back at a point away from the suspension trainer so that it is in a straight line with their arms.
Then they should lean backwards in such a way that their body’s angle is somewhere between 30 and 60 degrees with the ground.
Make sure they turn the handles inwards so that both their palms are facing each other and tell them to inhale.
Using their upper back, arm, and shoulder muscles, have them pull themselves up towards the handles while exhaling. Check that their elbows are close to their body while the handles make contact with their chest.
Then they need to release themselves until their arms are extended straight while their shoulders remain stretched forward.
Have them repeat.
5. Pistol Squats
This single-legged squat exercise is one of the most challenging exercises for kids. However, once they master it, they can build their core strength and balance while strengthening and toning their lower body. It will also help them prepare for an 18-hole match without having to worry about their legs being in pain.
Before attempting this advanced exercise, make sure that they can comfortably do 15-20 basic double-leg squats.
How to Do Them
They need to begin by standing straight with their feet shoulder-width apart.
Their arms should be raised straight out in front at shoulder level.
They need to lift their right leg up and hold it in front in a raised position.
They should extend their hips backwards and down as they slowly bend their left knee until their glutes are close to their left heel. Check that their torso and back are straight and that their chest faces forward instead of down.
Allow them to pause to tense their glutes before lifting themselves back up to the starting position with their left heel.
Ask them to repeat with the same leg and then switch.
If your children are just beginning their golf training in the GTA, they can start by practising pistol squats on a bench or taking the support of a TRX.
Of course, golf training from a good GTA golf instructor can be beneficial for your children. But you need to make sure that they learn these exercises under the supervision of a professional gym trainer. With regular practice, they will be able to improve their flexibility and core stability. This is important to master their swings and overall performance.
