I was on twitter the other day and asked Bubba Watson a little about golf fitness. See below..

@bubbawatson If you don’t mind me asking, what would you attribute your freakishly long drives too? 🙂 Do you have a weekly workout routine?

@bubbawatson and if you do have a routine, does it vary depending on where you are in the season? (off season, pre-season, post-seas, etc..)

His response..

@DaveLair core strength

Short and sweet. Of course, I would of liked a more in depth answer which would lead to some fitness banter, hoping that one day me and ‘ol Bubba could forge a long lasting twitship and be twitter BFF’s.. 🙂 🙂

If you aren’t too familiar with Bubba Watson, he’s one of the few left-handed PGA professionals and has a driving average of 311 yards. He was ranked either #2 or #3 in 2009 for longest drives. Suffice to say, he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to increased club distances.

After seeing his response, my first question was, what is core strength? My initial impression was abs, and getting that sixer we’ve all dreamed about. But asking around and doing some reading, core muscles are a helluva lot more than that, although, that sixer is still on the golf fitness to do list. 🙂

The core muscles include muscles in your abdominal and back as well as muscles in your pelvic floor and hips. Many of the core muscles are buried underneath other muscles and tend to be overlooked by many workout routines. The transverse abdominis is located behind your rectus abdominis (sixer..) and surrounds and protects the whole area under your naval. It’s primary function is to protect the internal organs and aid in good posture. There’s also the erector spinae which also supports your back and the pelvic floor muscles stabilize your spine.

All these muscles and more, work together to stabilize the trunk, help keep your back healthy and improve your balance. Not to mention good strong core muscles help generate tremendous power for many swinging and throwing movements.

If the core muscles are under trained and weak, body doesn’t function as effectively and can result in muscular injuries. People who suffer from a bad back typically have weak core muscles. A weak core can make you old before your time while a strong core, will keep your posture and movements young, well beyond your years.  Take a look at many of the hardcore Yoga or Pilates devotees, they all have excellent posture and typically seem younger than they are, this is due to these activities having a strong focus on core strength. Many dancers as well, put a strong emphasis on developing the core.

I’m looking into incorporating a good “core muscles” workout into my golf fitness routine, I’m thinking it’s going to be either yoga or pilates. Now I know what you’re probably thinking.. pilates, really?

Well, I did a pilates workout Sunday morning, the instructor was taking it easy because there was quite a few beginners and it was still an intense workout. What I like about it is that the entire hour is dedicated solely to the core muscles.

What do you think a good core workout would be?

-Dave