To start with mastering your core for golf, get comfortable with controlling your upper body and its strength. Do this without moving your hips and vice versa. Being able to create hip and torso dissociation is key to having a great swing. There are a few ways we can hone this skill. First, we want to practice the movement, then move onto controlling that movement with strength and intention. Lastly, add a dynamic piece like the golf swing or something similar to put it all together.

Fig. 1

Movement
Controlling the movement of your core will take the most time because it is the base to the swing. It is also re-teaching us how to move the way we want. One way we can do this is by using a band and strapping it around our hips while in the golf ready position (fig. 1). After getting the band set up we are going to rotate the hip left and right without moving our torso. This will help to create dissociation and take control of the trunk/hips.

Fig. 2

Strength
Adding strength to the movement that we have just mastered is our next step. I like to use the ½ kneeling position because it’s a nice stability component on top of the band we will use for resistance (fig. 2). Get into a ½ kneeling position with the band perpendicular to yourself. While using what we gained from controlling the movement, press the band in and out while not moving the hips at all for this step.

Fig. 3

Dynamics
Our dynamic component should simulate our golf swing as close as possible. I love the medicine ball scoop toss for this one. It will allow us to produce some power and strength in the torso, hips and core. This involvement of the body mimics features of our golf swing. It is good to use a light ball around 6 pounds so that we can throw it hard and fast, reinforcing swing speed (fig. 3).

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