Pilates Exercises for Golfers

class planning May 01, 2020

Golf and Pilates have a lot in common. Both require that your mind be connected to your body. Have you noticed how a tiny change in alignment can have a huge impact on your swing? Pilates will strengthen your mind-body connection and help you create good movement habits, which results in a strong and accurate swing.

Here are some recommendations and exercises to keep in mind when building a Pilates routine for golfers:

Recommendations

The skills needed for golf are

thoracic rotation combined with thoracic flexion
internal rotation of both hips and hip extension of the back hip, glute strength
shoulder adduction and abduction in combination with shoulder flexion
spine rotation and extension

The game of golf is asymmetrical. Even though we need to maximize the active side, we need to make sure not to neglect the non-working side.

Exercises

Mat

Criss Cross
Saw
Twisted Plank
Swimming

Spine Corrector

Chest Lift
Bridging
Side Leg Lift in internal rotation

Ladder Barrel

Short Box Series: Oblique Flat Back + Around the World
Short Box Series: Twist
Side Sit Up with Rotation

Reformer

Footwork: X (internal rotation)
Bridging
Scooter
Sleeper (parallel and in internal rotation)

Trapeze Table

Standing Arm Series Facing Out: Punching + Lunges, Twist
Mermaid
Circumduction

Chair

Hamstring 1: Oblique
Hamstring 3: Oblique
Side Pull Up

Oov

Half Roll Down
Oblique Half Roll Down

Konnector

Seated Arm Series facing back: Single Arm Pull + Single Arm Rowing with rotation
Seated on Footbar: Thoracic flexion + extension

To learn each of these exercises and to see even more exercises and guidelines for Golfers, check out the Pilates Protocols chapter of the Pilates Encyclopedia. You'll get videos and detailed instructions for each exercise!