3 time world long drive champion, Kyle Berkshire
Golf is a game where power provides a significant benefit. Powerful golfers who can hit long tee shots have the potential to shoot lower scores.
Most powerful golfers past the age of 30 have one thing in common… strong legs.
This is particularly obvious among the long drive competitors. You can see the muscle in Kyle Berkshire’s right thigh as he loads into that leg into the back swing.
Also, the more strength you can develop and maintain in your legs, the better off you will be as you get older.
It’s becoming no secret that golfers of all ages should embrace strength training.
In this article, I cover the best leg exercises for golfers.
These exercises are guaranteed to make your legs much stronger, which will allow you to develop a more powerful golf swing.
Barbell Squat – The best leg exercise for golfers
The absolute best exercise for golfers is the barbell squat. The version I am speaking of here is the low bar squat.
The low bar squat has the trainee position the bar a few inches lower on the back than the more common, high bar version.
The high bar version sits the bar on top of the shoulders or traps.
By positioning the bar lower on the back, the trainee is required to bend more at the waist during the descent into the squat.
This keeps the bar over the middle of the foot, which is critical for maintaining balance during the movement.
Because the trainee bends over more in the waist, more muscle mass is recruited to perform the movement.
Instead of a quad dominant exercise, it becomes more of a hip dominant exercise, and more of the posterior chain becomes involved.
This version allows the trainee to exercise the quads, hamstrings, glutes and lower back, and therefore, they can lift more weight with this exercise.
Barbell Squat
It is the single best exercise for developing general strength, which is why it is virtually the king of all exercises. As a result, it is also the best leg exercise for golfers.
The best way for a new trainee to train the squat is with three working sets of five repetitions.
A new trainee, should start very conservatively with their initial starting weight.
After that, the trainee should work this exercise three days per week, and try to add a small amount of weight to the bar for each workout.
That will last for a period of at least a few months and even up to eight months, until the weight on the bar becomes very heavy.
Then it will be time to alter the programming a bit.
You can learn how to perform this exercise by checking out the Starting Strength video on Youtube here… how to squat.
The second best leg exercise for golfers – Bulgarian Split Squat
As mentioned, the barbell squat is far and away the best leg exercise for golfers.
However, not everyone has access to a squat rack, and many people like to train at home.
Therefore, if I am pushed to identify a someone suitable alternative to the squat, the Bulgarian Split Squat comes to mind first.
This exercise trains the quads, upper hamstrings and the glutes, and it hits these muscle groups a bit differently than the squat.
As a result, I still employ this exercise as an assistance exercise to build a bit more muscle.
This exercise can be performed with just your bodyweight. Eventually, however, you’ll need to add weight if it becomes too easy to perform twelve reps.
The best way add weight with this exercise is by holding a pair of dumbbells. I use Bowflex Adjustable Dumbbells for this exercise.
Because you will be training with lighter weight, you will want to train in a higher rep range than the squat. In this regard, I recommend 8 to 12 reps per set, and you should perform three sets.
Start out with your bodyweight only, and do three sets of 8 reps. Each workout, add a rep to each set. Once you get to 12 reps for three sets, add weight and repeat the cycle.
Once you start adding weight, it should be enough weight so that each of the three sets becomes a challenge.
You can check out how to do this exercise in the video below.
The Horse Stance
Another great exercise for training the legs is taken from my kung fu training.
The Horse Stance is the primary leg training stance we employed in our kung fu training.
The exercise employs the concept of “time under tension” as a means of developing strength.
You simply get into the stance as deeply as possible, and hold it for as long as possible.
Horse Stance
However, at a point, it becomes impractical to hold the stance for as long as you can, because after some training, you’ll be able to hold it for two minutes or more. At that point, it becomes a muscle endurance exercise, rather than a strength training exercise.
Years ago I read that holding a horse stance for 15 minutes was the start of a black belt test at a particular kung fu school. That would be rough!
With that said, since we want to load the horse stance with weight once we are able to hold the stance for two minutes.
I do this by holding a pair of dumbbells and letting them rest on my hips.
Once you are able to hold a horse stance for two minutes, start adding weight with a couple of five pound dumbbells.
Then, hold the stance for 30 seconds, rest for a minute, and repeat two more times for a total of three sets.
Work your way up to a minute for three sets, then add weight and repeat the cycle.
Check out the video below to learn how to do the Horse Stance.
Last of the best leg exercises for golfers
The last of the best leg exercises for golfers is the squat jump.
This is a plyometric move that we want to use to develop speed and power in our legs.
However, it is a somewhat high impact exercise, so if you have knee, hip or back issues, you may want to consider whether this is appropriate.
Also, I don’t recommend employing this exercise until you’ve trained consistently for a few months and built up a solid foundation of strength in your legs.
Start out by doing three sets of jump squats for 15 seconds, and work your way up to 30 seconds. You can also add another set or two.
That is all you need.
I recommend doing jump squats at the end of a leg training session, but no more than once per week.
Check out the video below to learn how to do the jump squat.
Final Thoughts
If you want longer tee shots, and you want to maintain the ability to hit with power at an advanced age, you need to train the legs.
In fact, I would argue that if you only trained the squat alone, you wouldn’t need to train any upper body exercises. It is that effective at building overall strength.
However, if you can’t train the squat, the Bulgarian Split Squat and Horse Stance provide you with two solid alternatives. Combine those with the jump squats and you have yourself an excellent leg workout for golfers.
You now have the best leg exercises for golfers. Three of these can be trained with zero equipment. Therefore, there is no excuse for not training your legs!
If you are still not sure where to start, consider my Strength Training and Conditioning program.
Now get to work!
