Exercise: Wood Chops

This exercise allows you to closely simulate the physical demands of the golf swing. As such, it is an excellent exercise for improving total body/general athletic power and golf power. Just like the Medicine Ball exercise but with the resistance coming from the opposite angle.

Exercise Tips:

• Assume normal golf posture while holding rope attachment. Maintain that posture, especially spine angle, throughout the exercise.
  
• Try to keep hips and lower body fairly quite. The hips can rotate, but not too much. Let most of the movement come from the hips up.
  
• Position yourself so that at the top of the movement the weight stack will very gently “pull” you into deep ranges of motion.
  
• This is not a “strength” exercise. It is definitely better to use light weights and work your way up. While this exercise can be difficult and tiring with heavier weights, you should keep very strict form.
  
• Use a smooth tempo. No jerky movements.

Benefit To Your Golf Game:

• Increased dynamic flexibility in the hips, back and especially the shoulders.
  
• Very golf specific training movement. Excellent benefits for your power levels.
  
• As you are using virtually all of the muscles in your body, you are training very efficiently and effectively. You are improving multiple components of your game (balance, stabilizers, proprioception, core strength, dynamic flexibility) at the same time.
  
• You will also experience a great hormonal response from regular use of this exercise.