Golf Rotation Exercises for Both Sides of Your Swing

With a resistance band wrapped around a door handle, Cleveland Clinic says to stand side-on, “tighten your abdominal muscles and slowly push your arms straight out in front of you. Avoid twisting your torso or letting your arms get pulled toward the door.” Hold three to five seconds, bring your arms back to your chest, and “repeat for 10 to 15 reps.” Then “turn to face the other direction” and repeat on the other side.

Lying on your back with hips and knees bent to 90° and arms toward the ceiling, Harvard Health says to “slowly extend your right leg” while you “lower your left arm backward,” without letting your back arch, then switch sides. Its guidance is “eight to 12 reps” per set, one to three sets.

Harvard Health says this move “stretches the back, chest, hips, and outer thighs” and strengthens core muscles “vital for good form and function in sports such as golf.” Lying on your back with knees bent, lift both knees, then “lower them together to the left side on the floor,” keeping your shoulders down. “Hold 10–30 seconds,” build to 60 seconds in total, “then repeat in the opposite direction.”

Cleveland Clinic describes sitting with the front leg in external rotation and the back leg in internal rotation, both knees at 90 degrees: “Your goal is to hold your torso straight up with your shoulders square.” “Hold this pose for 20 to 60 seconds then repeat with your right and left legs changing positions.” It says the stretch is “not recommended for anyone who's dealing with a hip impingement or has had a hip or knee replacement.”

A review of golf-related low back pain suggests that “all golfers should be encouraged to take warm-up or practice swings both left and right handed.” It also recommends maintaining “good hip rotation mobility especially on the lead side.”