“So tell me about your lower body routine.”
“I do a lot of heavy chest and back and yada, yada, yada ...”
“Okay, but how about your legs?”
“... and biceps curls ...”
“Please don’t say anything else unless it has to do with your lower body.”
“Listen pal, my legs are only here to get me from mirror to mirror!”
The break-through lesson I learned in that moment? Without question, I was — and probably still am — much smarter than that guy.
Truth is, a sturdy lower body can make you better, faster and stronger at most any activity. Baseball pitchers, bowlers, skiers, and yes, even golfers will all benefit from strength and balance through their legs and hips.
So let’s think about the golf swing and the role our legs play in it. During the back swing we look for a slight weight shift to load and power up the back leg and hip. As we begin the swing we take all of that wound up potential in our bodies and put it to work on the ball, ending up with a shift to the forward leg. Seems to me we need balance and power to really get things cookin’.
Lateral Bounding will help us here. Start by loading your left leg in a partial squat position with your weight on your heel and hands in front of you like a downhill skier. Burst off your left leg in a lateral leap to your right, landing and loading to prepare for the return trip to the left. Before you bound back, come to a steady balance on your right foot in that partial squat position. Try a distance of a few feet initially and increase it to provide a greater challenge to your leg strength and balance.
Jon Frothingham is a NASM-CPT certified personal trainer at Natural Fitness in Falmouth. To learn more about personal training contact him at 781-3900 or visit www.naturalfitnessme.com.