My hope in putting together this article is that it will help all young players dreaming of a career playing golf to appreciate exactly what it takes to make it to the top. Paula Creamer is currently the No.5-ranked woman player in the world, and she works harder in the so-called ‘off-season’ than most do in high summer. Over these pages, you will appreciate the link between fitness and good golf.
The emphasis in top-level golf these days is on designing work-out regimes that enhance what we are trying to achieve with a player’s swing. That is essentially what we do with our students here at the IMG Bradenton Academy. The exercises that Paula works on in the gym (two hours a day, seven days a week) are designed to facilitate ongoing improvement to her technique.
The key areas of improvement for girls (and a lot of guys come to that!) is leg strength and core strength. The medicine-ball drills that you see Paula demonstrating here have really helped her to increase her core strength, which in turn helps her to generate explosive speed in the golf swing. And you don’t need to be a slave to the gym to achieve the same benefits. Get yourself a moderately weighted medicine ball – the one Paula uses is 8 lbs – and you can train your golfing muscles at home. The swing drills that appear over the following pages will, in conjunction, really benefit your game.