To swing a club effectively, you need sufficient strength to stabilize your body, decent flexibility to improve your range of motion, and good coordination to wind and unwind in the correct sequence. This dynamic medicine-ball workout will help give you all three traits, says Trevor Anderson, director of golf performance for the David Leadbetter Golf Academy. Anderson says that throwing a four- to 10-pound medicine ball against a reinforced wall or to a partner, while performing these exercises helps train the proper order of body movement during the golf swing--known as kinematic sequence. So start with the 1. Wind and Toss. Then move on to 2. Load and Toss, and the3. Synchronize and Toss. Do 10 throws of each exercise in both directions.
Simulate your address posture while holding a medicine ball in front of your waist. Wind up to throw the ball by squatting slightly as you shift the weighted object past your right hip (above). Then thrust your hips, straighten your legs and powerfully throw the ball toward the target, making sure not to lose your balance.
Stand perpendicular to your target while holding the medicine ball in front of your waist. Wind your upper body to the right as you move the ball past your right hip. Now load your body weight into your left leg, fire your right hip toward the target and throw the ball powerfully, but not so you're out of control.
Set up in an athletic posture with your back to the target. Wind up by squatting slightly as you move the medicine ball past your right hip. Once you're completely wound, load all your weight onto your left side, powerfully tossing the four- to 10-pound ball over your left shoulder, without neglecting your footing.
Ron Kaspriske is the fitness editor for Golf Digest
(Photos by Stephen Szurlej)