Golf and fitness haven’t always been closely related. But thanks to players like Tiger Woods, the two words are starting to become more associated. More and more athletes have started to play the game. The competition is more fierce than ever before. If you want to stay ahead of the curb out there, you’re going to need to establish a workout routine to keep you in optimal golfing shape. In this article I want to give you a few golf training aids and fitness tips you can use to get your body into prime club swinging shape.

Always start your exercises and games with a few warm ups. Make sure to work your legs, arms, shoulders, and core muscles. Try a quick jog. Stretch your arms and rotate your shoulders. Practice some twists to get your trunk ready to swing. At the end of your warm up, grab a club and make some practice swings. Start slow at first and then work your way up to full speed over 30 seconds or so. To really get your muscles going, try practice swinging with two clubs.

The first exercise I would suggest doing is a simple squat. So much of the power you need for your swing comes up the leg first before it reaches your hips. You’ll need to strengthen your thighs to get the most power to your waist. To perform a body squat, you don’t need anyway weights. Just grab a club and you’re good to go. Set the club in front of you for balance, then bend your knees as if you were sitting back on a chair or park bench. Make sure your knees aren’t pushing out toward your club. That could lead to some injuries. Instead, try to transfer your weight back into your thighs and down into your heels.

Golf fitness also requires keeping your core strong. Core muscles like the hips, abdominals, and obliques should be responsible for how hard you can swing, not your arms. A great way to strengthen these muscles is to buy and exercise band. While tying one end of the band to something that will hold, take the other end and mimic the movement of your golf swing. Rotate through, with your legs pivoting, slow at first, but then increase your speed until you are swinging as fast as you would a real club.

With these little golf fitness tips, you can really start building the body you need to really hold your own out there on the green. Staying in shape for golf will not only help you be better at the game, it will help you enjoy the game better as you incur less injuries and feel less wiped out by the end of the 18th hole.