Resistance Bands

Have you ever used resistance bands for a workout, to stretch or to warm up for golf? We at GolfGym® are huge proponents of using resistance bands (or cords) to gain strength and to train specific muscles to perform more efficiently in your golf swing.
I am a huge proponent because it was back in 1986 when I invented the first golf swing training product using latex tubing in a figure eight design on a molded training grip. We called it the “GolfGym”.  That original product has gone through many configurations over the past 30 plus years. Thankfully, the concept of utilizing bands for resistance training has taken on a huge roll for golfers as well as with many other athletes in all sports.

We are big time Carolina Panther fans. For my recent birthday, Vicki and I went to the Panthers opening day at training camp. Several of the players, especially the quarterbacks (Cam Newton) were using bands, tubing or flat bands (like huge rubber bands) to warm up their shoulders and arms. A few others had bands around their ankles or knees to work those specific muscles which free weights are incapable of addressing.

PGA Tour Fitness Van

The PGA Tour Fitness Trailer has 2 sets of the GolfGym PowerBandz (medium and heavy) that are frequently used by the players to help with opening the shoulders, loosening the hips, along with many other golf specific movement patterns that just cannot be accomplished with dumbbells or other weights.

Richie Allen from Muscle Prodigy says: “When using resistance bands, you do not have to fight gravity (as with free weights). Instead, you are fighting the tension in the bands, but you can move freely in any direction. With gravity, the only way is down. The ability to move freely allows you to mimic and recreate natural movements in our daily lives. One of the main benefits is increasing and strengthening our daily activities, such as a baseball, golf or tennis swing or even opening a door.”

Stronger-Faster Golf Swing

It is for those reasons that bands are so good for developing a stronger and faster golf swing. You can move freely in the motion (depending on the resistance) while training the brain and the muscles to perform smoothly and consistently.

The other great thing about using bands is that you can get them in various resistance levels. For many applications the band or bands are affixed in a door, on a piece of equipment, on a pole or even under your feet (foot). By simply moving closer to the affixed point you are able to decrease the resistance. The opposite is true as well. When you move away from the fixed point you increase the resistance.

If you are thinking about Striking Up the Bandz in your training for golf, be sure to do some research to get a quality set that comes with a guarantee and professional instructional videos or manuals. Of course, my suggestion is to check our GolfGym products first. Tour players, trainers and teachers use our PowerBandz, PowerSwing Trainer, the PowerHip Trainer and the PowerSWING Plus… and that’s a pretty good endorsement. I would love to hear from you.
Ken Pierce