When it comes to fitness, there are as many ideas about what works as there are for the golf swing. But you don’t have to be one of the trained physical therapists of the Strengthen Your Game program to know this: The stronger you are, and the healthier you are, the better golfer you will be. And that’s exactly what the folks from Strengthen Your Game are there to do, make you a stronger, healthier and better golfer.

Strengthen Your Game is a golf fitness program designed by sports therapy guru Bob Donatelli and backed by the experts at Stryker Physiotherapy Associates, and has found nearly overnight success on the PGA, LPGA and Champions Tours, with everyone from Fred Funk to Natalie Gulbis reaping its rewards. In just over three years the program has sprouted to include more than 70 satellite locations and more than 100 therapists around the country, including 15 locations in the Midwest.

While you can work your muscles with a trainer in the gym, you won’t achieve the same level of success you can with the trained experts at SYG.

“Anything else you try will be generic,” explains Mitch Shaver, the Group Director of Stryker Physiotherapy Associates in Lake Orion, Michigan. “If you want the Spartan brand corn flakes, you can go to the gym. If you want the real Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, you have to come to us.”

The difference, Shaver says, is in the tailor-made program designed specifically for each individual. After an extensive, hour-long evaluation session to determine your overall fitness and health in a variety of areas, you’ll begin working with the therapists on a workout and wellness regimen tailored especially for you, and your weaknesses, or as Shaver euphemistically calls them, “your opportunities.”

For many people who come through Shaver’s door, a good portion of those “opportunities” can be found in the area just above (and sometimes hanging over) your belt.

“That’s where we see a lot of weaknesses, in the ‘core’,” Shaver said. “In the United States, our bellies tend to hang out more, especially as we get older. It’s very, very common.”

But there’s more to strengthening the core than endless crunches and cardio, he says.
“Abdominal strength is very important,” Shaver said. “They’ve studied golfers with back pain, and found the more force you use in the abdomen (during the swing), you actually have less back pain.”

Funk is one of the leading spokespeople for the program, but only because he’s a believer, as well.

“Obviously the catchphrase now is core,” Funk said. “Everybody’s focused on strengthening your core, which is not just the abs, it’s the small internal stabilizing muscles in your hips, your butt and legs, and the top of your thighs. Those are the little intrinsic muscles you need and you need to learn how to fire, because they make your swing more efficient. That’s the biggest goal with Bob’s system, to be more efficient in your golf swing, and allow your body to not overwork to try to create clubhead speed. And that was a big thing for me.”

Yet unlike the typical core workout regimen found in gyms, Strengthen Your Game can pinpoint exactly which portion of your core requires the most attention, whether it’s the left hip flexor, the lower back, or abdominals. That means your time isn’t wasted on areas that aren’t critical to your improvement.

The SYG program utilizes a variety of core-specific exercises to isolate a particular muscle, or muscle group, from stabilizing exercises, to back extensions, to ab work on the exercise ball and attention to the “love handles” hanging at your sides. The result, Shaver says, is a stronger trunk, and a better swing.

“When you’re swinging the club, your arms won’t be able to move well if you don’t have a good base,” he explained. “Your need to really train those abdominals, the hips, and the lower back, too.”

For more information, and to find a Strengthen Your Game location near you, visit www.strengthenyourgame.com.