The Core Rotation on an Exercise Ball exercise is great exercise for increasing rotational mobility and muscle control in your core, helping you to create and then eliminate the separation between your pelvis and your shoulders during the golf swing.
The Core Rotation on an Exercise Ball exercise forms part of the Golf Mobility series of innovative and dynamic exercises that will help to improve your joint and muscle mobility, improving your range of motion while increasing functional strength within the entire range of that motion – thus helping to prevent injuries and building the foundation for a consistent, accurate, and powerful golf swing.
Equipment
This exercise requires an exercise ball, often referred to as a Swiss ball, and also known as a balance ball, fitness ball, gym ball, stability ball, physioball, Swedish ball, therapy ball, or yoga ball.
You will also need a weight that can be comfortably held in both hands. You can use a medicine ball (featured), weight plate, dumbbell, or something similar.
This is not a dedicated strength exercise, and the amount of weight you lift isn’t so important. Choose a weight that makes the movement challenging, but enables you to complete all of your repetitions (reps) with proper form.
If you are performing this exercise as part of a Golf Loopy Train like a Champion System programme workout, you should be able to complete the prescribed number of reps in the allotted time with proper form – adjust your tempo accordingly.
See How Much Weight Should I Lift? for more information.
Steps
- Lie face up with your shoulders on an exercise ball, your feet on the ground, and push your hips up in line with your knees and shoulders.
- Hold a medicine ball above your chest with your arms straight, and your shoulder blades back and down.
- Keeping your hips and thighs horizontal to the ground, rotate your shoulders until they are perpendicular to the ground.
- Return to the start position and repeat to your right side.
Allow the exercise ball to move with your bottom shoulder as you rotate.
When rotating to each side, be sure to fire (squeeze) your glutes on that side to keep your hips flat.
You should feel it working and stretching your hips and core.
Variation
A great variation on this exercise is to work with a partner and to throw the ball to them as you rotate, and then catch it from them as you rotate back to neutral.
You can also try the Russian Twist on an Exercise Ball and the classic Russian Twist Exercise variations.
How Will It Benefit Your Golf Swing?
The ability to create separation between your pelvis and your shoulders during the backswing is crucial for generating power in the golf swing.
This separation (the so-called X-factor) enables you to generate more power by stretching out the big muscles in your core as you coil your torso, and by generating lag in your swing through the compound pendulum effect.
If you can’t properly separate your pelvis from your shoulders, and then powerfully close that separation again in the downswing, not only will you lose club head speed through impact, but you’ll rotate your whole body at the same time during your golf swing, causing a weak and destructive over-the-top or out-to-in swing path, often resulting in a horrible slice.
And after impact, these same muscles are important for slowing your body down during the follow-through, thus keeping your joints and ligaments safe from injury.
The Core Rotation on an Exercise Ball exercise teaches you how both create and then eliminate separation between your pelvis and your shoulders.
Target Muscles
This exercise mainly involves your gluteus medius, gluteus maximus, internal obliques, and external obliques, and to a lesser extent your latissimus dorsi, quadratus lumborum, triceps, and hamstrings.
If you have any questions or comments about this or other articles on Golf Loopy, please send us an email.
You May Also Like…
Golf Performance Programmes – the most effective golf-specific fitness regimens on the planet, guaranteed to make you a better golfer!
There are a number of other golf-specific mobility exercises in the Golf Loopy Train like a Champion System.
Introduction to the Swing like a Champion System.
Golf Anatomy and Kinesiology, a collection of articles describing the roles of the muscles involved in the golf swing.
