Pop quiz: Which of the following do you think is the most important to hitting a pure golf shot?
Answer: 3.
You could make an argument for any of the four, but none of the other three will help you hit it your best if your swing is out of sync. That's why you'll often wonder what went wrong when you seem to be making the same swing you always do, but you're still hitting bad shots. When I asked Rory McIlory about this earlier this year, he said, "You could have amazing technique, but if you can't put it all together with the right rhythm, you won't hit your best tee shots."
With that in mind, training to improve the timing of your swing by getting the right body parts moving in the right direction at the right time, is something you can—and should—be working on in the gym. How? Recently the SKLZ sports-and-fitness equipment company partnered with Mark Verstegen and his world-class trainers at Exos to build the Golf Strong video series with pro golfers Anna Nordqvist and Tony Finau. Anna is enjoying a great season on the LPGA Tour, with a win and and two second-place finishes. That includes her memorable and unfortunate runner-up finish at the U.S. Women's Open where a minor rules infraction cost her a real chance at the trophy.
Here, with the help of Verstegen, Anna demonstrates an awesome resistance-band exercise you can do to help synchronize the movements of your swing and train those muscles to not only activate, but pattern their activation in the correct order. SKLZ calls this an "accuracy" exercise, but don't think that's hyperbole. It's just another way of saying that if you sync your swing with good muscle function, you'll be in great position to hit the ball where you want it to go. Click on the video to watch Anna demonstrate.