The Loop
Fitness Friday: Get a jump on your tee shots
As a kid, you'd jump over sidewalk cracks, puddles, the pile of toys you were too lazy to clean up. So what happened? You're 52 now, and you couldn't clear a deck of cards. Your lack of jumping ability is not only a sign of age, it's the reason you've lost 15 yards.
"Golfers who can jump are not only able to store and deliver power, they also have better synchronicity in their swings," says fitness expert Mark Verstegen, author of Core Performance Golf.
Verstegen doesn't mean learn to dunk. Leaping just six to 24 inches during workouts would improve many golfers' swings. Try this: Get into your setup, and do six jumps onto a short platform, landing on both feet. Remove the platform, and do six more, landing on one leg. Then do six jumps and make a 90-degree turn in the air, landing on both feet. Finally, make six 90-degree turn-jumps landing on one leg. The key is a smooth takeoff and clean landing.
To see three jumps you should add to your workout, click on the video below.
Ron Kaspriske is the fitness editor for Golf Digest.
(Illustration by Alison Seiffer)*