This area of the body is among the most neglected and it's killing your golf swing, a PGA Tour trainer says

Quick anatomy question: Where are your adductors? Never heard of them? (Hint: They're muscles and you've got 10 of them.)

Give up?

If you pointed to the inside of your thighs, congrats. Each leg has five muscles on the anterior (front) side of the body in the medial part of the thigh known as adductors. They are not to be confused with abductors (ad instead of ab). Those are on the outside of your thighs. They're important, too, but get a lot more fitness attention than the adductors because of hip-hinge exercises.

The adductors are often ignored during training, says Damon Goddard, who works with Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris (above) and is one of Golf Digest's Best Fitness Trainers in America. That's a problem for many golfers who can't keep their whole body from moving laterally toward the target in the downswing (sliding). EMG testing done by Centinela showed that the adductors are very active in the through-swing, especially the lead leg's muscles.

"The adductors are teamed up with obliques (core muscles on the sides of your stomach) and the serratus anterior (muscles of the ribcage) to make up the anterior oblique sling," says Goddard, who also is a Golf Digest Certified Fitness Trainer.

"When all the muscles in that unit are firing well, you can improve rotational power, maintain dynamic stability and control at the hips, and significantly improve efficiency through optimal power output to reduce the risk of injury to the low back and hips."

In other words, training the adductors, obliques and seratus anterior is going to improve your golf swing, a lot, Goddard (@goddardspn on Instagram) says. He has three exercises to show you in a moment.

But first, it's helpful to know what happens when you can't control your body laterally in the golf swing. Josh Zander, one of Golf Digest's Best Teachers in California, explains what happens: When the body gets "out in front of the ball" in the downswing (below), it moves the ball back in the stance and the club comes from too far inside the target line. The typical result is a low push (straight right trajectory for right-handers) or a hook. Contact is poor and distance control is lost, Zander says.

If you fight pushes and hooks, Zander says a quick on-course fix would be to play the ball a little farther forward. On the range, work on getting the into the lead heel's foot as you start to swing down. You can put something like a wedge (below) under the foot to reinforce this "braking action" that stops the lateral slide and promotes the vertical and rotational aspects of the downswing that lead to pure contact.

The one thing to remember, Goddard says, is that you might struggle to make Zander's practice-tee fix if you can't stop your body from drifting. With that in mind, here he demonstrates three exercises that can really help your ball-striking.

1. Pallof presses with adductor engagement

How to perform:

• Stand sideways to a resistance band or cable machine at chest height
• Squeeze a small ball or yoga block between your knees to engage the adductors
• Press the band straight out in front of you, resisting rotation
• Hold for a few seconds, then return to the starting position
• Perform 3 sets of 10 reps per side

2. Copenhagen planks (adductor side planks)

How to perform:

• Lie on your side and place your top foot on a bench or elevated surface
• Support your body weight on your forearm while lifting your hips, keeping your bottom leg off the ground
• Maintain a straight line from head to toe, engaging the adductors and core
• Hold for 20-30 seconds per side, progressing to 3 sets
  

3. Single-leg hinge airplanes

How to perform:

• Stand tall with feet hip-width apart
• Shift your weight onto one leg while keeping a slight bend in the knee
• Hinge at the hips, sending your non-stance leg straight back while maintaining a neutral spine
• Your arms can be extended forward or placed on your hips for balance
• Keeping your stance leg stable, slowly rotate your torso open toward the raised leg
• Your pelvis and chest should turn outward while keeping the back leg engaged
• Maintain a straight line from head to heel with the non-stance leg
• Reverse the motion by rotating your torso inward, bringing your opposite side ribcage toward the stance leg
• The pelvis should rotate toward the standing leg, engaging the adductors, obliques, and deep hip stabilizers
• Keep the movement controlled, avoiding excessive wobbling
• Return to the starting bent-over position
• Perform this move for 10 repetitions, progressing to 3 sets