I think it's fair to say that most of us could use a little help to improve our game. What I'd like to see are some of the exercises that some of you use to improve your game, be it for increasing your swing speed or strength, or flexibilty. What ever. Let's see if we can come up with a good program to improve all of us by the time spring comes around and we can all get back out on the course. I'll even go first. About 20 years ago, when I was skiing a lot, I ordered a Sport Cord, from Sport Cord INC. What it is, is a 6 foot long piece of rubber tubing with a handle on each end and a strap in the middle that can be placed in a door jam. One way I use it is to place the strap to one end of the tubing and lock it in a door jam at the top of the door. I then stand with the door to my right and move to the "top of my backswing position". From there, I just start the downswing and use the tubing as resistance. This helps build the muscles that are used to make the downswing. After a set of those, I turn 180 degrees, and make my backswing against the resistance of the tubing. As you gain strength, you just move a little farther from the door to stretch the tubing more, to increase the resistance and do more sets in each direction. After awhile, you will be in better shape and your golf swing muscles will be that much stronger. You might even gain a few yards off the tee. This is just one of the uses for the Sport Cord. It was first sold as a portable weight training device to pro snow skiers, so they could travel all over the world without taking a couple hundred pounds of barbells with them. I weights less than a pound and fits in a suitcase, so it's easy to take anywhere. OKAY GUYS, there's one exercise to start you off. Lets' hear from the rest of you. Spring is getting closer each day.

Here's an exercise I got from my golf instructor. Take a 12" piece of broom handle and drill a small hole in the middle of it. Then thread a 4 foot long piece of thin cord through the hole and tie a knot in it. Tie the other end of the cord to a 3-5 pound weight. Then hold your arms out in front of your chest and roll up the cord on the broom handle by turning the handle. When the weight is at the handle, slowly lower the weight again, and continue twisting the handle in the same direction to raise the weight again. Lower it again and you have one cycle. Continue for 8 cycles and then increase the weight as your hands, forearms, and wrists get stronger. The next time you find your ball in the tall rough, you will be glad you did this exercise. The extra strength you have will help you power the ball out. Good luck with your game. Type at you later.

It looks like no one exercises any more. What the heck, heres another exercise for all you out of shape golfers. Try using one of those little six inch wheels on an axle. Kneel on the ground with the wheel at you knees, and then roll the wheel as far as you can away from your knees, then bring it back to your knees if you can. Repeat as offen as you can, trying to increase the distance you roll the wheel from your knees. Be warned, if your stomach muscles are in the same sad shape as mine, be ready to feel the pain two days after you do this exercise. My stomach was killing me the second morning when I tried to get out of bed. If you don't want your stomach to hurt too much, you might want to start off easy and work you way up to it. Strong stomach muscles will help increase your X-factor coil. More coil translates to more distance. Will also stretch and build up your back. One of those Win-Win situations.

Hey Don Reiny here. Be careful with the wheel on the axle they can be extremely hard on the lower back and thats not to good for a golfer, but Don is right the abs ae extremely important golfers muscles. I am currently basically doing the workout that I did for high school football. The same coe muscles that were important in football are the main muscles in golf. My workouts consist of Back squats, front squats, usind the real runner, power cleans, bench press, and various upper body lifts, but remeber the most important muscles for a golfer are the abs, hamstrings, glutes, and thighs. And oh ya dont forget the sit ups at least 250 per workout session.

Pretty much any core or forearm exercise should be good for golf. One that I remember reading or hearing about a few years ago is this:

Get one of those weighted balls that have some bounce to them (they're like mini medicine balls that look a little like dodgeballs). A 5 pounder should be fine to start, although 10 lbs is probably good too. Anyway, stand a couple of feet from a wall, with your back to the wall, and the weighted ball in hand. Without moving your feet, rotate your hips to one side, and throw the ball against the wall. Catch it off the rebound and turn to the other side and do the same. Repeat this full motion 10-12 times for one set.

Now, I've never tried this one, so be careful. It sounds like it would put some pressure on the lower back, but that's where all of the ab resistance comes from, so that's bound to happen with any abdominal exercise you try.

250 sit-ups per session? Are you trying to kill me? That's way past this 57 year old body's ability. Make it 250 a year, and we have a deal !!!! Type at you later, I have 10:10 tee time and the weather is supposed to be mostly sunny with a high in the mid 60's. Got to go.

Last year I built a heavy club using an old 3 wood I got at Goodwill for $2.00. I removed the grip and filled the steel shaft with lead shot. You have to tap the shaft as you fill it to settle the shot so it won't settle later. Then put a new grip on the shaft and you have a club that is balanced well but weighs about 3 times as much as a standard club. I like to swing this heavy club 50 times, and repeat it 3 times a day. The shaft still bends like normal and you can really feel it when you release your wrist cock. You are working the exact same muscles you use in you golf swing, only with 3 times as much weight. You might be surprised at how much your arms start to hurt after 30 or so hard swings. Getting up to 50 can be a test of will. Depending on your age of course, you might want to start with less reps, or you might be young and need to go for 100 reps. I'll be 58 Saturday, so 50 is a good goal for now. The heavy weight of the club forces you to follow thru, and helps increase your range of motion. Any time you can increase your range of motion and increase the strength of your swing muscles, that's a good start to adding some distance off the tee. Try making a good smooth swing at first, and then try to increase the speed of that swing while still keeping it smooth. Take a break, and then try 50 more. I think after a few weeks, you will notice an improvement in your distance and you will not get tired as fast. Good luck with your game this spring and summer.