Three unusual activities that could help your golf game

There is no substitute for practice when it comes to improving your golf game, but there are non-golfing activities that might benefit your game.

Golf has done a lot of work to make the sport accessible, but it is still a sport, and casual golfers can take lessons from some unlikely sources.

Here we look at three activities that could help your golf game.

Weight Training

While you don’t associate golf with musclebound leviathans, power is a huge factor in the sport at all levels.

If you can do a full weight-training programme targeted at improving your golf game, then you will likely derive great benefit.

Trainers putting together your programme should take into account how often you are able to play and whether there is a meaningful off-season.

Gary Player, Greg Norman, and Tiger Woods have all made it clear that strength training was a huge part of their successes.

Amateurs and even recreational golfers can also benefit from targeted golf training in their gym.

Yoga

Strength isn’t the only physical quality that golf demands and when it comes to improving flexibility, more and more golfers are turning to Yoga.

Yoga may be extremely useful to golfers for a variety of reasons, including improving the physical and mental elements of your game.

Fitness Trainer Jennifer Fleischer advocates for modified golf-fitness workouts inspired by yoga.

“Yoga provides strength, stability, mobility, all the foundational blocks any golfer needs,” Fleischer told Golf Digest.

“But when you address the prime movers of the golf swing, it’s always best to get more specific with the exercises you do.”

Mushrooms

Athletes are increasingly tuning in to the possibilities of formerly taboo natural medicines and the use of psilocybin to aid golf performance and recovery. It is still not very far along in long-term testing, but it is something that a few golfers have noted positive experiences with.

A lot of research is focused on pain management efforts for retired sportspeople, but some have looked to reap the benefits of a microdose on the course.

For legal and medical reasons, we cannot recommend the use of psychedelic mushrooms or other intoxicants on course.

But one Reddit user claims to have had the round of his life after consuming a microdose of psychoactive mushrooms.

“I’ve always been a bit of a psychonaut and I love to play golf so naturally I wanted to try them together,” he wrote.

“I’ve done it a total of three times now, ate .4 and played last week with no obvious effect. Upped the dose to .8 and played again the other day it it didn’t really count since it was low 40s* with 20 MPH winds.

“I tried again yesterday, perfect weather and I ate 1g, ended up shooting a 78 with three birdies. One of the birdies was a 90’ putt, which is the longest putt I’ve ever made. It was a great day. Nothing psychedelic happened but I was really feeling myself out there. As a 12ish handicap my previous best score was an 85. The only thing I really learned yesterday is I’m ok at golf but I’m really good at eating mushrooms. Has anyone else had a similar experience?”