Yoga for Golf

Move Better, Swing Better, Play Better

When golfers think about improving their game, we usually think about the golf swing.

We work on our grip. We change our setup. We practice our takeaway, improve our impact position, work on our short game, and spend time trying to hit the ball farther and straighter.

All of those things are important. But there is another part of golf improvement that I think we sometimes overlook:

How well can your body actually move?

You can understand exactly where the golf club should go, but your body still has to be capable of getting you there.

That is one of the reasons I have become increasingly interested in the relationship between yoga and golf. Yoga is not about teaching you a different golf swing. Instead, it can help develop some of the physical qualities that allow you to make your golf swing more efficiently.

Mobility. Balance. Stability. Body awareness. Breathing. Control.

Those are yoga concepts, but they are also very much golf concepts.

The Golf Swing Is a Movement

One of the things I try to remind my students is that we are all built differently.

We have different heights, different levels of strength, different amounts of flexibility, different injury histories, and different physical limitations. It does not make much sense to expect every golfer to move exactly the same way.

That becomes particularly important as we get older.

Maybe you cannot make the same shoulder turn you made 20 years ago. Maybe your hips feel a little tighter. Maybe sitting at a desk all week affects how freely you can rotate. Maybe you feel great on the first tee but become increasingly stiff as the round progresses.

Our golf swings have to work within those realities.

The goal, in my opinion, should not necessarily be to become extraordinarily flexible. The goal is to develop enough functional mobility, stability, balance, and control to make the movements your golf swing requires.

That is where yoga becomes interesting for golfers.

Mobility and the Golf Swing

Think about how much movement takes place during one golf swing.

Your upper body turns. Your hips rotate. Your shoulders move through a significant range of motion. Your arms move independently while remaining connected to the movement of your torso. Your lower body provides stability while also allowing rotation.

Then, in a fraction of a second, all of those movements begin changing direction.

That is a lot to ask of the body.

If a golfer has limited mobility somewhere in that system, the body will often find another way to complete the movement.

For example, if you struggle to rotate through your upper back, you may compensate somewhere else. If your hips are particularly tight, maintaining posture while turning may become more difficult.

This does not mean yoga will magically fix a slice, add 20 yards to your driver, or eliminate every physical limitation. I do not think we should make those kinds of promises.

What yoga can do is give golfers an opportunity to work intentionally on movement. And better movement can give us a better foundation from which to work on the golf swing.

Balance and Stability Matter Too

Flexibility tends to get most of the attention when people talk about yoga, but for golfers, I think balance and stability deserve just as much attention. Watch a really good golfer swing and notice what happens after impact.

They are often able to rotate through the shot and finish in a balanced position. Now think about what happens when we lose our balance during a golf swing. We may fall toward our toes. We may move excessively toward our heels. We may step away from the shot after impact. Our body may make compensations simply to keep us from falling over.

Balance gives us a foundation from which to move. Yoga frequently asks the body to maintain positions while controlling movement, which makes the connection to golf fairly easy to understand. We are learning where our body is in space and learning how to control it. That body awareness can be valuable to a golfer.

What About Strength?

Yoga may also challenge golfers in ways they do not expect. Holding and transitioning between positions requires muscular engagement and control, particularly through areas such as the core, hips, legs, and shoulders.

For golf, I am not necessarily interested in strength simply for the sake of being stronger. I am interested in whether you can control the movement you are trying to make.

• Can you maintain your posture?

• Can you rotate without losing your balance?

• Can you stabilize one part of your body while another part moves?

• Can you control your body through a range of motion rather than simply reaching the end of that range?

Those are interesting questions for golfers, and they are areas where yoga and golf begin to overlap.

Breathing, Tension, and Golf

There is another benefit that has very little to do with how far you can turn.

Breathing.

Golf can create tension. Think about standing over a three-foot putt that matters. Or hitting a tee shot with trouble on both sides. Your grip gets a little tighter. Your shoulders tighten. Your breathing changes.

We talk a lot about staying relaxed on the golf course, but telling yourself to "relax" does not always work. Yoga incorporates controlled breathing and awareness of tension. Learning to recognize when you are holding unnecessary tension, and using your breathing to help manage it, has obvious applications to golf.

That does not mean we need to turn the first tee into a yoga studio. It simply means that becoming more aware of our breathing and our body's response to pressure may help us develop better strategies for managing ourselves on the golf course.

Meet Lauren McMillin

This is also why I am excited to work with Lauren McMillin as we continue developing Yoga for Golf programming through Lambert Golf Academy. Lauren brings the yoga expertise to this conversation.

As a golf instructor, my expertise is golf. I can evaluate a player's setup, movement, ball flight, club delivery, short game, putting, and performance on the golf course. But I also believe good coaching means recognizing when another professional brings expertise that can complement what we are trying to accomplish. Yoga gives us an opportunity to approach the golfer from a different direction.

Instead of asking only:

"What is the golf club doing?"

We can also begin asking:

"What is the body capable of doing?"

That is a conversation I think is worth having.

You Do Not Have to Be Good at Yoga

I also want to address one concern that may prevent golfers from trying yoga. You do not have to already be flexible. And you certainly do not have to be "good at yoga."

In fact, if you are a golfer who says, "I could never do yoga because I'm not flexible enough," you may be exactly the person who could benefit from learning more about movement and mobility. The objective is not to compete with the person on the mat next to you. Golf is already difficult enough without turning yoga into another competition.

Start where you are.

Learn what your body can do.

Identify where you may have limitations.

Then work gradually toward improving your movement.

That sounds a lot like learning golf.

Yoga Should Complement Your Golf Game

I do not see Yoga for Golf as a replacement for golf instruction, strength training, physical therapy, medical care, or simply getting out and playing the game. It is another tool. And I am a big believer in giving golfers the right tools.

Some players need to improve their putting. Some need better course management. Some need to understand their club distances. Some need to improve their grip or setup. And some golfers may discover that improving the way their body moves makes it easier to work on everything else.

That is where I believe Yoga for Golf fits.

Move Better. Swing Better. Play Better.

Ultimately, the idea behind Yoga for Golf is pretty simple.

Move better. Swing better. Play better.

Not because yoga creates a perfect golf swing. Not because touching your toes is going to lower your handicap overnight. But because your body is the engine behind every golf swing you make.

Understanding it, taking care of it, and learning how to move it more efficiently makes sense if you want to continue enjoying this game for a long time.

I am excited to continue exploring this connection with Lauren McMillin and to bring another Yoga for Golf experience to New Orleans (https://lauren.yoga/). Whether you are a beginner, an experienced player, someone trying to gain mobility, or simply a golfer who wants to feel better when you play, I hope you will join us. Because sometimes improving your golf game does not begin with another bucket of golf balls.

Sometimes it begins with learning how to move.

About Lambert Golf Academy

Lambert Golf Academy provides golf instruction and player development in New Orleans, Louisiana. Our goal is to help golfers better understand their games, practice with a purpose, and develop skills they can take to the golf course.

Practice with a Purpose. Play with a Purpose.

About Lauren McMillin

Lauren McMillin (https://lauren.yoga/) will lead our Yoga for Golf experience and bring her yoga and movement expertise to golfers interested in improving mobility, balance, stability, and body awareness.

Learn more about Lauren McMillin

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