Golf season is winding down.

Here in Chicago, we may still have some good golf left, but we’re getting to that point of the year when the rounds start dropping and the weather starts changing.

And eventually a lot of golfers say:
“Okay. This winter I need to start working out.”

Maybe you’ve never really strength trained before.
Maybe you used to work out but haven’t done it consistently in years.
Or maybe you already train and want to build a better offseason routine.

Naturally, the first question becomes:

“What workout should I do?”

But I think there’s another question that needs to come first.

Actually, there are four of them:

Where?

Who?

How?

And with what?

Because before you build the workout, you need to build a training setup you’re actually going to use.

THE GOLFER MYTH
“I Just Need a Workout.”

I hear some version of this all the time.
“Scott, just give me three exercises.”

“What’s the best golf workout?”
“What should I do twice a week?”

I understand why golfers ask.
They want to get started.

But the workout itself isn’t always the first problem.

You could have the greatest strength program ever written.

But what happens if you hate the gym?
What if you can’t consistently get there?
What if you don’t understand the exercises?
What if you don’t have the equipment the program requires?
What if it’s so complicated that you quit after three weeks?

The program may be great on paper.

It still doesn’t work for you.

That leads to one of the simplest principles in this entire conversation:

The Best Workout You Never Do Isn’t a Very Good Workout.

Before obsessing over exercises, sets, reps, tempo, or programming...

figure out the setup.

WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO TRAIN?

Your first decision is the environment.

Generally, you have a few options:

• A large commercial gym
• A smaller private training facility
• A group-training facility
• Your home

There isn’t automatically one correct answer.

Each gives you something different.

Commercial Gym

The obvious advantage of a larger gym is options.

You may have access to:

Machines.
Cables.
Dumbbells.
Barbells.
Benches.
Medicine balls.
Turf.

And maybe an entire performance-training area.
That gives you tremendous variety.
But access to equipment doesn’t automatically create a training program.
If you’re working out by yourself, you still need to know what you’re doing.

You also have to be willing to drive there, deal with crowds, and consistently get yourself through the door.

Private or Group-Training Facility

A smaller facility can give you something different:

structure.
There may be scheduled sessions.
There may be coaching.

There may be more accountability.

And sometimes simply being surrounded by other people who are training makes it easier to stay consistent.

The tradeoff is that you’re entering that facility’s system.

If it’s group training, for example, the workout may be designed primarily around the group rather than specifically around you.

That doesn’t make group training bad.

It simply means you should understand what you’re signing up for.

Home

Then there’s home.

Home wins immediately in one category:

Convenience.

No commute.
No crowds.
No waiting for equipment.

You can walk downstairs and train.

But now you have different questions.

How much space do you have?
What equipment do you own?
How much are you willing to invest?
And probably most importantly:

Will you actually use it?

Some people are fantastic at training at home.
Others spend thousands of dollars building a beautiful home gym...
and six months later the bench is holding laundry.

So instead of asking:

“What’s the best gym?”

Ask:

Where Am I Most Likely to Train Consistently?

That’s the more important question.​

WHO IS GUIDING YOUR TRAINING?

Once you decide where you’re training, the next question is:

Who is directing it?

Maybe it’s you.
Maybe it’s a personal trainer.
Maybe it’s a Golf Strength Coach.

Again, each option can work.

Training Yourself

If you’re experienced, motivated, and enjoy figuring this stuff out, training yourself can be great.

I’m a tinkerer.
I like experimenting.
I like changing things.

And I can definitely disappear down a training rabbit hole.

The problem is that we tend to gravitate toward the things we enjoy and the things we’re already good at.

The things we struggle with?
Those have a funny way of disappearing from the workout.

If you don’t have a strong training background, you may also not understand:

Why you’re doing an exercise.
How much you should do.
When you should increase the resistance.
Or when something should change.

Training yourself can absolutely work.

But it requires knowledge, organization, and discipline.

Personal Trainer

If you simply need to get stronger, a good personal trainer can be extremely valuable.

A trainer can provide:

Technique.
Accountability.
Consistency.
Progressive resistance.

And general strength development.

And here’s something golfers need to understand:

You do not need every exercise to look like golf.

Getting stronger can benefit a golfer even when the exercise doesn’t look anything like a golf swing.

Golf Strength Coach

A Golf Strength Coach should add another layer.

They should understand strength...

but they should also understand the physical demands of golf.

Rotation.
Force production.
Force transfer.
Acceleration.
Deceleration.
Different body positions.

And the repetitive demands of swinging a golf club.

But putting the word golf in front of “strength coach” doesn’t automatically make someone better.

If your entire workout becomes a collection of complicated exercises that resemble a golf swing, you may be missing the point.

A good Golf Strength Coach still needs to understand strength.

Which brings us to an important Golf MATchanics principle:

The Swing Is the Expression. The Body Is the System.

The weight room doesn’t have to recreate your golf swing.

The goal is to build the physical system underneath it.

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TRAIN?

If you decide you want coaching, there’s another decision:

How are you going to receive it?

You basically have three choices:

In person.
Online.
Hybrid.

In Person

One of the biggest advantages of in-person coaching is immediate feedback.

A coach can see what you’re doing and make changes immediately.

Change the exercise.
Change the resistance.
Change the range.
Change your position.
Change the setup.

That can be especially helpful for someone who is newer to strength training or doesn’t have a great understanding of how their body is moving.

Online

Online coaching gives you freedom.
You can train at home.
Train at your own gym.
Travel.

And still have a program and coach giving you direction.

But there are limitations.

Your coach is viewing you through a screen.
You may be learning exercises from a video.

And if you don’t have great body awareness, you may think you’re doing exactly what the demonstration showed...

when you’re actually doing something completely different.

Online training can work very well.

But the more independent you are, the easier it becomes.

Hybrid

Then there’s hybrid.

This is a model I really like.

You get in-person instruction and feedback...
then you also have direction for what you do independently between sessions.

That’s similar to how we think about strength coaching at Golf MATchanics.

Your entire physical week shouldn’t depend on one coached session.

You want to learn what you’re doing so you can continue building outside of that one hour.

The real question becomes:

How Much Support Do You Need?

WITH WHAT?

Now we get to equipment.

And I’m not going to redo our entire Choose Your Weapon conversation from Episode 10.

Instead, I want you to ask one bigger question:

Does Your Equipment Let You Challenge Your Body in the 3 Planes of Force?

Golf doesn’t happen in one direction.

Your body has to create and control force in multiple directions.

For simplicity, think about three general categories.

Transverse Plane — Rotational Force

Think about something like a cable rotation.
You’re creating or controlling rotational force.
Obviously, rotation plays a major role in golf.

Frontal Plane — Lateral Force

Think about something like a lateral lunge.
Now you’re loading the body side to side and challenging lateral force.

Sagittal Plane — Forward-Back / Up-Down Force

Think about something like a squat.
Now you’re challenging more traditional up-and-down strength.

Different equipment gives you different options.

Dumbbells are fantastic for many traditional strength exercises.

Cables give you more freedom to change the direction of resistance and can be extremely useful when challenging rotational and lateral forces.

Machines can be great for loading very specific movements and muscular actions.

So when you walk through a gym, don’t just ask:

“How much equipment do they have?”

Ask:

Can I Challenge All Three Planes of Force and Continue to Progress?

That’s a much better way to think about your equipment.

THE OFFSEASON QUESTION THAT TIES EVERYTHING TOGETHER

Now take the four questions:

Where?
Who?
How?
With what?

And run them through one final filter:

Does This Actually Fit My Life?

That’s ultimately what matters.

During golf season, training has to coexist with rounds, practice, work, family, and everything else going on.

The offseason gives you a different opportunity.

Especially here in Chicago.

Golf begins to slow down.

You have fewer rounds.

You’re spending less time at the course.

And suddenly you have several months where you can put more attention into your body.

That doesn’t mean you have to train like a maniac.

It means you have an opportunity to consistently expose your body to resistance, movement, and force while golf volume is lower.

to build your neomuscular control
To get stronger.
To build some muscle.
To improve your body composition.

Maybe you simply enter next golf season feeling physically better prepared than you did when this season ended.

Instead of asking:

“How hard can I work out next Monday?”

Ask:

What Can I Consistently Do for the Next Several Months?

Consistency beats the perfect plan that never happens.

BEFORE THE WORKOUT, BUILD THE SETUP

You don’t need every answer today.
You don’t need the perfect program.

And you certainly don’t need 30 different golf exercises saved on your phone.

Start with four questions:

WHERE am I going to train?
WHO is guiding me?
HOW am I going to train?
WITH WHAT am I going to train?

Answer those first.

Then you can start figuring out what your actual strength program should look like.

Because once again:

​The Best Workout You Never Do Isn’t a Very Good Workout.

THREE MAIN TAKEAWAYS

Takeaway 1: Pick the Right Place
Choose the environment where you’re most likely to train consistently.

Takeaway 2: Get the Right Support
Decide whether you can train yourself or need help from a trainer, coach, or combination of in-person and online coaching.

Takeaway 3: Have Enough to Progress
Make sure your training environment gives you enough equipment and resistance options to challenge your body in multiple directions and continue getting stronger.