A note from Karen: In my opinion, daily practice is the key to success towards any goal.  Making 10 practice swings a day or stretching for five minutes everyday will get you playing better than practicing for two or three hours once a week. First of all, it is always hard to find big chunks of time to beat balls on the driving range or do intense workouts. Secondly, the long practice sessions and intense workouts usually lead to fatigued swings, ingrained bad habits and injuries.

There is something to be said about the momentum of taking small daily steps towards a goal that is cumulatively better than taking big steps with less frequency.

Practice something about your game everyday.

Cardiogolf Off-Course Exercise for Posture

Everything you do before you swing determines how well you strike the ball. With a poor setup, even the best golfers in the world will not hit the ball straight. Take the time to correctly set up each time for a consistent swing.

Practice your posture with each club. Although clubs are different lengths, the basic golf posture remains the same. One key point to remember is to try to keep your spine in a neutral position, not too straight or not slumped over.  The purpose of the golf posture is to create a position from which you can make an athletic swing.

Cat/Cow Pose for Golf

• Kneel on all fours with the knees directly under the hips and the wrists under the shoulders. Try to flatten your back, distributing the weight evenly to hands and knees.
• Exhale and round your spine and tuck your pelvis under as your suck in your abdominal muscles. This is the cat position.
• Inhale and arch your back as you lift the head and eyes toward the ceiling. This is the cow position.
• Hold each position for 3 seconds.
• Slowly repeat each pose moving smoothly and slowly between both for 8 to 10 repetitions.
• These two poses will help you improve your posture by increases spinal flexibility and even stretch and strengthen your wrists, arms and shoulders.

To learn how to do these and other golf-specific exercises take my Cardiogolf 30-Day Challenge-

“Discover a unique and simple program to improve your swing, shape up your body and trim your handicap”

LPGA Teaching Professional Karen Palacios-Jansen was voted 2008 LPGA National and Southeast Section Teacher of the Year. Voted by Golf Digest Magazine as one of America’s “Top 50 Female Instructors” for 11 straight years, Karen has her own golf events company-Swing Blade Enterprises, as well as being a certified personal trainer. Her golf-specific fitness system called Cardiogolf is available on DVD and online. Karen lives in North Carolina with her husband Dan Jansen. Over the years she has helped thousands of golfers improve their golf games. For more information-visit http://www.kpjgolf.com.