Tiger Woods Golf Training Program

I was at the 2006 PGA Championship in Medinah and had a chance to watch the final Sunday games of the day. When Tiger Woods came to the tee, the applause was almost deafening. He gave me goosebumps just being a part of what I (and probably everyone else) thought would be Tiger’s day, the day he won his 12th major.

I was part of the Tiger crowd for about two holes and at that point we decided it was too crowded. We made our way to the 15th hole and stayed there until everyone had passed.

As we were sitting there I had a chance to talk to a few people. Throughout the day, the conversation revolved around how Tiger was dominating like before. Eventually, the conversation turned to conditioning and he wondered what Tiger does to be a well-rounded and powerful athlete.

While I’m not sure what Tiger’s golf fitness program looks like, I think I can make some decent guesses about what his year-round fitness routine looks like:

Full body golf specific warm up

Since Tiger is such a powerful athlete, it would make sense for him to do a general warmup and then a golf specific one to prepare his body for the demands of the golf swing. There would be two main reasons for warming him up: To prevent injury and to increase his power/performance.

Static stretching after your workout

Static stretching is best done after a workout. There are many reasons for this, but perhaps the most important reason is because after a workout, static stretching can help calm the nervous system and signal to your body that the workout is over.

Cool down after every workout

Closely related to the previous point, the Tiger cool down likely involves a gradual decrease in movement intensity to gradually bring your body out of training mode and prepare it for recovery. Stretching, light movement, and general flexibility training, when muscles are warm and receptive to static stretching, can be an important part of your cool-down so you can recover faster.

cardio work

The work-rest relationship in golf is extremely skewed. You can “work” for a second with very high power output levels and then you can have up to 5 minutes to rest before swinging again.

One of Tiger’s main goals is to maintain as high a power level as possible for as long as possible to ensure that when you need those bursts of spinning power there is enough gas in the tank to provide it. General cardiovascular training is likely to be an important part of developing the overall energy levels and stamina needed to go 18+ holes over many days, week after week.

Basic compound movements during the offseason

Tiger would likely focus on general strength training during the offseason to give his body, nervous system and mind a break from the intense training demands of the swing and golf season. Basic movements in the gym would help keep his strength levels high and at the same time help keep his body in shape.

Longer workouts would be acceptable here due to a minimal practice, game, and/or travel schedule. Full physical, mental and emotional recovery is also more likely due to reduced stress levels.

Golf-Specific Power Drills During the Season

As with any elite athlete, the focus throughout the season will likely be on golf-specific strength, power and flexibility movements. Training would focus on higher speed rotational movements. Most of the moves would probably also be done in a very golf-specific stance.

Shorter (less than an hour), more intense workouts would be expected here due to a busy practice, games, and/or travel schedule. Full physical, mental, and emotional recovery is less likely due to increased stress levels.

Dynamic flexibility training throughout the year

I can see Tiger doing golf flexibility training all year long. Being a power golfer requires speed, strength, and flexibility. While Tiger would get a fair amount of dynamic flexibility training from his regular golf training program, he would probably also spend time working on his total body mobility.

While none of us likely know what Tiger Woods does in his golf training programs, it’s a safe bet that many of the items listed above are critical components of his golf performance improvement plan.