Golf is one of the only sports people can play for life—with the right preparation. The collared shirts and leisurely pace can obscure the game’s athletic demands. An average round runs three to five hours, covers 3 to 4 miles on foot, and asks the body to repeat the same high-speed rotational movement on one side 70 to 100 times. “Golf may look low intensity, but it’s a repetitive, rotational sport that places unique demands on the body,” says Naples’ Apex Golf’ owner Dave Lessard, a physical therapist and Titleist Performance Institute (TPI)-certified trainer.
When distance drops or consistency slips, a golfer’s instinct is often to blame mechanics or age. But many frustrations stem from issues with physical function—and that’s something you can train, improve and maintain for the long haul.
Train for the Back Nine
You don’t need an intense gym routine or a biohacking spreadsheet to build the golf body. Here, fitness is less about brute strength than preserving rotational power, stability and endurance deep into a round. Dave recommends strength training two or three times a week with a focus on the core, glutes and back, alongside rotational exercises that replicate the mechanics of a swing. He incorporates medicine ball throws against a wall to develop both rotation and power—the ability to generate force quickly, which drives distance and protects the body through repeated swings.
Just as important as generating power is controlling it. Conventional core work—planks, crunches—builds the muscles that produce movement but doesn’t train them to resist being pulled out of position. Anti-rotational exercises like dead bugs, suitcase carries and bird dogs teach the core to brace and stabilize.
The sport’s most demanding move runs straight through the joints that stiffen first with age. As the hips and mid-back tighten, the lower back—which was built for stability, not twisting—picks up the slack. Over time, the body can also become efficient at the swing while restricted in almost every other direction. To restore and maintain function, engage in dynamic warm-ups. Naples’ The Resilient Athlete physical therapist, CJ Reed, recommends a thoracic stretch on the course: lifting the club horizontally above the head and stretching down, bringing the bar to your toes.
Hours on foot in the Florida heat is a cardiovascular event, even when it doesn’t feel like one. By the back nine, an undertrained aerobic system starts showing up in posture, timing and shot selection before you’re noticeably spent. Most golfers don’t need intense cardio programs. A two-minute brisk walk and one minute of easy pace, repeated for 30 minutes, mimics the stop-start rhythm of the game and helps players maintain energy and form.
Recover as You Go
Golf injuries rarely arrive all at once. More often, years of repeated twisting and bending gradually tighten hips, restrict thoracic rotation and overload shoulders. The physical limitations often show up first in performance: a tighter, less fluid backswing from tight lats, a fading clubhead speed from restricted movement through the mid-back.
Rather than waiting for pain to force you into rehab, specialists suggest taking a proactive approach to preserve longevity in the game. At The Resilient Athlete, CJ uses orthopedic movement screens alongside the 16-point TPI assessment to identify restrictions and compensatory habits before they affect swing mechanics or evolve into injury or chronic pain. He suggests golfers have assessments done at least once a year and establish care at a performance rehabilitation center that knows their baseline, similar to an annual wellness checkup, to maintain mobility, strength and aerobic capacity.
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Ongoing massage, assisted stretching, cupping, and recovery tools like the sauna and foam rollers work as load management between rounds. Angie McGilvrey, co-owner of Apex Physical Therapy in Fort Myers, schedules her golf clients for dry needling once or twice a month. The technique drives a thin filament directly into tight muscle tissue and trigger points, releasing the chronic tension that restricts range of motion.
Relax Into the Round
Longevity in golf isn’t only about the body. The game has more downtime between shots than sports like tennis or pickleball, meaning there’s more space for the mind to drift. Dr. Shannon Reece, a golf sports psychologist and founder of the Training for Optimal Performance program, says how golfers handle pressure can lead to physical tension, affecting mechanics on the course and post-game recovery. She works as the mental game coach at Tiburón Golf Club and with private clients, helping them manage the internal pressure that builds shot after shot. “A golfer who white-knuckles every round, replaying mistakes, chasing the score, bracing through every tee shot, pays for it physically,” she says.
Dr. Reece encourages players to have pre- and post-shot routines to regulate the stress response. Visualizing a single desired shot engages the conscious mind, and taking a deliberate breath before swinging can help relax the body for the subconscious mind to take control. The motion becomes automatic rather than manufactured. Intentionally resetting after difficult holes—training the brain to focus on ‘micro wins,’ like a spot-on alignment, rather than a poor shot—can help golfers avoid carrying tension throughout the round. “A composed, present golfer puts less wear on the body than an anxious one,” Dr. Reece says. “They sleep deeper, recharge faster and stay in love with the game longer.”