The Off-Season Strength Plan Golfers Should Follow This Winter

The off-season is often a wasted window for most amateur golfers. There are some who will keep the exact same schedule throughout winter, but most golfers will end up playing and practicing far less. That’s either driven by course conditions, limited light or just being quite cold and wet! I still play throughout winter, so I’m certainly not suggesting that play should stop if you enjoy it, but the off-season can be a great time to build more of a strength base and position yourself well to come back and perform when the weather and conditions get a bit nicer.

Strength and power off the course are consistently linked to clubhead speed, distance, and injury resilience. Develop that over winter, when golf can often be less ‘fun’ and you can be outdriving your playing partners (or blasting even further past them if you already are) when spring and summer comes along. That not only means bragging rights, but it means closer approach shots and that often leads to lower scores.

There’s other reasoning too as to why the off-season is a great strength training time. Strength training and competitive golf performance don’t always sit comfortably together in-season – heavy lifting alongside a full playing schedule can leave you fatigued on the course. Off-season removes that conflict entirely. Less golf, more time, and no performance trade-off to manage, which makes winter the one part of the year strength work can be prioritised without compromise.

Then, you also have the additional health benefits, especially as we age, of strength training. This includes fighting against osteoporosis, muscle maintenance and typically better cognition.

Below is how I would generally set an off-season – anyone would benefit from real specificity (in particular based on injury history, training experience, age, etc), but this hopefully gives some insight into an off-season that could work for the average amateur golfer.

The plan runs for roughly 12 weeks, 2-3 sessions a week, starting with building a solid foundation, that progresses over the strength-focused plan and moves to preparation for the power-focused block.

Strength foundation. Core movement patterns: squat, hinge, press, pull, and single-leg work, at a load and rep range – typically 2-4 sets of 6-10 – that builds genuine base strength without excessive fatigue. Examples for each of those movement patterns are goblet squat (squat), trap bar deadlift (hinge), bench press (push), bent-over row (pull) and one-legged pallof press (single-leg with an anti-rotational benefit).

The value in this starting section is in doing foundational patterns properly and consistently. We’re looking to create a strong base from which we can build and to nail the technique so we can move towards lifting heavier reps. We’re not looking to lift to failure here and we’ll typically have at least 2 reps in reserve.

Newer lifters may stay in this phase closer to 5-6 weeks (and could start with bodyweight only) and more experienced lifters can move through it faster or go straight into strength progression.

Strength progression. Load increases, rep ranges typically tighten to 3-5 sets of 4-8, and the same core patterns get harder – this is where the foundation actually turns into usable strength rather than just movement competency. There’s typically a quicker improvement as this section is implemented properly, with the higher loads/fewer reps being more relevant for golf.

Preparation for power. Explosive variations – medicine ball throws, jump variations, cable rotations, lifting weights quickly. These all have their place in a plan, but the strength base needs to be there before we can really start targeting power safely. Layer this on top of the strength base, and there will also be more strength that we can build on to actually develop club and ball speed. In this stage, we’ll still be strength focused but we’ll start incorporating some power-based exercises so we’re hitting the ground running in the power block.

A sample week in the strength foundation phase will include 2-3 full body sessions. Equipment often leads to a faster rate of progression (and will maximise your potential ceiling long term) but you’d be surprised how much can be done with bodyweight only exercises or even what’s lying around the house. Consistency is key so if a session is at risk of life’s plans, a shorter version hitting the same core patterns at reduced volume is far better than skipping it entirely (and don’t try to move all sessions onto one day!).

Cardio doesn’t disappear during this block – two easy aerobic sessions a week support general fitness and recovery without competing with the strength work. For most golfers this is as simple as a couple of brisk walks or an easy bike ride. This will provide an aerobic base which will put you in good stead for finishing strongly in your rounds. If you’re also targeting races or multi-sports, then structured cardio sessions can be programmed properly alongside these strength sessions.

How should these sessions be factored around your golf – ideally the gym sessions are not on playing or practicing days. We want to be as fresh as possible, in particular for the rounds. That being said, if your golf schedule is still highly frequent, it is still possible to build a strength base at the same time, just with more careful and specific programming.

If you’re not sure where to start, or want this built around your specific schedule and goals rather than a generic template, get in touch and we’ll put a proper plan together.