Add this strength training exercise to the suggested exercises in part one and two of this series as well as this additional stretch and the following 10 tips to make 2008 a great golf season.

Oblique rotation with a medicine ball (works the internal/external oblique muscles as the primary movers and the inner core unit muscles as stabilizers)

– Begin sitting on the floor holding a 1- to 10-pound medicine ball.

– Keep your torso straight and angled back approximately 30-45 degrees from vertical.

– Keep your knees comfortably flexed at the knee joints and the navel pulled in toward your spine.

– Rotate the torso from the waistline side-to-side tapping the medicine ball down to the floor next to your hip joint.

– Keep the rotation speed slow and controlled and do not permit the hips to shift or lift.

– Perform this exercise slow two counts to each side always pausing briefly in the center before proceeding to the other side.

– Two to three sets of 8-12 repetitions (i.e. R/L is one rep), two to three days per week allowing 15-30 seconds between sets.

Seated Lateral Flexion Stretch ” (Stretches the latissimus dorsi and the obliques)

– Begin seated on the floor with the legs flexed at the knees and crossed at the ankles.

– Rotate your shoulders back and down, pull your navel toward your spine and keep your neck in a neutral position with your eyes looking forward.

– Keeping your left palm on the floor beside your left hip, extend your right arm and fingertips toward the ceiling with the palm facing toward the opposite wall.

– Lift your rib cage upward as you reach your fingertips toward the ceiling, inhaling.

– Exhaling, flex at the waistline, leaning your torso to the left without lifting your right hip off of the floor.

– Keep your arm extended and hold for 15-30 seconds.

– Inhaling, lift the arm back up toward the ceiling and exhaling, lower the arm toward the floor.

– Repeat this sequence with the left arm.

– This stretch can be repeated two to three times a day, for 15-30 seconds each time, every day as long as you are completely warmed up first.

Tips for enjoying a great golf season:

– Perform aerobic exercise (i.e. sustained cycling, running, walking or swimming) three to five times per week, for 20-60 minutes, working within your designated target heart rate zone to improve your stamina on the golf course.

– Walk the course whenever possible.

– Perform strength training exercises for all major muscle groups of the body two-three times per week.

– Stretch daily across all major joints of the body following your aerobic exercise, following a thorough warm up prior to your golf game and directly afterward.

– Work in balance training with a BOSU, stability ball or performing simple yoga poses such as the tree pose where you stand on one leg and balance.

– If you strike the ground with your club, have poor body mechanics when swinging, or are just playing too much in too short a period of time, make positive changes to those behaviors so you can play this lifetime sport for a lifetime.

Next week conditioning for spring and summertime hiking.

” You can reach Jackie Wright at her e-mail address: gllacs@comcast.net.