Brian Knight, PT, CSCS, CGFI

Forward by:
Dr. Greg Rose of the Titlest Permormance Institute

“By using Brian’s proven techniques and safe protocols any junior can follow his recommendations and
improve. From basic mobility exercises, to advanced core stabilization techniques, this book has it all.”
Dr. Greg Rose of The Titleist Performance Institute
FORWARD BY DR. GREG ROSE
I used to wonder how the best golfers in the world became so
talented. Were they just born with this unbelievable gift or did some
coach teach them the secret at a young age. Maybe they just figured it
out by hitting thousands of balls on a range and there really wasn’t any
secret, just hard work. This question intrigued me for many years.
When I began working the best players in the world, I started asking
them how they learned the game and finally I got my answer. All of these
players had one common answer; a great junior development program.
Even if the player told me that they never picked up a golf club until they
were 12 years old, I eventually would find an underlying youth athletic
development program that they participated in at an early age. It may have
been for baseball, tennis, or another un-related sport, but it was there.
Unfortunately, it is just way too easy in today’s world of computers,
video games, cars, and televisions for our children to become lazy and
inactive. Many kids today don’t spend hours on the playground, swinging
on the monkey bars and playing chase with friends. These skills are
essential in developing a young athlete. Even worse, some schools have
completely eliminated physical education from the curriculum. As parents
and coaches, we need to change this trend.
The benefits of getting involved in a long term athletic development
program are almost too long to list. They include confidence, self-esteem,
respect for others and rules, life long weight management, speed and
power development, motor skill development, mental toughness, etc.
This list just goes on and on forever.
One of the most important features of any junior development program
is the physical fitness or strength and conditioning component. All too often,
many juniors neglect this component because their instructors themselves do
not have the expertise to teach the kids how to workout. Thanks to leaders
in the industry like Brian Knight at JuniorFit this type of information is now
right at your fingertips. By using fun and functional forms of training this
program can help any junior develop the best skills right from the start.
By using Brian’s proven techniques and safe protocols any junior can
follow his recommendations and improve. From basic mobility exercises,
to advanced core stabilization techniques, this book has it all. Plus, the most
important feature of all, it fun. Good Luck!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section One
Introduction ...............................................................................................6
Section Two
General Fitness Guidelines for Age Groups .............................................7
Section Three
Self Screen ................................................................................................8
Section Four
The Golf Muscles....................................................................................19
Section Five
The Warm Up “10” .................................................................................20
Section Six
Stretches “10” .........................................................................................25
Section Seven
Stability “10” ..........................................................................................30
Section Eight
Strength “10” ..........................................................................................37
Section Nine
Explosive “10” ........................................................................................44
Section Ten
Swiss Ball “10” .......................................................................................51
Section Eleven
Bosu “10” ................................................................................................57
Section Twelve
Balance Board “10” ................................................................................62
Section Thirteen
Dynamic Balance Trainer .......................................................................68
Section Fourteen
Injuries/Remedies ...................................................................................71
Section Fifteen
General Nutrition ....................................................................................74
TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED
Section Sixteen
Cardiovascular Exercise..........................................................................76
Section Seventeen
Creating Your Workouts ..........................................................................78
Section Eighteen
Workout Example ...................................................................................81
INTRODUCTION
One of the most poorly understood and applied concepts in golf
today is fitness. There is a void in the literature and research for today’s
golf professional. The information is hard to find and many times
confusing and contradictory. Without question, the area of greatest
confusion is junior golf conditioning.
As a parent, would you like to feel confident that the path your
child has chosen will help them achieve their ultimate professional
goals? As a junior golfer, would you like to have the power of knowing
what stretches and exercises work best for you? If the answer to these
questions is yes, then by purchasing this book you have taken the first
step to proper golf fitness.
The purpose of Junior Golf Fitness is to help parents and juniors
understand the complexities of junior fitness and apply effective methods
to allow for a personalized golf fitness routine. The book will help
organize an easy to follow weekly routine to promote more power,
flexibility, and stability throughout the golf swing.
The book will educate you on body weight exercise, as well as, numerous
exercises using some of today’s most commonly used fitness devices.
My name is Brian Knight. I am not a personal trainer or self
proclaimed “fitness expert”. I am a physical therapist (P.T) and a certified
strength and conditioning specialist (C.S.C.S.). These two degrees
combined with extensive advanced training in golf fitness provide me
with ten years of study and application of golf fitness. I have trained
with the leaders in the golf fitness field including: Titleist Performance
Institute, Paul Chek Institute, and Back to Golf. I train young golfers in
the southeast as a member of the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour (SJGT).
My studies and experience over the last decade have provided me with a
unique insight into the primary fitness needs of today’s junior golfer.
There are a few golf fitness books available on the bookstore shelves
that offer advice and some basic exercises. This book will teach you ten
of the most important exercises in each category of your fitness to help
devise an interchangeable and fun exercise routine.
Enjoy the book and congratulations on taking the first step to a
successful fitness journey.

6 www.juniorfit.com
GENERAL FITNESS GUIDELINES FOR AGE GROUP
There are many concerns and opinions about when a junior should
begin exercise and what types of exercises they should perform. The
truth is, at a very young age kid’s have already begun weight training
using their own body weight. When a child jumps off a swing or a
truckbed, they are resisting their own body weight. At young ages,
kid’s push, pull, row, and lift all day during an average summer. Junior
athletes are active individuals who, many times, have already prepared
themselves to begin a fitness routine just by the performance of their
normal daily activities.
The first area of fitness that is safe for all juniors is body weight
exercise. Body weight exercises take activities that a person does on a
daily basis and through the addition of sets and repetitions transforms
them into a viable exercise program.
The second group of exercises safe for all ages are flexibility
exercises. Most individuals are very flexible at younger ages. As we age,
our muscles shorten or lengthen depending on our activities and our
genetics. People often assume that juniors are flexible because of their
young age. Although more flexibility is expected in a junior than the
average adult, many juniors have numerous flexibility restrictions that
limit top performance in their sport.
Finally comes training with weights or external load. There are
many opinions on when strength training should begin. Most research is
concerned primarily with damaging the growth plates if weight training
begins too early and causing growth deficiencies in the junior. However,
all parties would agree, no junior should move on to external load
until they have achieved good flexibility and can safely and effectively
manage body weight exercises.
There are numerous facts and figures available in the literature
regarding youth fitness that can be located in the reference section of this
book. It is understood that the author of this book has done the research
for you and has laid out an exercise plan that is safe for all juniors to use
and benefit from. Weight training is included in this text and precautions
will be given when needed.

www.juniorfit.com 7
SELF SCREEN
The purpose of the self screen is to give you an idea where your
flexibility limitations lie and assist you in choosing exercises from the
book that will most benefit you initially. The self screen takes less than
ten minutes and can be done in any order. You should be in loose fitting
clothes, barefoot, and on a firm, carpeted surface when performing the
test. The tests are listed individually below with a brief description. If
you find that you are restricted in your ability to perform the following
tests, there are corrective techniques listed at the end of each test that
should be given priority in your workout until you are able to effectively
pass the test.

1. Deep Squat:
Stand upright, feet shoulder width apart, and arms crossed on your chest.
Feet should remain facing forward during the squat and you should only
go as far as you can without your heels coming up off the ground.

Results: A successful deep full squat demonstrates good hip and calf
flexibility with good basic core stability. Heels rising off the floor before
completion of the full squat or losing your balance would be considered
not passing the full squat. Areas of concern with an incomplete squat
will be lower leg and hip flexibility and core stability.

Corrective Technique
Corrective Warm Up: Hip Circles
Corrective Stretches: Toes Up Foam Roll, Hamstring with rope assist,
Butt Up Stretch
Primary Corrective Exercises: Deep Squats, Abdominal Routine power
of three, Swiss Ball abdominal roll-out, Plank

8 www.juniorfit.com
2. Neck Active Range of Motion (AROM):
Neck AROM includes the following movements: flexion, extension,
sidebending, rotation, coupled sidebending and rotation. This test can
be performed in several positions but for our purposes they will be
performed in the address position. In upright position perform these
movements:

a. Flexion: bend you chin as far to your chest as possible without

allowing any movement of the area between your shoulder blades.
b. Extension: lean your head back as far as far as you can once again
not allowing any movement except your head on your shoulders.
c. Rotation: turn your head to look over your left shoulder and
then your right. Be careful to make as full a turn as possible
without allowing any shoulder movement.
d. Sidebending: lean your ear down to your shoulder without
allowing the opposite shoulder to come up. Perform this
movement to each side.
e. Coupled motion: this test is a little more difficult but valuable.
Turn your head to the left about halfway and then tilt it back over
your shoulder followed by a tilt forward over your chest. Be
careful to keep the head in the half turned position the entire time.

www.juniorfit.com 9
Results: The following explanations will be in layman’s terms to allow
for good understanding of the findings.

a. Flexion: Your chin should touch your chest without any tension
in your upper back or forward movement of your shoulders.
b. Extension: The back of your head should safely and easily
touch the muscles between your shoulders.
c. Rotation: You should be able to turn your chin completely
over your shoulder with little to no tension in the upper shoulder
muscles on the opposite side.
d. Sidebending: Your ear should come close to reaching the
shoulder on the same side as you lean toward it.
e. Coupled motion: A passing grade with this motion is nothing
more than feeling free movement with no pain.

Corrective Technique
Corrective Warm Up: Neck and Arm Circles
Corrective Stretches: Neck Circles with two second holds at four
positions, chin down, ear on right shoulder, chin up, and ear on left
shoulder for ten repetitions.
Primary Corrective Exercises: Plank, Tabletop, Upper Body Extension,
Curl Up on Ball.

Restrictions in any of these motions demonstrates either limited joint or

muscle flexibility. These restrictions can lead to injury from repetitive
wear and tear during the golf swing.

3. Shoulder Active Range of Motion:

The shoulder is one of our more mobile joints. It has freedom of
motion in all planes of movement. We will look at the basic motions of
the shoulder along with the shoulder “circle”.

a. Flexion: Stand upright with your shoulders in a neutral position

as pictured. Thumb up, raise your shoulder in front of you as far
as you can without letting your lower back bend.
b. Extension: Stand upright, with your thumb facing forward reach
back as far as you can without allowing yourself to bend forward.
c. Abduction: Stand upright and bring your arm up to the side of your
face similar to a “jumping jack” motion. Repeat on both sides.

10 www.juniorfit.com
 d. Internal rotation: Hold your arm out at your side with your
palm facing the floor as pictured. Keeping your elbow steady,
bring your hand away from the floor as far as you can.
e. External rotation: Same position as internal rotation, this time
turn your hand under as far as you can keeping your elbow in the
same positon.
f. Circumduction: Slowly rotate your arm in a clockwise and then
counterclockwise position trying to make as big a circle as possible.

Shoulder Images:

c d e

Results: The results for the shoulder will be

explained in a similar fashion as the neck was
explained previously.

a. Flexion: (not pictured) Stand upright with your

arms resting at your side, palms against your legs.
Lift your hands out in front of you as high as you
can, as if signalling a touchdown. Do not let your
lower back arch. f
b. Extension: (not pictured) Stand upright with yourr
arms resting at your side, palms against your legs. Lift your hands
directly behind you without bending your body forward.
c. Abduction: Your arm should rise through the motion without
pain and finish resting next to your ear on the same side.
d. External Rotation: At completion of the motion, the palm
should be facing the same direction as your face.
e. Internal Rotation: Your palm should easily face the same
direction as the back of your head with no stress on the shoulder.
f. Circumduction: Your arm should move in a full, pain free, large
circle both clockwise and counterclockwise.
www.juniorfit.com 11
Corrective Technique
Corrective Warm Up: Arm Circles
Corrective Stretches: Over/Out Around/Behind, Latissimus,
Corrective Exercises: Plank, Tabletop, Push Up

Pain with any of these motions can be indicative of an impingement

syndrome that can be aggravated at the extremes of the backswing and
follow through.

4. Wrist and Hand Active Range of Motion:

Often overlooked the hand is our only contact with the club. Our wrist
is what allows us to set the club in the backswing. The wrist motions are
flexion, extension, radial/ulnar deviation. The fingers will be assessed
only by making a fist.

a. Wrist Flexion: Hold your arm out in front of you and bend your
hand as far under as you can.
b. Wrist Extension: Hold your arm out in front of you and bend
your wrist as far back in the upright position as possible.
c. Radial Deviation: Hold your arm out in front of you and turn
your hand toward the thumb side.
d. Ulnar Deviation: Hold your arm out in front of you and turn
your hand toward the “pinky” side.
e. Fingers: Slowly clinch your fingers into a fist beginning with the
furthermost joint of your fingers and slowly closing your hand.

12 www.juniorfit.com
Results:
a. Wrist Flexion: Your hand should easily be drawn under so that
all fingers are pointing to the floor.
b. Wrist Extension: Your hand should easily be drawn back so
that all fingers are pointing to the sky.
c. Radial Deviation: Your wrist should move a small amount
towards the thumb side with no pain.
d. Ulnar Deviation: Your wrist should move greater amount to the
“pinky” side.
e. Fingers: You should be able to make a complete fist without pain.

Corrective Technique
Corrective Warm Up: Wrist Circles, Golf Ball Grabs
Corrective Stretches: Wrist test positions held two seconds each for ten repetitions.
Corrective Exercises: Plank, Tabletop, Pushup

Wrist and hand restrictions can lead to overuse of tendons and ligaments
in your forearm and shoulders. Good hand mobility is essential to a
complete golf swing.

5. Lower Back Flexibility:

a. Flexion: In standing position, reach to the floor keeping your

legs straight.
b. Extension: Lie on your stomach and gently rise up on your
elbows, keeping your waist in contact with the floor. If you have
a history of back pain, refrain from this test.
c. Rotation: In address position, cross your arms across your chest
and turn into your backswing position. Next, turn into your
followthrough position.
d. Sidebending: Stand up tall, reach down your leg as far as you
can without bending forward or backward.

www.juniorfit.com
om 13
 Power, Flexibility, Strength, Stamina. These are the staples of today’s successful touring professional and
today’s elite junior golfer. This book will detail a program for anyone from a novice junior golfer playing
for fun to a motivated elite junior player with goals of playing on the tour. The landscape of golf has
changed over the last ten years and in order to be successful as a junior golfer you must learn to build
power and stability from the ground up. This book will help you hit the ball farther, be more stable over
chips and putts, and build endurance to give you the extra energy to close out opponents in a final round.
Inside this book is all you need to get started on your way to a more powerful and healthy swing. Some
of the items included in this book are:
‡ 4L]WMGEP7IPJ7GVIIR ‡ ;EVQ9T%GXMZMXMIW
‡ 4S[IV)\IVGMWIW ‡ 7XVIRKXL)\IVGMWIW ‡ *PI\MFMPMX])\IVGMWIW
‡ -RWXVYGXMSRSRYWISJXSHE]ªWJMXRIWWXSSPWMRGPYHMRK&SWY7[MWW&EPPERH&EPERGI&SEVH
Injury prevention and care.
‡ -RWXVYGXMSRSRFYMPHMRK]SYVS[R[SVOSYXTVSKVEQ

BRIAN P. KNIGHT, PT, CSCS, CGFI “The benefits of getting involved

in a long term athletic development
BBrian has been an orthodpedic physical
program are almost too long to list.
ttherapist for the past decade. Brian began
They include confidence, self-esteem,
iincorporating golf specific evaluations and respect for others and rules, life
ffitness into his practice following a long weight management, speed
BacktoGolf seminar in 2000. Since 2000 Brian has added addi- and power development, motor skill
tional studies with Body Balance, Paul Chek, and over the last three development, mental toughness,
years Titleist Performance Institute. Brian has provided medical etc...Thanks to leaders in the industry
like Brian Knight at JuniorFit this
coverage for the US Pro Golf Tour and speaks locally and all over
type of information is now right at
the Southeast to adults and juniors. Brian created a company called
your fingertips”-
JuniorFit. The company has a singular focus on juniors ages 11-19
Dr. Greg Rose
with some continuation of coverage into college. Brian is currently of The Titleist Performance Institute
working in private practice but has focussed most of his attention on
providing fitness services to the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour (sjgt.
com). Brian evaluates and prepares fitness routines for juniors on this
tour and other tours throughout the United States. Brian promotes
fitness and nutrition to juniors through on site services, personal
evaluations and clinics. You can read more at www.juniorfit.com. South C arol ina
www.j uni orfi t.com