It is necessary to spend a lot of time practicing to improve your golf swing, but in this competitive world, serious players need to do more. People who are serious about playing better golf know that their fitness level is crucial in their swing and in their game. You need to be strong and flexible to perform a full swing. Fitness also improves the fluidity of your movements, allowing for more power at impact and better accuracy.

The hardest part of building better fitness to improve golf swing capabilities is starting out. It is hard to get motivated to work out before work or after work. People use a lot of tricks to motivate themselves, and have developed some quite clever ways of doing it. What has worked for many aspiring golfers is a motivational picture or poster.

Plan to work out in the morning or the next evening. Pick a place that you know you have to be during that time of day. Find a picture, poster, book cover or photo off of the internet that inspires you to be a better golfer. It may be a long drive by the elegant Ernie Els or a spectacular out-of-the bunker with a sand wedge by Sam Snead. Whatever image makes you want to be that player, hang it where you are sure to see it when it is time to work out.

Silly, perhaps, but visualizing what can help you improve your golf swing will help to motivate you to do it. If your daily work does not involve playing golf, it may be hard to motivate yourself on Tuesday to do something to help your game six Saturdays from now. What is important to realize is that six Saturdays from now will eventually come, whether you have taken the steps to improve your golf swing or not.

Once you have made the commitment to work out regularly, do it smartly. Warm up adequately before exercising. Stretch your muscles before and after your workout. Use circuit training techniques to build strength and endurance. Circuit training is merely a complicated term to mean switching among two, three or four machines during your workout, maximizing the workout.

Remember to only work each muscle group, except your abdominal muscles, every other day. Your muscles must have time to rebuild after each workout in order to bulk up and increase strength. Abdominal muscles are the exception, and you can work them every day without harm, so long as you begin slowly and work your way into harder, longer workouts.

After exercising, cool down with a ten minute walk. This is good for your muscles, imperative for your heart, and also helps relieve stress. Instead of walking, a few laps around the pool is another great way to cool down from an intense workout. The key is begin slowly and build gradually. If you injure yourself, you are likely to drop out of your exercise routine and you may miss several tee times, as well. You will soon see the results when you improve golf swing power, fluidity and accuracy.