Losing distance after 40 is not inevitable, but it is not just a matter of willpower or training more either. The body changes, and those changes require a different approach: it is not about doing the same program with more weight, more volume, or more intensity, but about training with better judgment.
Many golfers start to notice that the drive no longer flies the same way, that the backswing feels shorter, that finishing the swing freely becomes harder, or that aches and discomfort appear where they were not present before. Sometimes the first instinct is to think, “it’s age.” But in most cases, age does not explain everything. What usually sits behind it is a combination of lower strength, progressive loss of mobility, reduced tolerance to poorly dosed loads, and the lack of a plan that matches the player’s current physical reality.
Justin Rose, over 40, remains competitive on the PGA Tour with swing speeds that most 30-year-old amateurs cannot reach. Vijay Singh is another clear example of durability in elite competition well beyond his 50s. The difference between them and someone who loses yards every year is, to a large extent, how they train.
I want to be clear on this point: we are born with genetics that condition us, but they do not define us. Many of the factors that influence the loss of strength, mobility, and flexibility are related to our lifestyle, training history, previous injuries, accumulated sedentary behavior, and lack of an appropriate plan.
The goal is not to train like a professional player. The goal is to train in a way that allows you to keep playing better, with fewer restrictions, more physical confidence, and a lower risk of every round ending in low back pain, hip stiffness, or joint discomfort.
What changes after 40
Muscle mass: naturally declines without an active stimulus. This process —sarcopenia— can be slowed down and partially reversed with progressive strength training (Lexell, 1995). In golf, this matters because strength is not only useful for lifting more weight: it also helps generate stability, transfer energy, and maintain good posture during the swing.
Recovery speed: high-intensity sessions require more time between one stimulus and the next. Ignoring that is the cause of many injuries in this age range. At 25, excessive volume may go unnoticed. After 40, it often shows up as persistent pain, stiffness, fatigue, or loss of performance.
Joint mobility: especially thoracic and hip mobility, if it is not trained systematically. When these areas lose range, the lumbar spine often compensates for that lack of movement. In golf, this is very common: if the thoracic spine does not rotate well or the hip does not contribute properly, the body looks for movement wherever it can, often in segments that are not prepared to absorb that much demand.
Volume tolerance: more sessions are not always better. The quality of the stimulus matters more than the quantity. Training a lot, but without progression, recovery, or a clear objective, can be less effective than training fewer times per week with more precise planning.
What does not change significantly is the ability to develop strength, power, and movement technique. Research on strength training in older adults is consistent: muscle responds to stimulus at any age (Häkkinen et al., 1998).
So the question is not whether you can still improve. The question is whether you are using the right type of stimulus to improve without accumulating unnecessary fatigue.
The 3 priorities
1. Thoracic and hip mobility
Thoracic and hip mobility are essential for generating clubhead speed with freedom of movement and without unnecessary restrictions.
In the golf swing, the body needs to rotate, tilt, stabilize, and transfer energy from the ground to the club. If the thoracic spine is stiff, the backswing often becomes shorter or is compensated for with excessive lumbar movement. If the hip does not rotate well, the pelvis does not contribute correctly and the body loses efficiency in the sequence.
But this is not important only for golf. A thorax with poor mobility is often associated with a more rigid posture and less efficient breathing. The ability to expand the rib cage and move the trunk freely also influences daily life, not just sport.
On the other hand, good hip mobility is key for everyday movements such as walking, sitting, bending down, or climbing stairs. In golf, it also allows you to generate rotational power and transfer energy from the feet more efficiently.
Mobility should not be seen as a quick two-minute warm-up, but as a physical capacity that is trained. And like any capacity, it improves when it is trained frequently, progressively, and specifically.
2. Strength
We could mention multiple muscle groups that are important for the golf swing: glutes, hamstrings, back, trunk muscles, forearms, hip stabilizers, and the deep core musculature. But beyond which muscles are prioritized at each stage, there is one common point: strength training is a central factor for healthy aging.
And here we are not talking only about golf. We are talking about health, autonomy, and quality of life.
Strength allows you to tolerate the demands of the game better, walk the course with less fatigue, hold postures, protect your joints, and maintain power as the years go by. In golf, a well-built strength base also helps make mobility more usable. Having range of motion is not enough if you cannot control it.
This topic is broad and goes beyond the scope of this article, but it is important to mention that a good training approach should stimulate different expressions of strength: general strength, strength through large ranges of motion, eccentric control, stability, and, in more advanced stages, power.
Not every golfer needs to train heavy from day one, but every adult golfer should have some type of strength work adapted to their level, history, and current tolerance.
3. Intelligent load management
Listening to the body’s signals is not weakness: it is strategy.
Supercompensation —the process through which the body improves after receiving a stimulus— requires recovery and proper planning. Without enough recovery, training does not produce adaptation: it produces accumulated fatigue.
This is especially important after 40, because many times the problem is not one specific exercise, but the sum of different stressors: gym, golf, work, poor sleep, stress, travel, poor nutrition, and lack of rest.
An intelligent program does not only define which exercises to do. It also defines how much to do, when to progress, when to reduce load, and when to prioritize mobility, technique, or recovery.
In golf, this has a direct application. It makes no sense to do an intense leg or power session if you are going to play an important round the next day and arrive stiff or fatigued. Planning has to account for the player’s real week, not an ideal week that does not exist.
Always listen to your body and manage loads to avoid overtraining and joint injuries. Long-term consistency is more important than one perfect week.
6 exercises you can add to your routine
Remember to listen to your body and adjust the exercises, ranges, and loads according to your training level. These exercises do not replace an individual assessment, but they can be a good starting point to begin working on mobility, strength, and control.
Quadruped thoracic rotation
An ideal exercise to improve thoracic mobility. It can be used daily, before a round, or after a strength training session.
In a quadruped position, place one hand near your ear. From there, rotate toward the center, trying to bring the elbow toward the opposite side. Then, while inhaling, rotate outward, bringing the elbow upward until you reach the greatest possible rotation without forcing it.
The goal is not to move fast or chase an extreme position. The goal is to restore control and usable range in the thoracic area.
Suggested dosage: 3×8 per side, moving slowly to the maximum comfortable range.
90-90 hip stretch
A good exercise to start the day, include in the warm-up, or perform after a round to mobilize the hips.
The 90-90 position allows you to work on hip internal and external rotation, two very important capacities for the swing. In many amateur golfers, hip limitation is one of the reasons lumbar compensation or loss of rotational fluidity appears.
Do not try to force the position. Move slowly, breathe, and try to find control within the available range.
Suggested dosage: 1 to 2 minutes with slow, relaxed movements, without forcing the maximum range.
Pallof press
A classic anti-rotation control exercise ideal for stimulating the core. In a rotational sport like golf, the core does not only need to produce movement: it also needs to resist forces, stabilize, and transfer energy.
With a band or cable at chest height, press forward while keeping the torso stable. The band will try to rotate you; your goal is to resist that rotation without losing posture.
This exercise is especially useful because it teaches you to maintain stability while the limbs move, which is key for a good body sequence.
Suggested dosage: 3×10 per side, maintaining control and core activation throughout the entire time under tension.
Bird dog with pause
Another great classic popularized by Stuart McGill to work on lumbopelvic control and trunk stability.
From a quadruped position, extend the opposite arm and leg, hold a 3-second pause at maximum extension, and return in a controlled manner. The key is not to lose spinal position or rotate the pelvis.
This exercise looks simple, but when done well it can be very useful for golfers with a history of low back discomfort or poor control in the midsection.
Suggested dosage: 3×6 per side, with a 3-second pause and full control of the movement.
Hip hinge
A fundamental exercise to improve posterior-chain strength and teach the hip hinge pattern.
The hip hinge is key because it teaches you to move the hip without excessively rounding the lumbar spine. For golfers, this pattern is directly related to stance posture, the ability to load the hip correctly, and movement efficiency.
There are multiple variations of this movement using different implements depending on your physical preparation level.
Suggested dosage: 3×10, focusing on not rounding the lumbar spine.
Squat
One of the most complete and basic exercises for developing lower-body strength, with implications for the whole body.
The squat helps build strength in the legs and hips, improves tolerance to effort, and can contribute to a better ability to transfer energy from the ground. In golf, this transfer from the feet to the clubhead is a fundamental part of power generation.
Not everyone needs to do the same variation. Depending on your mobility, experience, and joint health, you can use a goblet squat, box squat, assisted variation, or a more advanced version.
Respect your body and your training level when choosing a variation that makes sense for you.
Suggested dosage: 3×10, prioritizing technique, control, and a comfortable range.
The key: train better, not simply train more
The key is not how much you train. It is how much you recover, how you progress, and how well the plan adapts to your reality.
As you get older, recovery becomes just as important as the stimulus. A well-designed program accounts for this from the beginning, not as a late adjustment once something starts to hurt.
After 40, training for golf should follow a clear logic: maintain or improve strength, restore usable mobility, protect the joints, dose the load, and sustain practice over the long term.
It is not about chasing the perfect training plan. It is about building a system you can repeat, adjust, and sustain.
If you want a plan that takes into account your history, goals, and real time availability, contact me and we can talk about your needs.
References
Lexell, J. (1995). Human aging, muscle mass, and fiber type composition. The Journals of Gerontology Series A, 50A(Special Issue), 11–16. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/50A.Special_Issue.11
Häkkinen, K., Kraemer, W. J., Newton, R. U., & Alen, M. (1998). Changes in electromyographic activity, muscle fibre and force production characteristics during heavy resistance/power strength training in middle-aged and older men and women. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, 163(4), 401–414. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-201X.1998.00381.x
Ehlert, A. (2020). The effects of strength and conditioning interventions on golf performance: A systematic review. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38(23), 2720–2731. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1796470
McKinnon, N. B., Connelly, D. M., Rice, C. L., Hunter, S. W., & Doherty, T. J. (2017). Neuromuscular contributions to the age-related reduction in muscle power: Mechanisms and potential role of high velocity power training. Ageing Research Reviews, 35, 147–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2016.09.003