Nearly 75 years old, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) has hosted the best players in the business. And here you’ll learn how they stay so fit. Nelly Korda does Bulgarian split squats. Georgia Hall does at-home workouts with foam rollers and resistance bands. Minjee Lee mentally sticks to the fundamentals. HEre’s how they and many more make it work.
Nelly Korda makes sure to do workouts that will benefit her on the golf course. One thing she likes to do is Bulgarian split squats. Korda shared this video of herself doing them, and some other exercises, on Instagram. In the video, she is also seen holding dumbbells. Korda captioned the video, “2 weeks @ home to train. Let’s go!”
Jin Young Ko shared her approach to training with Golf.com. “For me, I think the more difficult process is when I’m preparing for events and when I’m training. And it’s also more fun at the time when I’m actually training because I think it’s fun to feel the improvement that you make after hard work. So that’s what’s really a driving force for me.”
Inbee Park tells ESPN that she wants to be a role model for fellow South Koreans. “Obviously, we are very proud to represent South Korea on the world level. If I’m able to put a Korean name on such an historical trophy — putting my name into the history of golf — I mean, all of Korea is watching me, and they are very proud of me. Not many people get this kind of opportunity, and I’m the lucky one.”
Georgia Hall shared her at-home workouts with BBC Sport. “I’ve got resistance bands, mats, foam rollers so I do a bit of that. But as my one form of outdoor exercise I probably go for a 30, 40 minute run which is something I never used to do, never. I’m forcing myself to run which is really good for me and for my willpower because I never used to be that good at it. I’m really trying to put the effort in each day over five or six kilometres.”
Brooke Henderson shared her approach to training in an interview with The News Press. “You kind of have to pay attention to that and remember you’re in a tournament, you need to wake up early, and you need to go through your regular routines,” Henderson said. “Just because when you’re on the road week after week you really get into the routine. You stock your bag the night before and you are in a hotel room that’s only so big, so you kind of know where everything is, where at home everything is spread out.”
In the same interview with The News Press, Sophia Popov revealed that she loves to cook. “I put a lot of emphasis on my healthy diet, which is really, really important to me, because if I don’t eat as clean as I do then I get very tired at times and fatigued,” she said. “So I think that’s been very important for me, to be conscious of where I’m staying every week so that I can actually cook and prepare my own meals.”
Lexi Thompson opened up about her decision to retire from golf on Instagram. “Since I was 12 years old, my life as a golfer has been a whirlwind of constant attention, scrutiny and pressure. The cameras are always on, capturing every swing and every moment on and off the golf course. Social media never sleeps, with comments and criticisms flooding in from around the world. It can be exhausting to maintain a smile on the outside while grappling with struggles on the inside.”
Danielle Kang shared what is in her golf bag in an interview with Golf Digest. In it, she also talked about her diet. “I work with nutritionists to create my on-course eating plan,” Kang said. “Hard-boiled eggs for protein, dried sweet potatoes for carbs and rice cakes with cashew butter for fats.”
Minjee Lee talked about her approach to playing golf in an interview with Australian Golf Digest. “I’ve always been process-driven and believe a lot of tournaments are won in the off-weeks, preparing. So, I’ve always felt confident in those big moments because I know that nobody has outworked me. I just stick to my fundamentals and let the rest take care of itself.”
Beatriz Recari opened up about making changes to her diet to Golf.com. “I don’t get as tired, first of all,” she said. “That’s for me the biggest change that I noticed, because I inevitably compare with the last few tournaments that I played last year. And then in terms of strength, I am stronger. I know that because I lift more. I feel better. I do more. But the main difference for me is the ability to go to a tournament Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, then feel good for Thursday, Friday, and the weekend,” she continued. “Many times, I would play well and score well on Thursday, Friday, and then just throw it in the bin during the weekend because I was counting down the holes to be done.”
In an interview with Golf Digest last year, Jennifer Kapucho talked about improving her golf skills. “I was in a bit of a panic last year, actually,” Kupcho said. “I was struggling hitting the ball, so I had a little bit of a panic, calling my swing coach, working with the Ping rep, trying to figure out what was going wrong with my swing and hitting the ball, and I would say I’m a little bit more relaxed this year. Feel like I have my feet under me and ready to go.”
Lydia Ko is a big fan of drinking protein shakes. She told Golf Digest, “I am a one-protein-shake-a-day person, though if I could have as many as Bryson DeChambeau and play that good, maybe that’s the option. I think what he did at the U.S. Open was pretty incredible and what he’s done after the quarantine. Maybe that’s a trend; I don’t know.”
Marina Alex shared what she has in her golf bag in an interview with Australian Golf Digest. She says that she makes sure to bring healthy snacks with her. “I learned the hard way not to eat anything sugary on the course. I used to eat bananas – great for you but with all that natural sugar, I’d crash a few holes after eating one. Now, its fats and protein: jerky, nuts and protein-shake mix.”
Mel Reid opened up about the importance of mental wellbeing to Lessons Of Badassery. “The mind is the most complex part of our body, and we don’t have a manual to work it, so it’s [about] trying to figure it out. But I do also think that if you have a golf swing that is very repeatable, that can help [your golf career] hugely. If you haven’t got good technique but a great mind, it’s only going to take you so far. It’s a definite combination of both, but the mental side is probably slightly more important. Mental wellbeing is something everyone needs to take extremely good care of – not just athletes.”
Angel Yin came up short in the Women’s British Open last year. However, she didn’t let the loss get to her. “I think I’ve just come a long way,” Yin said in an interview. “I’m just really happy with who I am, where I am, and what I’m doing right now. Just a lot to appreciate. If I can talk about how much I appreciate life right now, I’ll get emotional — (but) not over this.”
Hannah Green opened up about playing golf in an interview. “I really enjoy the golf course. I feel like even though it’s short it’s rewarding for those who hit the ball well. I feel like this year I’ve been pretty consistent with my play, so I’m just hoping that the putter warms up a little bit. And then, yeah, going back home to Australia, that always gives me good, gets me in a good mindset as well. I guess a lot of the girls have been posting about Proud Mary Cafe, an Australian style cafe, so I’ve been eating there already. Just a little bit of taste of home.”
Brittany Altomare shared how she prepares for a golf tournament with The Health Journals. “To get started, I go over the holes in my mind,” she says. “I put together a plan of attack by taking into consideration factors such as wind and weather conditions. I also study the pin sheet and my yardage book.”
Stacy Lewis loves to run. She told Runner’s World, “My family ran growing up. My dad was a runner. It’s something we’ve always done. My sister and I swam and part of swimming was we did a lot of dry-land work, a lot of running. Any time there were races around town, or the Thanksgiving ones, we always did those. We used to live in Anderson, South Carolina, and they had the Lake Hartwell Dam Run, that’s one I remember.”
Carlota Ciganda wants to inspire girls to play golf. She talked about this after winning the Solheim Cup to National Club Golfer. “I hope it is big, I hope a lot of girls and women have watched the Solheim Cup and hopefully the golf in Spain can grow. Hopefully we can have more girls playing and some of them can play in future Solheim Cups. Hopefully I can inspire them to be professionals one day, that would be really nice.”
After winning the 2021 Women’s Open, Anna Nordqvist opened up about her struggles with mental health. “It was hard because I kept pushing but it was hard because it was like your feet kept slipping and I didn’t have that extra gear I was always used to. When things got tough, I could always push it through mentally, but I just never had anything and I just felt really weak. So to be able to build myself back up again and have the support of people around me [felt great].”