Golf Industry Offers Opportunities for Fitness Professionals

Golf is an $84 billion industry in the United States, and its total economic impact extends even further ($191.9 billion, when its indirect effects on the economy are accounted for) (TEConomy Partners, LLC 2017).

Among other things, people are investing in improving their golf game—and that opens up career and entrepreneurial opportunities for fitness professionals with specialized knowledge in advanced golf performance training.

Fitness in Golf

While golf is a low-impact sport, it’s also physically demanding. The repetitive movements involved in swinging a club can take a toll on an athlete’s body, and amateur and professional golfers are prone to back, wrist and other injuries.

Sport-specific strength and conditioning training can help reduce the risk of injury as well as improve performance in golfers at all levels. It can also help younger players develop good form and older players extend the number of years they can stay in the game.

“We’re seeing science introduced in golf instruction more and more,” says James (J.R.) Pond, a PGA golf professional and professor at Cal U. “We’re realizing that there’s more to it than ‘that swing looks pretty.’”

As a result, golfers are increasingly turning to fitness professionals for specialized golf training programs that give them the flexibility, range of motion, strength and other fitness components that they need to keep playing and to do it well.

Potential Clients Are Everywhere

Golf doesn’t have any age restrictions. Golfers may start hitting balls at a range or on the golf course when they’re very young and then continue to enjoy the game through retirement.

The wide demographic that the sport reaches offers an excitingly diverse range of potential clients for fitness professionals who are working with golfers. The increasing number of people who are taking an interest in the sport is also encouraging.

Since 2017, that number has been on the rise. The National Golf Foundation reports that 34.2 million Americans played golf, on a course or through an off-course alternative, in 2019. That number rose by 8% in 2020 (Beditz 2021; National Golf Foundation 2021).

Pond notes that the industry expects to see continued growth.

“With the growth of golf in general, it can be a very good revenue stream for fitness professionals to specialize in,” he adds.

Preparing to Take Advantage of the Trend

Fitness professionals who haven’t yet mastered the biomechanics of a golf swing can take advantage of these golf industry trends by honing their understanding of the sport-specific physical, technical, tactical and mental training needs of golfers.

To help, Cal U partnered with Technogym to develop 100% online Advanced Golf Performance Training master’s degree and post-baccalaureate certificate programs. The curriculum prepares students to apply scientific knowledge to help amateur and professional golfers reduce risk of injury, improve sport-specific performance and enjoy the game well into their golden years.

“The program was designed with the understanding that golf instruction tailored around biomechanics is the direction that we’re seeing the industry go,” says Pond, who teaches in the Professional Golf Management bachelor’s and Advanced Golf Performance Training master’s programs at Cal U.

Make the most of golf industry trends by earning your degree in Advanced Golf Performance Training now.