The Secret Sauce: TWU’s Disc Golf Program Revealed!

In my last article I dove into how we at Trinity Western University (TWU) got our Disc Golf team, how I went about learning about disc golf with no prior knowledge, and how I started to structure their program. In this article I am just going to dive into what we do, why we do it, and hopefully this can help any of you disc golfers, anyone who works with disc golfers, or just to learn more about how I program at TWU and apply that to your setting too.

So without further ado, here we go!

Above is the program I have my disc golfers perform currently (February 2025). I’ll go through my general template and you can see how I put it in action above so hopefully you can get a better understanding of how to program for these unique athletes.

BLOCK 1

Like most of my athletes, I start with some Sprint, Jump and/or Throw work. I used to stick strictly to throwing work (medicine balls), but I read a really good article by Track & Field Coach Tony Holler on how the central nervous system governs every action in sports, especially in a high-speed movement sport like golf (Holler, 2023) . The article makes the point that nothing in the weightroom trains the nervous system like sprints and jumps and golfers should do them often. So, based on my learning I shared in the last article, disc golf has many similarities to golf, so I simply applied the same concept to my crew here. Also, no disrespect to our kids, but most didn’t play other sports growing up and therefore lack certain… athletic abilities. Which means I am teaching them proper sprint, jump, and movement mechanics that are valuable outside of sport in their daily and future athletic lives. (Sorry gang, I know you are reading this. It’s just the truth haha)

So you can see on Day 1 I have them do some jump and power work, Day 2 has sprint and throws, and Day 3 is jump and throw. So at the end of the week we hit a Sprint/Jump/Throw at least twice each week.

BLOCK 2

After our speed work, we always hit our main lower body movement. Disc golf might seem like a pure rotation and arm sport, but if you study the mechanics of the throw (like I have done over the past 4 years) you will come to understand how much leg drive and action there is in the throwing of a disc, especially when using your driver for distance or putting from a long way.

Since disc golf (and pretty much every other sport) is made up of both squatting and hinging patterns, I make sure to train both of those. You’ll see Squats on Day 1 (Hatfield to be exact, which we have had huge success with loading up and getting great movement) and a hinge (Trap-Bar Deadlift, which is new. Used to be variations of Romanians all fall) on Day 2. You will also see that on Day 1 and Day 2 I have paired these movements with a core exercise. Part of this thought process comes from saving time in the session instead of doing all core work at the end, but also in order to drive the neural “activation” (I know I hate that word too, but it just fits here so forgive me) to their core before going into their next set. It allows me to ensure they are doing a great job of their core work, and then use the coaching cues of “Use your core in your squats/deadlifts like you just did in that last exercise- keep it braced!”

BLOCK 3

The third block is where we always tackle our main upper body movements, both a push and a pull. Nothing too crazy about this, just making sure our disc golf crew has a strong and robust upper body to have the power/strength to throw far, but also handle the wear and tear of playing two rounds a day for multiple days at major tournaments, like Nationals in the spring. I will also throw in a single leg movement in that block (3rd exercise). Reason for placing that there is it allows their upper body to get a break instead of just going Push, Pull, Push, Pull, and it makes the session more efficient too (more work done in less time). You will see I have a Single leg Hinge on our squat day and a SL squat (lunge) on our hinge day. This way we are not overloading one pattern causing more Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMs) than necessary, but also it allows us to hit every movement on one day (squat, push, pull & hinge) which I have found to work very well in the collegiate setting where days get missed due to sickness, class requirements, and travel. This way we hit everything, everyday. More frequency equals more gains!

BLOCK 4

Our sessions always finish with our accessory work, which sometimes is extra core work, but almost always some extra arm care work. I have had our group do different tricep, bicep, and forearm work to make sure their arms are strong and healthy enough to handle all the throws they are placed under. While having bigger arms might be the goal of most athletes, I have found this to be one of the best ways to reduce elbow pain in our players by simply having them strengthen the area and put some “meat on the bones” to handle the stress placed on the joint.

New addition to their program is some conditioning or energy systems work. A disc golf round takes a couple hours, and they usually play two in a day for tournaments. So much like golf, aerobic fitness is of high value to ensure they can stay calm, be focused, and not be out of breath or have their heart beating too fast when they need to make a clutch shot. So I have them do a quick 5 min bike ride or jump rope. Will this turn them into elite aerobic machines? No. It is just a little “finisher” to their program to help push the needle as much as we can in our hour session. Plus, they like it!

CAVEATS

First, you might be thinking, “There isn’t much rotational work, what gives?” Great question. This program is for February, which is in the heart of the Collegiate Disc Golf season. So the amount of throws these athletes are doing on a weekly basis is quite high. Much like how most of us would not get our volleyball players to jump in the weightroom in season, I stay away from some rotation work for them in season. That being said, post-Nationals, once they have gotten a break, we will go back to rotational work like rotational throws and banded work.

Second is Day 3. You might have thought “After Block 1 it doesn’t follow your template…” And that is where you would be right… and wrong. While Day 3 does not have the same Block pattern it has all the same movements as Day 1 and 2 (squat, push, pull, posterior chain, core and arms). For Day 3 I have them perform AT LEAST 1 round of this circuit, but up to 3 rounds. All depends on how they are feeling and what they have ahead on the weekend. This way if they have a big practice round at our local course, they can do 1 quick round for some extra work, but if they have it off we can hit 2-3 and get more development in. I have usually done some form of circuit on Day 3, often being to complete a certain number of rounds for time, but this specific program is done as stated.

And that’s it. Nothing fancy. Probably very similar to what many of you are giving to your athletes, and honestly, it is very similar to what I give to most of my other teams. For me, S&C work should be general preparation and what makes someone good at spiking, shooting, or kicking will also make them good at throwing a disc. Tackle some sport-specific needs but let the sport do most of the specific work.

Happy to have anyone reach out about our disc golf program or programming in general. Something I love to nerd out on more and learn from others too, so don’t be afraid!

Peace.Gains.

Cole Hergott

Reference: Holler, T. (2023) The CNS, sprinting, and golf, SimpliFaster. Available at: https://simplifaster.com/articles/cns-sprinting-feed-the-cats-golf/