[Matt]

I don't weight train specifically for golf, but the principles are the same. First, 'no pain, no gain' - I personally think this doesn't mean beat your body into oblivion but rather actually do some work while you're at the gym. Training with very light weights, well below your max for a given number of sets/reps, long rest times between sets, doing inefficient isolation movements, etc. all will not produce the results you're looking for. But at the outset we need to figure out just what are the results we're looking for. Are we looking for hypertrophy (size), pure strength, functional golf strength? Either way you're going to be doing some exercises that are going to stress your muscles (thus the 'pain') and put you in positions you're not used to being in.

To make gains you're going to have to overload your muscles - that is, push them harder than you have before. Doing a given exercise for the same sets/reps with the same weight for 10 weeks is not going to make you stronger. You're simply going to adapt to that training load and stay there. As far as injury goes, there are plenty of good training programs you can do that will avoid injury and overtraining. If you're a complete novice then obviously start with lower volume and learn correct exercise form and use a full range of motion! I cannot stress this enough. The vast majority of people I see in the gym are using terrible form, too much weight, or a combination of both. Most of the time it's the fact that they're using too much weight that leads to the poor form. It pains me because these people are not going to be making any gains and instead are probably heading down the road to injury.