The
Key to Golfing Well Consistently
by
Dr Patrick Erickson
The
main key to golfing well consistently is to work with a golf
teaching professional. Other than the very recreational golfer,
all golfers serious in improving their swing, distance or
consistence with a goal of lowering their scores need see
a golf teaching professional in addition to following our
conditioning formula for success. We will work with your golf
pro to help you set short and long term goals that will motivate
you to succeed at your conditioning program.
The Conditioning Formula for Success
Integrated golf conditioning is based on the concept of FUNCTIONAL
EXERCISE. Functional exercise means an exercise program designed
around sport (or work) specific movement patterns-in this
case golf. These same principles are successfully used by
many of the world’s greatest athletes by adapting the
concepts to their particular sport.
Care must be taken because many exercise trainers are trying
to attract golfers and other athletes into their machine based
programs. The problem with this is that machines are designed
to isolate and increase individual muscles. Unfortunately,
in golf, the brain works by recruiting groups of muscles in
a programmed sequence. Therefore any exercise program that
is designed to improve function of a golfer must be designed
to integrate the whole mind and body.
To ensure function will be improved, the exercises chosen
and the program design must be evaluated to encompass the
following four components:
- Flexibility
Flexibility and muscle balance must always be restored
first
- Stability
Static and dynamic stability must be restored before
increasing strength or power
- Strengthening
Strength must be developed before power
- Power
Power is always the final attribute developed
Flexibility
The determination as to which muscles and joints are restricted
is the first and most important aspect of the golf-conditioning
program. The proper assessment will indicate a player’s
ability relative to what you want from your golf game and
which stretches and stretching techniques are most likely
to benefit you. The specific requirements of your goals must
be compared against your own joint range-of-motion (ROM) so
that exact stretches can be prescribed.
Many golfers, women and juniors, already possess great flexibility
and therefore need concentrate initially on performance of
stabilizing muscles. This is mainly to ensure that the joints
and ligaments aren’t injured in the process of strengthening
and increasing the power of the improved golf swing.
Stability
Golf is played under the influence of gravity in an unstable
environment: wind, side hill, upslope, loose sand and irregular
surfaces just to name a few. Golf is a technical sport that
requires a high degree of stability through sometimes explosive
actions. Inability to maintain your center of gravity during
a golf swing will, as I’m sure you know, will severely
reduce your chances of sending a small object in a precise
direction a specified distance. And that is in essesce the
goal of golf.
If the exercise program doesn’t contribute to improving
your ability to maintain your center of gravity over your
feet then it’s functional aspect will be minimal and
futile in relation to golf conditioning. A precise assessment
of the function of key stabilizing muscles and muscle groups
must be performed. Where dysfunction is found we must first
isolate then integrate those muscles.
Core Strengthening
After approximately 12 weeks of the flexibility/stability
program the serious golfer is ready to have some fun and do
what it takes to enhance their performance to his/her level
of expectation by entering into the strength-training phase
of the program. Up until this point your exercises could be
done in your own home with the use of a few exercise aids.
For strength and power you’ll need to get into the gym.
Although golfers in general avoid strength training as a means
of improving their game the truth is most professional and
high-level amateurs are currently in the gyms improving their
strength and power; Vijay Singh, Mike Weir and Tiger Woods
just to name a few. Not only does it improve your golf performance
but it also enhances your spinal health. Consider; the number
one injury among male golfers is low back pain. The number
one injury among female golfers is, you guessed it, low back
pain.
When you consider that the forces generated in the back driving
a golf ball are strong enough to fracture vertebra or cause
disc herniation, you can understand why so many golfers develop
back problems. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to
realize that golfers need to be stronger just to survive the
sport.
Power Training
Do you want to hit longer drives than ever before? If you
said yes then it’s time to turn on the POWER.
Only after having developed static stability, dynamic stability
and golf strength are we able to approach the development
of POWER GOLF. What this means is that Power without stability
and strength will mean that you will only be looking for your
ball further out in the trees. You don’t want to be
known as the golfer with the biggest slice or the biggest
duck hook!
To develop power, golf exercises must have a high degree of
carry-over to the game. Your power-conditioning program will
consist of exercises that continue to develop skill, coordination
and balance; but speed and timing will now be added with focus
on your trunk and hips. We will also put extra attention on
the rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder. We don’t want
to tear up the shoulder with that new found power swing.
A Final Word
Conditioning the golfer without unnecessary wear and tear
requires comprehensive assessment intelligent progression
and clear objectives. That is precisely why a golf-specific
conditioning coach working with your golf teaching professional
best serves you and it is exactly what we will do for you.
Note For Seniors
The senior golfer will see the best improvements from stability
exercises. We can formulate a specific set of stability exercises
you can do in your home as few a 3 times a week for a hour
at a time. For those who are interested in slowing the aging
process as well, we can include the whole-in-one approach.
The aging process goes hand in hand with degenerative changes
to joints, muscle and nerves. By adhering to the integrated
exercise and diet program, the natural process of aging can
be significantly slowed.
Reference:
Chek Paul.The Golf Biomechanics Manual: Whole in One Golf
Conditioning. Encinitas,
CA: A Chek Insitute Publication, 1999
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