The following is an article I wrote for a local golf publication a few years ago. I thought it might provide some clarification of the approach I take. It will be especially useful for newbies to the site who haven't had time to go through previous posts. I will plan to post the others at the beginning of the next few months. Hope it is helpful.
Golf and fitness are unfortunately rarely discussed in a single conversation. Likewise, few golfers would measure their golf game in terms of their athletic prowess. But considering the prevalence of chronic and predictable injuries in golf, I think it’s time we re-think the classification of the game. So I would like to explore golf fitness from a conceptual perspective.
Our society typically associates physical fitness and athletics with physical bulk and power. We forget that agility is also a component of fitness. In fact, Webster’s dictionary defines an athlete as ‘a person trained to compete in contests involving physical agility, speed, or strength’. Golf requires all three of these components for every player, in every game, at every level, on every stroke. So to be a better golfer and to play your best game you must support your athletic endeavor with a physical fitness program.
Well yes, fitness is slowly becoming more recognized in mainstream golf, thanks in great part to Tiger Wood’s athletic presence and success in contrast with the loss of play by so many great golfers before him. But too often the focus of a golfers fitness program is either too broad or too narrow to make significant and permanent physical improvements. People often get caught up in a training program that isn’t specific to the agility and flexibility so necessary to play the game. Or they might settle into a comfortable selection of favorite stretches and contortions that are recognized as ‘standard’ warm up and cool down exercises but don’t fully address their unique physical needs. But even with this well intended trend toward awareness and participation in fitness you have to wonder why so many golfers endure of the same old aches and pains.
One reason might be that most golfers think of their sport as recreation and relaxation with some healthy competition and camaraderie thrown in. It is almost a contradiction when you think about the fact that golfers take more lessons, squeeze in more practice, and study technique like in no other sport. In talking to clients I find that these training sessions become so mental and time consuming that they inadvertently replace any consistent form of physical training.
There are a couple of other unconscious factors that I believe keep the average golfer from assuming a regular fitness program. No other sport invites so many new players who are in the process of abandoning or taking a break from their more physically challenging games. This phenomenon tends to imply that golf is not that strenuous. After all, look at the greatest age related golf population, they’re retired. Can you really categorize golf as athletics if people are retiring to the game? Absolutely!
These seemingly non-athletic characteristics are among the most compelling reasons to take up a fitness program. I’m talking about a program that specifically supports your unique athletic requirements so you can play as long as you like. And not just showing up in your foursome, I’m talking about staying at the top of your game and continuing to improve.
So we establish a new fitness focus by moving to the center of your body. Your postural alignment is the structural basis, the foundation, upon which all other golfing factors are applied. Especially since the game isn’t played so much on a gross, or large muscle, scale but instead challenges your refined motor skills, every action in every vertebrae and every joint counts toward accuracy. So instead of measuring strength in terms of size and power, you need to focus on a balance of tension throughout your body. The goal then is to create balance that complies with very specific performance expectations with a rapid rate of recovery.
This physical function is referred to as tensile strength, which means that the muscles are able to stretch and recover effectively for the activity. The greater the tensile strength, the better you are able to stretch and follow through in your motions without affecting the core structure of the body. Consequently, you contain your power and drive the ball with the precise distance and direction you intended, reducing the risk of strain and possible injury.
But remember that the body is an adaptive organism. Just as you rely on muscle memory to precisely replicate your swing, your body will begin to remember the formula of tensions that make it less stressful for you to create your golf stance. As your muscle memory complies with your repeated request, the original relationship of the bones, joints, and muscles change and so will your posture, both on and off the golf course. While your body makes slow, subtle structural changes to reduce the stress of your recreation, you experience the quality of your game, and your ability to play, level out or worse decline.
It doesn’t have to have anything to do with age or ability or even frequency of play. Your body will adapt positively (regenerate) or negatively (degenerate) at a different rate for every person based on the information it most strongly remembers. So if you only challenge your physical ability in order to create the golf approach, then that is the request your body will remember and is the alignment it will strive to adapt. It is only during your fitness program that you create opportunities to rejuvenate a healthy posture. It is this predictably healthy alignment that offers the most consistent success with your golf techniques. Fitness training is the only way to interrupt the deterioration of your alignment. and it is the only method of stimulating healthy regeneration.
That’s the mechanical part. There are also neurological benefits to fitness training for golf. Very specific sensory and motor nerve impulses are responsible for the creation and control of movement by transferring information between your brain and your muscles. In our real life many of these nerve cells never need to be used and therefore do not respond as immediately or specifically as you need them too during the game. So, when you know you did everything right and you still
don’t make the putt, it may not be in your form or the wind or the green; it may just be your body’s inability to efficiently translate and utilize the wealth of your technical information. By repeatedly challenging your ability to perform specific, corrective, and challenging actions during your fitness routine you raise the ability of your neurotransmissions to efficiently respond to your requests during your game and in your other life.
So if the solution to improving your game and eliminating risk is to establish and maintain a balanced posture we should start with exercises that focus on centering the body. All of your exercises should build on an increased ability to establish a positive spinal alignment and increased range of motion. For this reason I have chosen the following movements. Start with one exercise, once a day and add one new movement every three days. On week two begin to do all three movements every day initially keeping your time in each position brief. On week three and four, continue to refine the movements in terms of exactness of your technique, your range of motion, and the time spent in each position. By next month you will be ready to expand your program safely and effortlessly.
Do not abandon other programs you are already using. Instead, add this new approach slowly with no aggressive or painful efforts. Don’t expect immediate results but do expect to see immediate improvements. Be Thoughtful in your actions so you can recognize the messages about your alignment that will show up during and after the workout. Finally, more is not necessarily better and consistency is the key.
Check with your doctor before you execute these movements. If you have herniation in your lumbar vertebra please contact me and I will send you better beginning exercises for your condition.
Seated Bent Over Row
Sit on the edge of your chair with both feet flat on the floor.
Lean your whole back forward from your hip, slightly, with your back straight and your chest lifted.
Keep your shoulders back but let your arms hang by your sides.
Squeeze your shoulder blades together and let it pull your elbows back.
Do not lift your shoulders to your ears or pull with your arms. Stay focused on your back.
Relax your back and let your arms come back down without letting your shoulders fall forward.
You are at the beginning point again.
Repeat six times increasing to twelve repetitions over the months.
Key: Keep your neck completely relaxed throughout this exercise.
Torso Twist
Lie on the floor with your back comfortably and completely elongated.
Begin with your knees bent, feet flat, and your arms stretched out perpendicular to the shoulder
with your palms open toward the ceiling.
Lift your feet, one at a time to bring your thighs perpendicular to the floor.
Keep your head straight and your shoulders stationary as you lift your hip and drop your knees off to
the opposite side.
If you feel your opposite shoulder begin to lift off the floor, allow your bottom leg to continue to the floor and place the top foot on your bottom ankle.
As you hold this position and it becomes more comfortable, slowly allow the top leg to relax and twist
over more.
This will bring the hips and knees more in line and you will be very sure of the stretch and twist in
your back.
Hold for 15-30 seconds and then lift the top leg and slowly push down your hip to drag the bottom leg
back up.
Repeat on the other side.
Hamstring Stretch w/ Towel
Lie on you back with your feet flat and knees bent and a long beach towel folded lengthwise twice.
Bring one knee in toward your chest with your foot raised in the air.
Toss the towel around your foot so that it touches both the heel and the ball of your foot.
Slowly begin to stretch out your knee until your leg is completely straight.
Breathe slowly and deeply and try to rotate your leg at the hip joint to bring your thigh more vertical
the beginning your leg will be at an angle, but never compromise your straight knee in an effort to bring the foot over.
In the beginning, increasing the tension doesn't necessarily mean your leg will move. But if it feel tighter, you are making a difference.
The ultimate goal is to be able to stretch your leg perpendicular to the floor.
I must have been in a fog---just found this post tonight. I hope I'm not violating any copyright laws by making copies of this to give to some of my patients. I have a bunch of folks, including my own 53y/o aging body, who need this. I keep forgetting how tight my hamstrings are until I do that stretching exercise with the towel. If you hear a loud "SNAP" followed by a scream you will know it was me! Dr Dave
Dr. Dave, I'm honored to know you want to share this piece with your patients. It means you GOT IT! You know, every golfer I have ever met, and they have mostly come through referrals because of some kind of physical pain, does some kind of golf exercise 'stuff'. I mean golfer's will do anything and buy anything to improve their game. But I found that when I did more than just show them some exercises and instead gave them a way to think about the game differently I had much better compliance with the exercise routine both in terms of 'doing it' on their own and also with the specifics of the technique.
If you have anyone that would like to get in touch with me for clarification you can send them to my web site www.thephysicalexperience.com. I should warn you that the picture on the site is from a weight training video I made in the eighties so I have Lady Godiva hair. I threaten to update the picture regularly and my son thinks it would be a travisty, I think he looks at it to get a laugh. Ah, whatever it takes to sit laughing with your 17 year old.
Welcome Frank, I think this is a sound site and you won't get any contraindicated information. I tried to go to the site and give you some specific feedback on the streaming media but alas my computer is slow for such technology, especially when I seem to get online.
The most important thing is to take care of good sound fitness and muscle balance along with flexibility in conjunction with your golf specific training. Move slowly and deliberately especially in the beginning when you are learning and conditining. I will try to get some more information but the program information I saw looked sound.
Welcome Frank, I think this is a sound site and you won't get any contraindicated information. I tried to go to the site and give you some specific feedback on the streaming media but alas my computer is slow for such technology, especially when I seem to get online.
The most important thing is to take care of good sound fitness and muscle balance along with flexibility in conjunction with your golf specific training. Move slowly and deliberately especially in the beginning when you are learning and conditining. I will try to get some more information but the program information I saw looked sound.
Vickie
Thank you Vickie. I've got a cd from them Ill try ti burn you a copy and send it to you for your analysis. Give me a little time and I'll get it to you. Im interested in your opinion
Hybrid Mode
