Take a look at most of the professional PGA players today
and you’ll soon discover a common denominator; they work with a personal
trainer. Their livihood depends on how
they perform week end and week out.
This article will explain the four components of fitness and
how you can develop your body’s optimal condition for peak golf
performance.
There are four components to a successful fitness program
for the golfer. They are…
Strength & Power Training
- Cardiovascular Training
- Nutrition
- Flexibility Training
We’ll take a look at each of these components and how you
can lower those golf strokes by implementing a program that gets results!
Strength and Power Training
The principal of specificity states that training is most effective when resistance
exercises are similar to the sport activity in which improvement is sought. (Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning,
Second Edition, NSCA). Thus, you
wouldn’t want a strength program used for football. You need one that’s specific to the game of
golf.
There is a difference between strength training and power
training. Both are required to play your
best. Strength is simply how much weight
you can lift from point A to point B.
Whereas Power is how much you can lift from point A to point B in a
given amount of time. Time being the
difference between the two.
Certainly, you don’t need to be an Olympic lifter or Power
lifter to play a great round of golf. That type of lifting won’t do your game a bit of good. However, strength and power using the
specificity principal is very important to the development of your game. A
certain amount of strength is great to possess but I feel that power is
especially vital to the development of your game.
Golf requires more strength than most people realize. But having strong legs and arms are not
enough to get you through. You need to
develop strength from where it originates…the CORE.
The CORE is made up of the musculature of your neck, spinal
column, thoracic and lumbar, buttocks and abdomen. When this CORE is developed, you’ll see fewer
strokes and smile a lot more!
How many times have you witnessed big strong looking
individuals who can’t seem to hit the ball that far at all, not to mention
straight! In contrast, how many times
have you witnessed another individual who didn’t appear to possess any visible
muscle that can stroke the ball a country mile? This individual has taught their body how to produce the maximal amount
of power through their CORE.
Ian Pyka, MS, CSCS was a quest speaker at the 2005 Personal
Trainers Conference held by the National Strength & Conditioning
Association (NSCA) in Las Vegas, NV. I
was glued to his talk on Conditioning for Golf and learned about The Power Generator…THE X FACTOR.
Take a close look at how the muscles in your body are
arranged and you’ll soon discover that they work in an X-like manner. The obliques (side muscles) and adductors
(inner thigh muscles) resemble the letter X in the way muscle fibers are arranged. Also, the gluteus (butt muscles) and latissimus
dorsi (back muscles) muscles have a similar X fiber-like arrangement.
These muscle fibers are specifically arranged to create
movement patterns in each plane of motion your body uses to accomplish its
goal. It’s not important in this article
for you to understand planes of movement but suffice it to say that we don’t
just move in singular planes of motion (sagital, frontal and transverse), but
in a combination of all three.
These muscles work by pulling and pushing in harmony
together as a unit to produce power in your golf swing. As you go into your backswing a loading or
coiling is taking place much like a rubber band that is being wound up on one
of those old balsa wood airplanes.
During the downswing an unloading or uncoiling is taking place to
produce the power necessary to make your ball fly a long way. This is THE X-FACTOR!
For this articles simplicity sake, there are many other
muscles that are vital but we’ll stick to the basics. You’d be doing yourself a big favor though by
studying the human body and how it works. If only how it relates to your golf game.
By understanding how the muscles work in your body during
the swing, we can set up exercises specific to those movement patterns, thus
producing a more powerful and efficient swing.
Cardiovascular Training
If your thinking that cardiovascular training is not
important for golf then you are NOT IN on one of the secrets that most great
golfers share. You cannot concentrate
effectively if you’re too tired to think!
Maintaining your energy level is vital to playing a round of
golf. Think about that for a
moment. A round of golf can take up to
four plus hours to play; not including the half hour to hour on the driving
range before. How much better would you
play if you felt as fresh playing the back nine as you do playing the front?
The bogeys, double bogeys, etc. that usually finish your
round will become pars and maybe a few birdies!
I’ve seen it happen to many people who’ve worked on this important
component of their fitness program.
Start out slow and easy with your aerobic program. This could just be a 10-20 min. walk each
day. Then progressively increase your
time to approximately 40-45 minutes increasing the intensity by walking more
briskly and ultimately slow to moderate jogging. For a complete progressive aerobic program
that would be individual to your particular needs, call Mitchell Fitness
Systems.
Nutrition
You don’t see too many overweight professional players these
days. They know and understand that good
nutrition plays a huge roll in their overall fitness program. How you fuel your body will determine how
effectively you can train and play the game.
You have to give your body the fuel it will need before you
tee off. Without the correct fuel,
you’ll lose concentration and increase the strokes. Not what you want.
If you play in the early morning, just make sure you eat a
balanced breakfast that may include hot cereal (oatmeal) with blueberries or other
fruit, two pieces of whole wheat toast with a thin layer of peanut butter and a
glass of milk. It’s that simple!
Take along a quick snack during your round just in case you
experience low blood sugar. A snack
might be a piece of fruit, an energy drink, or an energy bar and top it off
with some clean refreshing water. You’ll
notice that you will feel better almost immediately after taking in the
nourishment.
After your round of golf, it’s time to replace the lost
glycogen in your muscles and liver. Glycogen is simply the stored fuel your body needs to function for work
and play. Your meal here may consist of
a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with tomato, lettuce. Instead of potato chips, eat raw veggies or a
piece of fruit. Drink lots of fluids (non-alcoholic)
to replace your body fluid after you play and don’t forget to drink during and
after your round.
Flexibility
If you’ve been taking lessons for years and not getting the
lower scores you desire, it could be that you are just physically limited by a
body that is just not flexible enough (or maybe you’re not practicing your game
enough!). Most of my clients who play
golf are over forty years young and they can’t understand why their swing just
doesn’t feel good.
It may not feel good because they're not flexible. Golf requires fluidity. There’s a beauty to a golf swing…maybe not
yours right now…but a great golf swing not only looks good, it feels good! Ever notice how you feel when your ball sails
straight and long?
A sufficient warm-up is necessary before you attempt to
stretch your muscles. A warm-up could
include high step walking with arm circles both clockwise and counterclockwise
or any other warm-up using most of your body for at least 2-5 minutes. Now, you’re ready for a quick stretch!
Stretching increases blood flow to the working muscles. It also lengthens muscles and this in turn
produces a muscle that is stronger for use. Stretching increases the range of motion (ROM) around the joints of your
body and may decrease the incidence of injury.
Make your stretching program one in which feels good to
you. Don’t overstretch or bounce. Ease into each stretch and hold for
approximately 20 seconds each or more.
Your muscles come equipped with defense mechanisms that
prevent injury if you stretch too far. Believe
me, they’ll let you know. You’ll feel a
quick ‘shock like’ effect that tells you to back off. But, never try to get to this point.
A time efficient golf stretching routine should only take a
few minutes of your time and include stretches for your calves, legs, back and
shoulders.
You will feel and see the results very quickly. Get your golf specific program and try it out
before your next round and feel good hitting that first drive!
(For a complete explanation of the stretching
exercises and description of how to execute each, call Mitchell Fitness Systems
for a FREE copy).
THE GOLF SWING
Let’s take a closer look at the golf swing and its segments.
There are many exercises to use that are specific (specificity principal) to
each component. Your personal trainer or
golf pro can help you with these. There
are four segments to a golf swing. They
are:
- The Address or Set Up
- Backswing or Takeaway or Load
- Downswing or Unload
- Finish or Follow Though
The Address
This is a power position that necessitates complete balance on
the heel-arch of your feet. The angle of
your spine and overall postural position is critical in this segment of the
swing. The strength component is about
to be displayed in the preparation for loading during the weight shift.
The Back Swing
Balance is the key with the component of the swing as well
as stabilization of the lower body during the loading phase on the rear
leg. Flexibility and strength is the key
in rotating the upper body into a loaded position.
The Down Swing
The component elicits the greatest amount of muscle force as
the body accelerates the club to impact the ball.
The Finish
This component must contain proper acceleration through the
power zone and a timely deceleration at the completion of the swing. Your hips must be facing the target here with
your bodyweight at least 90% on your front leg at the finish.
Weather you’re an avid golfer or a week end hacker, golf
specific exercises will help you in your pursuit to condition your body to play
the best golf your practice and genetic abilities will take you.
This article is a brief explanation of the four components
of fitness necessary for you to understand each ones importance. You can obtain a copy of the golf specific
exercises simply by requesting it from Mitchell
Fitness Systems at (310) 325-8637.
Good luck!
