We're Not "PUTTER"ing Around About Golf Fitness
Today I want to talk a little bit about how you can actually improve physically for golf. There is a lot of talk in the last few years about “golf fitness” and working on our bodies to improve our game. You certainly hear about it all over the place on the PGA and PGL Tour, college levels, high school levels, and down the ranks we go. I still don’t think locally in this area, and maybe even nationally, that we have a good understanding of what the term “golf fitness” actually means. Some people think it means improving your cardiovascular conditioning by walking or running on a treadmill. Some people think it means lifting 300 pounds twice (benching or squatting, those sort of things for example). So there might be a little bit of confusion about it and I want to lay it out in terms of how you can actually go about golf fitness and what the experts and tour pros are doing. Specifically, how you can go about doing this locally, nationally, or even online here with us.
IDENTIFICATION PHASE OF GOLF FITNESS
The first thing we want to make sure that we identify in the process is where are you at. Not overly sexy, but the identification process of what your goals are, where you are currently at, and what the gap is. So if you are having pain that is preventing you from playing 7 times a week, there is probably a gap we have to minimize. If you want to hit the ball 300 yards and you are currently only at 40, there is a gap we have to try and minimize. Likewise, if you are really really inconsistent with your swing and not making repeatable and consistent contact, for rough numbers, that could be the equivalent of say 7 blow-up holes a round. We want to minimize that realistically to maybe 1 or none. That is the first step in the process and we do that very very consistently regardless if it is pain, distance, strength, physical mobility, consistency, mental preparation, nutrition, or hydration.
At Motus Rx Physical Therapy we do this through the Body Swing Connection Evaluation. This is as robust as you want to get with it, but we will complete a physical screen, put you through power and speed testing, 2D video analysis, and 3D swing analysis on the K-vest. We incorporate all of these elements to get a full picture of your swing. If there is a situation where somebody is not able to be with us physically and not able to do a 3D analysis or all the bells and whistles, that is 100% okay, we can get a lot done online with a physical screen and some performance testing. We can still gain enough information from the physical screen, as well as having an honest and open conversation about where you are at and where you want to go.
So that is the first step of the process: Identification. It is figuring out where you are currently at relative to where you want to go. Once again, we use our Body Swing Connection Analysis in that situation and a good old fashioned conversation to make that happen. If you have more questions or want to inquire a little bit more about what the Body Swing Connection Evaluation entails and how we go about that, feel free to get us a call or fill out this INQUIRE NOW form.
INTERVENTION PHASE OF GOLF FITNESS
Once we identify where the individual needs to go, then we hone in on the physical aspects of what the golfer needs. At the end of the day, for the physical aspects of the golf swing, there’s 3 main things that could be limiting you:
The first, and probably most commonly talked about, is mobility. This includes but is not limited to tightness, stiffness, not being able to get a good turn, tight hips, neck stiffness, or not being able to get your shoulders and hands in a good position at the top of transition. Those are all probably a combination of things, but at the end of the day would be in the mobility realm.mobility We like to simplify it, and I’ve written a whole book about this in terms of the 4 key zones of mobility for golfers, but we need to have mobility in our neck, mid-back, hips, and ankles. We also need mobility in our shoulders, but I kind of put the shoulders and mid-back together. If you do not have good mobility in the neck, mid-back and shoulders, hips, and ankles, then you could have some swing characteristics that may not be helping your desired outcomes
The second thing, physically, that we are looking at in the intervention phase is strength. This is the most underrated, often misunderstood, and not intervened upon enough aspect. If we think about the golf swing, there is a relative significant amount of strength that is required to develop some force. The importance of strength is going to be the physical demands that are placed on the body, joints, ligaments, and muscles during the golf swing. These demands are intense and significant. The demands are usually underestimated but we have to have the relative amount of strength to handle that and build the “biggest cup.” When we say “build the biggest cup” we are referring to our strength capacity. Basically we are building this big big cup (which is our strength capacity) for us to handle the demands of the golf swing and club head speed that we want time after time again and day after day so that our bodies physically do not break down and we don’t have an over-exertion or a repetitive use-type injury. Strength becomes very important for that.
The third element of intervention is speed and power. For speed and power, you have to have strength first. Strength is a prerequisite to being fast and powerful. What we talk about with our athletes is the rate of force development. Usually the most powerful athletes have the best club head speed and the most rotational speed. This comes from how quickly the muscles can actually develop force. It’s one thing to be strong, and it's another thing to be able to be powerful and produce force rapidly.
Those are the 3 main elements of intervention that we are going to look at with our golfers. These elements will be identified in that physical screen or performance screen, one way or the other.
REINTEGRATION PHASE OF GOLF FITNESS
The third step, and often times the most challenging is reintegration. Once we have identified the gap of where we want to go, where we are, and what it's going to take to get there we complete the evaluation process. Step two is the physical intervention of mobility, strength, power, and getting a good program set-up for you. Now, how do we take those things and re-integrate them into the sport. There a couple of main things that are really really important:
You have to practice with intent. For instance, if our goal is to get a higher club head speed, we have to swing fast with intent and actually use some sort of device whether it's SuperSpeed Sticks or hitting balls live trying to swing as hard as you can. It is having intention with our practice. The same thing applies for consistency. If you are looking to have a more repeatable and consistent swing, you have to make sure that you have the tools in place to practice that.
Get with a swing coach or an instructor who understands your goals and you are comfortable with. Be sure you have an open line of communication with them. This is crucial so we, or they, can understand what you have been working on and what you want to improve on. Your coach should be able to give you some “tricks up their sleeve” to integrate the things that you have acquired. Essentially you have created a “new engine” so to speak and we have to reintegrate your “new engine” into your swing and on the course. Making sure you have someone that you trust and understands what you are trying to do and has ways to reintegrate these things back into your goals.
Objective measurement for whatever it is that you are working on. If we are working on club head speed, do you have a way to track that? If we are looking at performance and scoring, are you objectively tracking that? If it is strength and performance in the gym, maybe we have to come back every so often and continually check those measurements to make sure you are improving and staying ahead.
In that third element of reintegration, you have to make sure you are practicing with intent, have a swing coach that knows what they are doing and understands what you are trying to do, and then objectively measure time and time again to make sure that what you are doing is actually working.
GOLF FITNESS RECAP
Those are the three major steps on how to physically improve for golf. So now we have a better understanding of what “golf fitness” really is all about if you are going about it correctly. It’s not blindly training on a treadmill, it's not blindly pounding balls at the range, it is:
Identification: figuring out where you are at and where you want to go through the evaluation process that we have. Please let us know if you want some help!
Mobility, strength, power: physical adjustments and changes. When we are talking about our screening process, those are the three things that we are going to be looking at to physically improve.
Re-integration: reintegration back into your sport. This includes practice with intent, finding someone that you like and trust, and continual objective measurement.
That is what I have for you today and what we are doing daily with our golfers at Motus Rx Physical Therapy. Let us know if you have any questions or if you are dealing with something specifically that you want some guidance on. Dr. Eric Wallace would be happy to hop on a call or get you scheduled. This is the approach Motus Rx Physical Therapy takes and the name of the game for “golf fitness” whether we are getting you out of pain, adding club speed, or helping you gain consistency with club path or contact.
Motus Rx Physical Therapy looks forward to helping golfers like you who are currently in-season and the upcoming off-season!
If you enjoyed this blog, you may also like:
Our latest podcast: Everything You Need To Know About Golf Fitness
A recent blog: A Golf Love Affair: One Day You’re Hot and One Day You’re Not