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Complete Conditioning for Golf
by Pete Draovitch and Ralph Simpson
Foreword by Greg Norman
Series: Complete Conditioning for Sports
208 Pages
From the tee to the greens, improve all aspects of your game with Complete Conditioning for Golf, a book and DVD package that presents the programs the pros use.
Golfers at all levels benefit from golf-specific training. This expert program begins with evaluation and moves through targeted strength, power, core, and flexibility exercises. Pete Draovitch, personal trainer and physical therapist to PGA star Greg Norman, and Ralph Simpson, former physical therapist and trainer on the PGA Tour fitness van, have teamed up to create a comprehensive program to help you in these areas:
-Generate explosive power for increased driving distances.
-Improve flexibility for a more fluid and precise swing.
-Build muscular endurance for greater shot control through the final hole.
-Maintain strength and flexibility from round to round and throughout the year.
-Prevent common injuries.
-Return to the course quickly with modified rehab exercises.
In addition, the 90-minute DVD takes you onto the course and into the gym to demonstrate the drills and exercises used by the pros.
Complete Conditioning for Golf is simply the best guide to preparing your body for success on the links.
Part I Conditioning Components
Chapter 1. Golf Fitness Tests
Chapter 2. Flexibility for Full-Swing Arc
Chapter 3. Preround Warm-Up
Chapter 4. Weight Training for Maximum Distance
Chapter 5. Core Training for Postural Stability
Chapter 6. Cuff Training for a Solid Backswing
Chapter 7. Motor Memory for Power Transfer and Skill Execution
Chapter 8. Nutrition and Supplements for Golf Energy Needs
Part II Golf-Specific Programs
Chapter 9. Advanced Power Development
Chapter 10. 15-Minute Weekly Maintenance
Chapter 11. Rehabilitation and Recovery From Injury
Pete Draovitch is a physical therapy and rehabilitation specialist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Performance Complex and has been the personal physical therapist for PGA Tour star Greg Norman since 1993. He also serves as physical therapist and wellness consultant for Martin Memorial Medical Center, as president and CEO of the Bodyguards, Inc., and as spring training physical therapy consultant for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball organization.
An accomplished writer, Draovitch has written articles for GOLF Magazine, Muscle Training in Orthopedics and Sports, Physical Therapy, and numerous other publications. He has been featured in golf segments on ESPN, NBC's “High Performance Golf,” and “60 Minutes” and in articles in GOLF Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Esquire, and USA Today.
Draovitch holds a master's degree in physical therapy from the University of Miami and a master's degree in sports medicine and physical education from the University of Delaware. He is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association, the National Athletic Trainers' Association, and the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
Ralph Simpson is a strength and conditioning specialist and a physical therapist board certified in manual therapy, athletic training, and orthopedics. He has traveled with the U.S. luge team on the World Cup circuit and provided care at USOC training centers. Since 1983 Simpson has worked with athletes of various sports. He spent 12 years traveling on the PGA Tour fitness van providing care and training to nearly all PGA Tour and Champions Tour players.
Simpson is a professional advisor for Golf Digest and has written numerous articles on golf fitness. He has been interviewed or quoted on ESPN, CNBC, the Golf Channel, BBC Sports Talk, local TV affiliates across the United States, the New York Times, USA Today, Golf Digest, Golf World, Wall Street Journal, and Chicago Sun Times.
Simpson holds a bachelor's degree with high honors in physical therapy and a bachelor's degree with high honors in health and physical education with an emphasis on adaptive physical education from the University of Montana. He is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association, the National Athletic Trainers' Association, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists. He has been an invited physical therapist at the Shark Shootout since 1997, continues to consult with various pros, and is the owner of Manual Orthopaedic & Sports Therapy in Whitefish, Montana, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
"This might be the most complete book on golf fitness. Ralph has demonstrated once again why no one is more conscientious and innovative in getting (and keeping) golfers healthy. Very original."
Ron Kaspriske, Editor
Golf Digest magazine"Pete Draovitch and Ralph Simpson were pioneers in bringing fitness to golf. They are once again ahead of the curve as it relates to playing better golf through a stronger, healthier, more functional body."
Tim Rosaforte
Senior Golf Writer, Golf World
Contributing Analyst, PGA Tour Sunday and NBC for U.S. Open
Proper posture important in golf
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you.
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you. He looks balanced and solid, with great spine angles, but, if his daily posture wasn't good, he wouldn't be able to put his body into that address position. Running fast without proper posture is impossible. Similarly, swinging a golf club without appropriate postural stability is unwise and less productive. Functional posture makes a world of difference in your swinging action and lets you impart far more force in your ball strike. For a simple demonstration, sit slumped in a chair with your head pushed forward and raise your arm. Then sit tall in your chair and repeat this arm test. Notice how much easier and farther your arm traveled? Sit slumped again and turn your head to the left, as you do during the backswing. Now turn your body to the right. Next, sit up tall, with your chin pulled in and your lower back slightly arched. Repeat these motions and then decide which posture produced a greater and more easily achieved range of motion. The spine is able to flex, extend (bend forward and backward), rotate, and bend to the side, but, when motion in one plane is used, there is less motion to be used in other planes. So if you're slumped with a head-forward posture, your middle back is flexed and, subsequently, any rotation is decreased.
Body structure and posture are individual characteristics, but an improper golf swing can cause muscle imbalances just as muscle imbalances can cause an improper golf swing. These imbalances might not be obvious until they cause a disruptive physical problem via an escape route. Virtually every postural anomaly causes some sort of adaptation in movement; some are innocuous, but some lead to diminished power as well as potential injury. Here are some common physical limitations:
- Reduced neck rotation can make it difficult to keep your eye on the ball during the swing.
- Insufficient trunk strength interferes with your ability to transfer forces from the lower body to the upper body. In addition, proper spine angle will not be maintained during the swing.
- Tight hamstrings do not allow an effective address position to be achieved.
- Reduced range of hip motion leads to compromised swing patterns and lower-back pain.
- Decreased trunk rotation limits shoulder turn, causes poor sequencing between the hips and trunk, alters the swing plane, and potentially causes back pain.
- Insufficient shoulder strength, especially in the rotator cuff, leads to decreased club-head speed, as well as poor deceleration and poor club control.
Many players think of these problems as products of the sport, so they resort to anti-inflammatory medication and other quick-fix alternatives. These responses might temporarily reduce pain, but they rarely solve the underlying problem. Most postural conditions do not occur overnight. The biggest routine physical challenge faced by amateur golfers entering their 40s and 50s has to do with the posture they've developed over the past 20 years. The body slowly adapts to poor posture, and some body parts-such as the neck, shoulder, back, and hip-may be overused to compensate for loss of motion someplace else (see Escape Routes in chapter 2). By performing a few simple exercises regularly, however, you can improve and maintain good posture and thereby improve your swinging power. The testing in chapter 1, Golf Fitness Tests, will help you decide how to focus most of your efforts in regaining better posture.
The ability to maintain your functional trunk position for each shot is an acquired skill. Teaching pros commonly refer to this position as maintaining spine angle. When the spine is stable, it serves as an efficient and rigid lever to transfer energy from the lower body to the upper body and on to the golf club. By increasing the stability of the spine and the muscles that support it, you can improve your game.
Bending the spine places unnecessary stress on the lower-back muscles and joints. It also reduces your ability to transfer power from your lower body to your upper body, which translates into decreased club-head speed. For example, when your upper back is bent forward or hunched over, you place extra stress on your shoulders and neck as your shoulders round forward, thereby causing the rotator cuff muscles (a group of four small muscles that protect the shoulder joint) to work in an abnormal position. This undesirable posture can produce tendinitis, muscle strain, and joint sprain. It places the muscles at a mechanical disadvantage as the joint becomes an energy leak site, absorbing force instead of passing it along into the club and ball. Of course, this position also limits your swing action to a portion of the potential movement range.
Postural muscles (the muscles that maintain spine angle) are found throughout the body and function more for endurance than for strength or power. The main role of these muscles is to hold the skeletal system and joint structures in proper alignment so that the larger and stronger muscles can produce the desired body movements with appropriate forces in tandem with maintaining good balance.
This is an excerpt from Complete Conditioning for Golf.
Proper posture important in golf
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you.
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you. He looks balanced and solid, with great spine angles, but, if his daily posture wasn't good, he wouldn't be able to put his body into that address position. Running fast without proper posture is impossible. Similarly, swinging a golf club without appropriate postural stability is unwise and less productive. Functional posture makes a world of difference in your swinging action and lets you impart far more force in your ball strike. For a simple demonstration, sit slumped in a chair with your head pushed forward and raise your arm. Then sit tall in your chair and repeat this arm test. Notice how much easier and farther your arm traveled? Sit slumped again and turn your head to the left, as you do during the backswing. Now turn your body to the right. Next, sit up tall, with your chin pulled in and your lower back slightly arched. Repeat these motions and then decide which posture produced a greater and more easily achieved range of motion. The spine is able to flex, extend (bend forward and backward), rotate, and bend to the side, but, when motion in one plane is used, there is less motion to be used in other planes. So if you're slumped with a head-forward posture, your middle back is flexed and, subsequently, any rotation is decreased.
Body structure and posture are individual characteristics, but an improper golf swing can cause muscle imbalances just as muscle imbalances can cause an improper golf swing. These imbalances might not be obvious until they cause a disruptive physical problem via an escape route. Virtually every postural anomaly causes some sort of adaptation in movement; some are innocuous, but some lead to diminished power as well as potential injury. Here are some common physical limitations:
- Reduced neck rotation can make it difficult to keep your eye on the ball during the swing.
- Insufficient trunk strength interferes with your ability to transfer forces from the lower body to the upper body. In addition, proper spine angle will not be maintained during the swing.
- Tight hamstrings do not allow an effective address position to be achieved.
- Reduced range of hip motion leads to compromised swing patterns and lower-back pain.
- Decreased trunk rotation limits shoulder turn, causes poor sequencing between the hips and trunk, alters the swing plane, and potentially causes back pain.
- Insufficient shoulder strength, especially in the rotator cuff, leads to decreased club-head speed, as well as poor deceleration and poor club control.
Many players think of these problems as products of the sport, so they resort to anti-inflammatory medication and other quick-fix alternatives. These responses might temporarily reduce pain, but they rarely solve the underlying problem. Most postural conditions do not occur overnight. The biggest routine physical challenge faced by amateur golfers entering their 40s and 50s has to do with the posture they've developed over the past 20 years. The body slowly adapts to poor posture, and some body parts-such as the neck, shoulder, back, and hip-may be overused to compensate for loss of motion someplace else (see Escape Routes in chapter 2). By performing a few simple exercises regularly, however, you can improve and maintain good posture and thereby improve your swinging power. The testing in chapter 1, Golf Fitness Tests, will help you decide how to focus most of your efforts in regaining better posture.
The ability to maintain your functional trunk position for each shot is an acquired skill. Teaching pros commonly refer to this position as maintaining spine angle. When the spine is stable, it serves as an efficient and rigid lever to transfer energy from the lower body to the upper body and on to the golf club. By increasing the stability of the spine and the muscles that support it, you can improve your game.
Bending the spine places unnecessary stress on the lower-back muscles and joints. It also reduces your ability to transfer power from your lower body to your upper body, which translates into decreased club-head speed. For example, when your upper back is bent forward or hunched over, you place extra stress on your shoulders and neck as your shoulders round forward, thereby causing the rotator cuff muscles (a group of four small muscles that protect the shoulder joint) to work in an abnormal position. This undesirable posture can produce tendinitis, muscle strain, and joint sprain. It places the muscles at a mechanical disadvantage as the joint becomes an energy leak site, absorbing force instead of passing it along into the club and ball. Of course, this position also limits your swing action to a portion of the potential movement range.
Postural muscles (the muscles that maintain spine angle) are found throughout the body and function more for endurance than for strength or power. The main role of these muscles is to hold the skeletal system and joint structures in proper alignment so that the larger and stronger muscles can produce the desired body movements with appropriate forces in tandem with maintaining good balance.
This is an excerpt from Complete Conditioning for Golf.
Proper posture important in golf
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you.
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you. He looks balanced and solid, with great spine angles, but, if his daily posture wasn't good, he wouldn't be able to put his body into that address position. Running fast without proper posture is impossible. Similarly, swinging a golf club without appropriate postural stability is unwise and less productive. Functional posture makes a world of difference in your swinging action and lets you impart far more force in your ball strike. For a simple demonstration, sit slumped in a chair with your head pushed forward and raise your arm. Then sit tall in your chair and repeat this arm test. Notice how much easier and farther your arm traveled? Sit slumped again and turn your head to the left, as you do during the backswing. Now turn your body to the right. Next, sit up tall, with your chin pulled in and your lower back slightly arched. Repeat these motions and then decide which posture produced a greater and more easily achieved range of motion. The spine is able to flex, extend (bend forward and backward), rotate, and bend to the side, but, when motion in one plane is used, there is less motion to be used in other planes. So if you're slumped with a head-forward posture, your middle back is flexed and, subsequently, any rotation is decreased.
Body structure and posture are individual characteristics, but an improper golf swing can cause muscle imbalances just as muscle imbalances can cause an improper golf swing. These imbalances might not be obvious until they cause a disruptive physical problem via an escape route. Virtually every postural anomaly causes some sort of adaptation in movement; some are innocuous, but some lead to diminished power as well as potential injury. Here are some common physical limitations:
- Reduced neck rotation can make it difficult to keep your eye on the ball during the swing.
- Insufficient trunk strength interferes with your ability to transfer forces from the lower body to the upper body. In addition, proper spine angle will not be maintained during the swing.
- Tight hamstrings do not allow an effective address position to be achieved.
- Reduced range of hip motion leads to compromised swing patterns and lower-back pain.
- Decreased trunk rotation limits shoulder turn, causes poor sequencing between the hips and trunk, alters the swing plane, and potentially causes back pain.
- Insufficient shoulder strength, especially in the rotator cuff, leads to decreased club-head speed, as well as poor deceleration and poor club control.
Many players think of these problems as products of the sport, so they resort to anti-inflammatory medication and other quick-fix alternatives. These responses might temporarily reduce pain, but they rarely solve the underlying problem. Most postural conditions do not occur overnight. The biggest routine physical challenge faced by amateur golfers entering their 40s and 50s has to do with the posture they've developed over the past 20 years. The body slowly adapts to poor posture, and some body parts-such as the neck, shoulder, back, and hip-may be overused to compensate for loss of motion someplace else (see Escape Routes in chapter 2). By performing a few simple exercises regularly, however, you can improve and maintain good posture and thereby improve your swinging power. The testing in chapter 1, Golf Fitness Tests, will help you decide how to focus most of your efforts in regaining better posture.
The ability to maintain your functional trunk position for each shot is an acquired skill. Teaching pros commonly refer to this position as maintaining spine angle. When the spine is stable, it serves as an efficient and rigid lever to transfer energy from the lower body to the upper body and on to the golf club. By increasing the stability of the spine and the muscles that support it, you can improve your game.
Bending the spine places unnecessary stress on the lower-back muscles and joints. It also reduces your ability to transfer power from your lower body to your upper body, which translates into decreased club-head speed. For example, when your upper back is bent forward or hunched over, you place extra stress on your shoulders and neck as your shoulders round forward, thereby causing the rotator cuff muscles (a group of four small muscles that protect the shoulder joint) to work in an abnormal position. This undesirable posture can produce tendinitis, muscle strain, and joint sprain. It places the muscles at a mechanical disadvantage as the joint becomes an energy leak site, absorbing force instead of passing it along into the club and ball. Of course, this position also limits your swing action to a portion of the potential movement range.
Postural muscles (the muscles that maintain spine angle) are found throughout the body and function more for endurance than for strength or power. The main role of these muscles is to hold the skeletal system and joint structures in proper alignment so that the larger and stronger muscles can produce the desired body movements with appropriate forces in tandem with maintaining good balance.
This is an excerpt from Complete Conditioning for Golf.
Proper posture important in golf
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you.
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you. He looks balanced and solid, with great spine angles, but, if his daily posture wasn't good, he wouldn't be able to put his body into that address position. Running fast without proper posture is impossible. Similarly, swinging a golf club without appropriate postural stability is unwise and less productive. Functional posture makes a world of difference in your swinging action and lets you impart far more force in your ball strike. For a simple demonstration, sit slumped in a chair with your head pushed forward and raise your arm. Then sit tall in your chair and repeat this arm test. Notice how much easier and farther your arm traveled? Sit slumped again and turn your head to the left, as you do during the backswing. Now turn your body to the right. Next, sit up tall, with your chin pulled in and your lower back slightly arched. Repeat these motions and then decide which posture produced a greater and more easily achieved range of motion. The spine is able to flex, extend (bend forward and backward), rotate, and bend to the side, but, when motion in one plane is used, there is less motion to be used in other planes. So if you're slumped with a head-forward posture, your middle back is flexed and, subsequently, any rotation is decreased.
Body structure and posture are individual characteristics, but an improper golf swing can cause muscle imbalances just as muscle imbalances can cause an improper golf swing. These imbalances might not be obvious until they cause a disruptive physical problem via an escape route. Virtually every postural anomaly causes some sort of adaptation in movement; some are innocuous, but some lead to diminished power as well as potential injury. Here are some common physical limitations:
- Reduced neck rotation can make it difficult to keep your eye on the ball during the swing.
- Insufficient trunk strength interferes with your ability to transfer forces from the lower body to the upper body. In addition, proper spine angle will not be maintained during the swing.
- Tight hamstrings do not allow an effective address position to be achieved.
- Reduced range of hip motion leads to compromised swing patterns and lower-back pain.
- Decreased trunk rotation limits shoulder turn, causes poor sequencing between the hips and trunk, alters the swing plane, and potentially causes back pain.
- Insufficient shoulder strength, especially in the rotator cuff, leads to decreased club-head speed, as well as poor deceleration and poor club control.
Many players think of these problems as products of the sport, so they resort to anti-inflammatory medication and other quick-fix alternatives. These responses might temporarily reduce pain, but they rarely solve the underlying problem. Most postural conditions do not occur overnight. The biggest routine physical challenge faced by amateur golfers entering their 40s and 50s has to do with the posture they've developed over the past 20 years. The body slowly adapts to poor posture, and some body parts-such as the neck, shoulder, back, and hip-may be overused to compensate for loss of motion someplace else (see Escape Routes in chapter 2). By performing a few simple exercises regularly, however, you can improve and maintain good posture and thereby improve your swinging power. The testing in chapter 1, Golf Fitness Tests, will help you decide how to focus most of your efforts in regaining better posture.
The ability to maintain your functional trunk position for each shot is an acquired skill. Teaching pros commonly refer to this position as maintaining spine angle. When the spine is stable, it serves as an efficient and rigid lever to transfer energy from the lower body to the upper body and on to the golf club. By increasing the stability of the spine and the muscles that support it, you can improve your game.
Bending the spine places unnecessary stress on the lower-back muscles and joints. It also reduces your ability to transfer power from your lower body to your upper body, which translates into decreased club-head speed. For example, when your upper back is bent forward or hunched over, you place extra stress on your shoulders and neck as your shoulders round forward, thereby causing the rotator cuff muscles (a group of four small muscles that protect the shoulder joint) to work in an abnormal position. This undesirable posture can produce tendinitis, muscle strain, and joint sprain. It places the muscles at a mechanical disadvantage as the joint becomes an energy leak site, absorbing force instead of passing it along into the club and ball. Of course, this position also limits your swing action to a portion of the potential movement range.
Postural muscles (the muscles that maintain spine angle) are found throughout the body and function more for endurance than for strength or power. The main role of these muscles is to hold the skeletal system and joint structures in proper alignment so that the larger and stronger muscles can produce the desired body movements with appropriate forces in tandem with maintaining good balance.
This is an excerpt from Complete Conditioning for Golf.
Proper posture important in golf
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you.
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you. He looks balanced and solid, with great spine angles, but, if his daily posture wasn't good, he wouldn't be able to put his body into that address position. Running fast without proper posture is impossible. Similarly, swinging a golf club without appropriate postural stability is unwise and less productive. Functional posture makes a world of difference in your swinging action and lets you impart far more force in your ball strike. For a simple demonstration, sit slumped in a chair with your head pushed forward and raise your arm. Then sit tall in your chair and repeat this arm test. Notice how much easier and farther your arm traveled? Sit slumped again and turn your head to the left, as you do during the backswing. Now turn your body to the right. Next, sit up tall, with your chin pulled in and your lower back slightly arched. Repeat these motions and then decide which posture produced a greater and more easily achieved range of motion. The spine is able to flex, extend (bend forward and backward), rotate, and bend to the side, but, when motion in one plane is used, there is less motion to be used in other planes. So if you're slumped with a head-forward posture, your middle back is flexed and, subsequently, any rotation is decreased.
Body structure and posture are individual characteristics, but an improper golf swing can cause muscle imbalances just as muscle imbalances can cause an improper golf swing. These imbalances might not be obvious until they cause a disruptive physical problem via an escape route. Virtually every postural anomaly causes some sort of adaptation in movement; some are innocuous, but some lead to diminished power as well as potential injury. Here are some common physical limitations:
- Reduced neck rotation can make it difficult to keep your eye on the ball during the swing.
- Insufficient trunk strength interferes with your ability to transfer forces from the lower body to the upper body. In addition, proper spine angle will not be maintained during the swing.
- Tight hamstrings do not allow an effective address position to be achieved.
- Reduced range of hip motion leads to compromised swing patterns and lower-back pain.
- Decreased trunk rotation limits shoulder turn, causes poor sequencing between the hips and trunk, alters the swing plane, and potentially causes back pain.
- Insufficient shoulder strength, especially in the rotator cuff, leads to decreased club-head speed, as well as poor deceleration and poor club control.
Many players think of these problems as products of the sport, so they resort to anti-inflammatory medication and other quick-fix alternatives. These responses might temporarily reduce pain, but they rarely solve the underlying problem. Most postural conditions do not occur overnight. The biggest routine physical challenge faced by amateur golfers entering their 40s and 50s has to do with the posture they've developed over the past 20 years. The body slowly adapts to poor posture, and some body parts-such as the neck, shoulder, back, and hip-may be overused to compensate for loss of motion someplace else (see Escape Routes in chapter 2). By performing a few simple exercises regularly, however, you can improve and maintain good posture and thereby improve your swinging power. The testing in chapter 1, Golf Fitness Tests, will help you decide how to focus most of your efforts in regaining better posture.
The ability to maintain your functional trunk position for each shot is an acquired skill. Teaching pros commonly refer to this position as maintaining spine angle. When the spine is stable, it serves as an efficient and rigid lever to transfer energy from the lower body to the upper body and on to the golf club. By increasing the stability of the spine and the muscles that support it, you can improve your game.
Bending the spine places unnecessary stress on the lower-back muscles and joints. It also reduces your ability to transfer power from your lower body to your upper body, which translates into decreased club-head speed. For example, when your upper back is bent forward or hunched over, you place extra stress on your shoulders and neck as your shoulders round forward, thereby causing the rotator cuff muscles (a group of four small muscles that protect the shoulder joint) to work in an abnormal position. This undesirable posture can produce tendinitis, muscle strain, and joint sprain. It places the muscles at a mechanical disadvantage as the joint becomes an energy leak site, absorbing force instead of passing it along into the club and ball. Of course, this position also limits your swing action to a portion of the potential movement range.
Postural muscles (the muscles that maintain spine angle) are found throughout the body and function more for endurance than for strength or power. The main role of these muscles is to hold the skeletal system and joint structures in proper alignment so that the larger and stronger muscles can produce the desired body movements with appropriate forces in tandem with maintaining good balance.
This is an excerpt from Complete Conditioning for Golf.
Proper posture important in golf
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you.
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you. He looks balanced and solid, with great spine angles, but, if his daily posture wasn't good, he wouldn't be able to put his body into that address position. Running fast without proper posture is impossible. Similarly, swinging a golf club without appropriate postural stability is unwise and less productive. Functional posture makes a world of difference in your swinging action and lets you impart far more force in your ball strike. For a simple demonstration, sit slumped in a chair with your head pushed forward and raise your arm. Then sit tall in your chair and repeat this arm test. Notice how much easier and farther your arm traveled? Sit slumped again and turn your head to the left, as you do during the backswing. Now turn your body to the right. Next, sit up tall, with your chin pulled in and your lower back slightly arched. Repeat these motions and then decide which posture produced a greater and more easily achieved range of motion. The spine is able to flex, extend (bend forward and backward), rotate, and bend to the side, but, when motion in one plane is used, there is less motion to be used in other planes. So if you're slumped with a head-forward posture, your middle back is flexed and, subsequently, any rotation is decreased.
Body structure and posture are individual characteristics, but an improper golf swing can cause muscle imbalances just as muscle imbalances can cause an improper golf swing. These imbalances might not be obvious until they cause a disruptive physical problem via an escape route. Virtually every postural anomaly causes some sort of adaptation in movement; some are innocuous, but some lead to diminished power as well as potential injury. Here are some common physical limitations:
- Reduced neck rotation can make it difficult to keep your eye on the ball during the swing.
- Insufficient trunk strength interferes with your ability to transfer forces from the lower body to the upper body. In addition, proper spine angle will not be maintained during the swing.
- Tight hamstrings do not allow an effective address position to be achieved.
- Reduced range of hip motion leads to compromised swing patterns and lower-back pain.
- Decreased trunk rotation limits shoulder turn, causes poor sequencing between the hips and trunk, alters the swing plane, and potentially causes back pain.
- Insufficient shoulder strength, especially in the rotator cuff, leads to decreased club-head speed, as well as poor deceleration and poor club control.
Many players think of these problems as products of the sport, so they resort to anti-inflammatory medication and other quick-fix alternatives. These responses might temporarily reduce pain, but they rarely solve the underlying problem. Most postural conditions do not occur overnight. The biggest routine physical challenge faced by amateur golfers entering their 40s and 50s has to do with the posture they've developed over the past 20 years. The body slowly adapts to poor posture, and some body parts-such as the neck, shoulder, back, and hip-may be overused to compensate for loss of motion someplace else (see Escape Routes in chapter 2). By performing a few simple exercises regularly, however, you can improve and maintain good posture and thereby improve your swinging power. The testing in chapter 1, Golf Fitness Tests, will help you decide how to focus most of your efforts in regaining better posture.
The ability to maintain your functional trunk position for each shot is an acquired skill. Teaching pros commonly refer to this position as maintaining spine angle. When the spine is stable, it serves as an efficient and rigid lever to transfer energy from the lower body to the upper body and on to the golf club. By increasing the stability of the spine and the muscles that support it, you can improve your game.
Bending the spine places unnecessary stress on the lower-back muscles and joints. It also reduces your ability to transfer power from your lower body to your upper body, which translates into decreased club-head speed. For example, when your upper back is bent forward or hunched over, you place extra stress on your shoulders and neck as your shoulders round forward, thereby causing the rotator cuff muscles (a group of four small muscles that protect the shoulder joint) to work in an abnormal position. This undesirable posture can produce tendinitis, muscle strain, and joint sprain. It places the muscles at a mechanical disadvantage as the joint becomes an energy leak site, absorbing force instead of passing it along into the club and ball. Of course, this position also limits your swing action to a portion of the potential movement range.
Postural muscles (the muscles that maintain spine angle) are found throughout the body and function more for endurance than for strength or power. The main role of these muscles is to hold the skeletal system and joint structures in proper alignment so that the larger and stronger muscles can produce the desired body movements with appropriate forces in tandem with maintaining good balance.
This is an excerpt from Complete Conditioning for Golf.
Proper posture important in golf
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you.
Believe it or not, posture has a positive influence on power production. One look at Tiger on the tee should help convince you. He looks balanced and solid, with great spine angles, but, if his daily posture wasn't good, he wouldn't be able to put his body into that address position. Running fast without proper posture is impossible. Similarly, swinging a golf club without appropriate postural stability is unwise and less productive. Functional posture makes a world of difference in your swinging action and lets you impart far more force in your ball strike. For a simple demonstration, sit slumped in a chair with your head pushed forward and raise your arm. Then sit tall in your chair and repeat this arm test. Notice how much easier and farther your arm traveled? Sit slumped again and turn your head to the left, as you do during the backswing. Now turn your body to the right. Next, sit up tall, with your chin pulled in and your lower back slightly arched. Repeat these motions and then decide which posture produced a greater and more easily achieved range of motion. The spine is able to flex, extend (bend forward and backward), rotate, and bend to the side, but, when motion in one plane is used, there is less motion to be used in other planes. So if you're slumped with a head-forward posture, your middle back is flexed and, subsequently, any rotation is decreased.
Body structure and posture are individual characteristics, but an improper golf swing can cause muscle imbalances just as muscle imbalances can cause an improper golf swing. These imbalances might not be obvious until they cause a disruptive physical problem via an escape route. Virtually every postural anomaly causes some sort of adaptation in movement; some are innocuous, but some lead to diminished power as well as potential injury. Here are some common physical limitations:
- Reduced neck rotation can make it difficult to keep your eye on the ball during the swing.
- Insufficient trunk strength interferes with your ability to transfer forces from the lower body to the upper body. In addition, proper spine angle will not be maintained during the swing.
- Tight hamstrings do not allow an effective address position to be achieved.
- Reduced range of hip motion leads to compromised swing patterns and lower-back pain.
- Decreased trunk rotation limits shoulder turn, causes poor sequencing between the hips and trunk, alters the swing plane, and potentially causes back pain.
- Insufficient shoulder strength, especially in the rotator cuff, leads to decreased club-head speed, as well as poor deceleration and poor club control.
Many players think of these problems as products of the sport, so they resort to anti-inflammatory medication and other quick-fix alternatives. These responses might temporarily reduce pain, but they rarely solve the underlying problem. Most postural conditions do not occur overnight. The biggest routine physical challenge faced by amateur golfers entering their 40s and 50s has to do with the posture they've developed over the past 20 years. The body slowly adapts to poor posture, and some body parts-such as the neck, shoulder, back, and hip-may be overused to compensate for loss of motion someplace else (see Escape Routes in chapter 2). By performing a few simple exercises regularly, however, you can improve and maintain good posture and thereby improve your swinging power. The testing in chapter 1, Golf Fitness Tests, will help you decide how to focus most of your efforts in regaining better posture.
The ability to maintain your functional trunk position for each shot is an acquired skill. Teaching pros commonly refer to this position as maintaining spine angle. When the spine is stable, it serves as an efficient and rigid lever to transfer energy from the lower body to the upper body and on to the golf club. By increasing the stability of the spine and the muscles that support it, you can improve your game.
Bending the spine places unnecessary stress on the lower-back muscles and joints. It also reduces your ability to transfer power from your lower body to your upper body, which translates into decreased club-head speed. For example, when your upper back is bent forward or hunched over, you place extra stress on your shoulders and neck as your shoulders round forward, thereby causing the rotator cuff muscles (a group of four small muscles that protect the shoulder joint) to work in an abnormal position. This undesirable posture can produce tendinitis, muscle strain, and joint sprain. It places the muscles at a mechanical disadvantage as the joint becomes an energy leak site, absorbing force instead of passing it along into the club and ball. Of course, this position also limits your swing action to a portion of the potential movement range.
Postural muscles (the muscles that maintain spine angle) are found throughout the body and function more for endurance than for strength or power. The main role of these muscles is to hold the skeletal system and joint structures in proper alignment so that the larger and stronger muscles can produce the desired body movements with appropriate forces in tandem with maintaining good balance.
This is an excerpt from Complete Conditioning for Golf.
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