See what it takes to improve consistency and performance in your golf game as you never have before. The second edition of Golf Anatomy provides updated and improved exercises, more artwork, and a more complete way to build a golf fitness program. This one-of-a-kind guide, developed over 15 years of working with professional golfers, will show you how to lower your score by increasing strength, power, and range of motion for longer drives and more accurate shots.
Golf Anatomy, Second Edition, includes 72 exercises, each with step-by-step descriptions and full-color anatomy illustrations highlighting the muscles in action. You will see how to improve mobility, stability, balance and body awareness, and muscle strength and power to add distance to drives, consistency to your short game, and accuracy to your putts.
From sand traps to awkward lies, Golf Anatomy will prepare you for even the most challenging shots. You’ll learn the keys to an effective warm-up, train for the full golf swing, and see sample programming used by PGA and LPGA professionals themselves.
Combining expert instruction with beautiful, full-color illustrations, Golf Anatomy is truly an inside look into the game. Whether you’re a scratch golfer or simply a fan of the game, this book is a hole in one.
Chapter 1. The Golfer in Motion
Chapter 2. Preworkout Warm-Up
Chapter 3. Mobility for Optimal Swing Angles
Chapter 4. Balance and Proprioception Training for Efficient Energy Transfer
Chapter 5. Rotational Resistance and Deceleration for Injury-Free Swings
Chapter 6. Strength for Increased Distance
Chapter 7. Explosive Power for Longer Drives
Chapter 8. Program Planning
Craig Davies, DC, is a movement, body mechanics, and strength and conditioning coach on the PGA Tour. He has been a consultant to numerous international golf associations and international PGAs. From 2006 to 2009 he was the director of fitness and nutrition for one of the most successful junior golf academies in the United States.
Davies has had the opportunity to be the keynote speaker at a number of seminars and summits, including the Canadian Golf Performance Summit, the Ontario PGA Professional Development Seminar, and the World Golf Fitness Summit. He has extensive experience and involvement working with international team events, including the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. He has a long list of international golfer clients, and his professional golf client list has been a who’s who of the tour elite, including such tremendous ball strikers as Kevin Chappell, Justin Rose, Y.E. Yang, Si Woo Kim, Lydia Ko, Gary Woodland, Graham DeLaet, Anthony Kim, Henrik Stenson, Sean O’Hair, Hunter Mahan, and Stephen Ames.
Davies is the president of the DEPTH Systems Institute at the Foley Performance Academy in Orlando, Florida. He provides online education courses for trainers, coaches, and manual therapists at www.DEPTHSystems.com and travels around the world to teach movement enhancement seminars to trainers. His online golf technique and movement instruction can be found at ChampionGolfFitness.com.
Vince DiSaia, DC, is the founder and clinic director at Momentum Functional Health. His goal is to provide all clients with the most comprehensive health strategies to ensure that they optimize health while also performing at their highest level of competitive skill.
DiSaia has been involved in the health and fitness field for more than 15 years. He has continuously studied the most cutting-edge philosophies in health, fitness, and performance. His current postgraduate focus in functional medicine was preceded by his training as a strength trainer, chiropractor, and sports medicine expert. His approach combines optimizing both the physical capabilities of the athlete and the internal health that drives human performance. During his career DiSaia has had the opportunity to work with professional athletes from many different sports and has worked on the PGA and LPGA Tours. He enjoys sharing his knowledge with his colleagues and has previously lectured for doctors, therapists, and strength coaches on topics such as lower back pain, running injuries, golf swing biomechanics, golf fitness, and performance through health optimization. His online golf technique and movement instruction can be found at ChampionGolfFitness.com. DiSaia works with clients both in person and online, creating customized programs to help people achieve a life filled with supreme health and vitality.
“Dr. Craig Davies’ knowledge of the human body as well as golf has helped him create exercises that the best players in the world use every day! With Golf Anatomy you can do them too!”
Chez Reavie—PGA Tour Professional
“Dr. Davies helped me gain distance off the tee and play great golf all year around. In Golf Anatomy he shares his expertise to improve your game as well.”
Byeong-Hun (Ben) An—Presidents Cup International Team Member and European Tour Winner
“Doctors Craig Davies and Vince DiSaia are visionaries in the field of optimizing wellness and human performance. The unique holistic approach to conditioning found within Golf Anatomy provides both the athlete and coach the best possible environment to maximize success.”
Mark Blackburn—PGA Tour Coach
“Doc (Davies) has given me not only career longevity but also a greater appreciation and knowledge of body movement and overall health. He’s the best in the business.”
Graham DeLaet—Presidents Cup International Team Member
“The information in Golf Anatomy has helped me maximize my potential. My mobility and strength have improved, on and off the course.”
Nick Taylor—PGA Tour Winner
“You’ll find many of the exercises I use in Golf Anatomy. They’ve helped to give me the awareness and control in my body that I need to compete with the best players in the world.”
Kevin Chappell—Presidents Cup American Team Member and PGA Tour Winner
“From pregame warm-up to planning a complete training program, there is a roadmap for improvement and success in this book. While the information is extensive, it is all brought into a simple, clear picture for easy personal adaptation in the Program Planning section. This is where every golfer—of any level—can start the appropriate personal plan. This is a great book for anyone interested in improving golf-specific fitness and improving their game. It is also an asset to the general fitness trainer who has golf clients. Teaching pros could use this to help clients adapt to the swing changes they are trying to encourage.”
Jim Earley—Avid Golfer and Fitness Advocate
Dynamic rotational resistance: step back internal shoulder rotation
Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
Execution
- Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
- Set your shoulder blade so that it is depressed and retracted. Rotate your shoulder externally with your right arm out to the right side, so that the shoulder and elbow are at 90 degrees. Your elbow should be positioned around the height of your shoulder, and the forearm should be perpendicular to the ground (the forearm may be leaning forward or backward of perpendicular, depending on the range of your shoulder external rotation).
- Once the shoulder is set in the proper position, step back without changing arm position to increase the tension in the band.
- Hold this position for 8 seconds, then slowly allow the shoulder to internally rotate until the forearm is parallel to the ground.
- Return to the start position and perform 8 repetitions. Repeat with the left shoulder.
Muscles Involved
- Primary: Infraspinatus, teres minor, rhomboids, deltoids, serratus anterior
- Secondary: Latissimus dorsi, middle and lower trapezius
Golf Focus
Shoulder mobility is obviously very important to a good golf swing, but so is your ability to properly rotate the shoulder throughout the swing. As you move into the backswing, the muscles controlling the scapula must be able to stabilize it so that the shoulder can properly and fully rotate. However as the swing continues, you must also be able to properly stabilize the shoulder complex during the transition and then eventually control movement as the shoulder moves into internal rotation. This allows you to stay on path during the downswing and allows you to properly decelerate the club during the follow-through to avoid injury.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Balance and proprioception training for efficient energy transfer
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception.
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception. One of the differences of golf when compared to most other athletic activities is the unpredictability of the slope, firmness, or type of surface on which you play. In soccer, American football, rugby, cricket, baseball, squash, tennis, and hockey, the athlete expects to play on the same type and firmness of surface with the same slope (flat) throughout the match.
The only time a golfer can be confident the lie will be flat during a round of golf is when the ball is placed on a tee to start each hole. After the ball leaves the tee, the golfer is at the mercy of how the ball bounces and interacts with the environment to determine what body position and set up will be required for the next shot. The golfer may find the ball on an upslope or downslope in a bunker or on the side of a hill. When playing a course such as Augusta, there won't be a flat lie anywhere on the golf course, including the putting surfaces. Mountain biking and trail running may be two sports that are comparable in this regard.
Players who succeed in major championships, where the courses often have significant changes in elevation and slopes throughout the 18 holes, usually place a significant emphasis on fitness and movement training, specifically on the function of their feet. While this may not be as important when playing on a course such as St Andrews or Hilton Head, where the course is unusually flat, it is extremely important on almost every other course. When the course slopes, the golfer must set up with varying degrees of dorsiflexion and plantar flexion at the ankle. Sometimes you will need a level of dorsiflexion in one ankle and plantar flexion in the other. This is significant because a change in the angle at the ankle will change the alignment and joint positions all the way up the body's kinetic web.
To appreciate these differences, place a two-by-four under your heels and address the ball. Then place that same two-by-four under your toes and do the same. You will notice the angle of your knees, hips, lower back, and thoracic spine all change. Now place the toes of one foot on the two-by-four and the heel of the other foot on a two-by-four and address the ball. Each of these stances challenges the body and its ability to move.
The athlete's feet and ankles must be able to move into position easily and with control while providing accurate information to the rest of the body so that the appropriate posture can be attained and maintained throughout the swing. This requires a high level of motor control, and motor control does not develop by accident. It is a deliberate part of a training program that should be considered in any program design. We need components in the training program that permit deliberate activation and movement at the ankles and feet, plus program modules that require our feet and ankles to function while our focus is on other areas of the body or external influences (such as a moving ball, another athlete, or another component of the environment).
We must prepare the connective tissue, muscles, and joints of the feet and ankles to perform as needed, and the other areas of the body must be able to adjust to what the feet are doing (figure 4.1). When the feet and ankles communicate with other body parts and function optimally, it results in a level of grace and efficiency of movement that makes the activity appear much easier than it is. Gymnasts, dancers, and figure skaters all exhibit a fluidity and control that is easy to identify.
Key muscles for balancing in the core and feet. Balance is the process by which the golfer maintains the center of gravity over the base of support.
Incredible balance and proprioceptive abilities throughout the body are needed to smash a ball 350 yards and finish the swing with balance and control like Rory McIlroy, to cut at incredible angles and immediately put the body over the base of support so to run upfield like American football running backs Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson, or to play with the soccer ball like Pelé, Maradona, Messi, or Ronaldo.
Exercises that improve the ability to move the feet with greater control are one of our training program fundamentals for all athletes, regardless of gender, sport, age, or experience. The feet are incredibly dense with mechanoreceptors, the sensory organs found throughout the body that provide feedback on how the body is positioned in relation to the rest of the body and the environment. Mechanoreceptors also communicate the amount and direction of force that the body is experiencing at all times. When we don't use the body in a manner that challenges these mechanoreceptors consistently, we minimize their function, and as a result, we have less accurate sensory information entering the body, which in turn creates less desirable motion, and performance suffers.
Shoes and socks are placed on our feet almost as soon as we are born. This is equivalent to placing mittens on your hands or a patch over one of your eyes. If you wore a mitten on your dominant hand for even a week, the ability to accurately move and control that hand would be considerably hindered. Likewise, if you wore a patch over your eye for an extended time, the muscles controlling the eye would be greatly affected, and your vision in that eye would be compromised.
Deliberately challenging these receptors in fitness training combats the negative effects shoes and socks have on feet and ankle receptors. This chapter is designed to help you improve foot and ankle control and then progressively incorporate more of the body until you are able to control the entire body through various angles and force requirements. Improving foot and ankle control will become something you don't have to think about as we move into more complex multijoint and full-body exercises. With this control, you can expect better performance in both your training program and sporting activities.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Rotational resistance and deceleration for injury-free swings
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target.
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target. The golfer then moves the club away from the target to the top of the backswing before powerfully accelerating toward the target. The golfer must then decelerate both body and club to zero and finish with the feet still relatively perpendicular to the target while most of the body is rotated toward or even beyond it.
This is an incredibly uneconomical and difficult body movement. Can you imagine telling a baseball pitcher, a shot put thrower, or a javelin thrower that movement has to begin perpendicular to the target, with the feet in the same position throughout the movement? These athletes would not only throw with significantly less velocity but also have a much greater likelihood of injury.
Elite ball strikers who have long careers and minimal injuries can effectively decelerate the golf club. All too often, players, golf coaches, and trainers focus on developing club-head speed with little to no concern for how the player decelerates the club. Even at the highest levels of golf, many players create incredibly high club and ball speeds but develop career-altering injuries as a result.
Players like Jason Day move through the swing with high velocity, but the efficiency in slowing down the club could be improved. An inability to slow the club down causes injuries, especially to the lower back, shoulder, and neck. Rickie Fowler has been working hard with his body coach, Dr. Troy Van Biezen, to improve his ability to decelerate. The results show because Rickie is better able to stay in balance through his finish, and his rate of injury has significantly decreased. Dustin Johnson creates tremendous club-head speed but is able to use his body effectively to slow down the club in a very short time, in part due to his work with his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi. Gary Woodland and Kevin Chappell use the DEAP Strategies developed by the DEPTH Systems (DepthSystems.com) to improve their potential to slow down these incredible speeds over very short distances. Extraordinarily efficient!
Being unable to decelerate the club brings injured players of all ages and from all levels to our training and treatment centers. One of the keys to implementing a return-to-sport strategy is to address the body's ability to decelerate, using the joints, muscles, and connective tissues to minimize the stress on these tissues. This requires the golfer to control each joint through the necessary range of motion and develop the proficiency to resist and decelerate force by improving the resiliency and function of tissues. Forces are better dissipated throughout the body, minimizing the stress placed on any one tissue. Examples of easy, helpful preparation exercises that improve segmentation include shoulder blade circles, foot pronation and supination, and segmental cat camel described in the warm-up, mobility and balance, and body awareness chapters.
Once a golfer has control of each joint complex, rotational resistance and deceleration are the next elements of focus. We can begin to focus on three main strategies:
- Resist force isometrically (rotational resistance)
- Resist force isometrically at one area of the body while performing dynamic movement at other areas of the body (dynamic rotational resistance)
- Decelerate force eccentrically
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Dynamic rotational resistance: step back internal shoulder rotation
Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
Execution
- Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
- Set your shoulder blade so that it is depressed and retracted. Rotate your shoulder externally with your right arm out to the right side, so that the shoulder and elbow are at 90 degrees. Your elbow should be positioned around the height of your shoulder, and the forearm should be perpendicular to the ground (the forearm may be leaning forward or backward of perpendicular, depending on the range of your shoulder external rotation).
- Once the shoulder is set in the proper position, step back without changing arm position to increase the tension in the band.
- Hold this position for 8 seconds, then slowly allow the shoulder to internally rotate until the forearm is parallel to the ground.
- Return to the start position and perform 8 repetitions. Repeat with the left shoulder.
Muscles Involved
- Primary: Infraspinatus, teres minor, rhomboids, deltoids, serratus anterior
- Secondary: Latissimus dorsi, middle and lower trapezius
Golf Focus
Shoulder mobility is obviously very important to a good golf swing, but so is your ability to properly rotate the shoulder throughout the swing. As you move into the backswing, the muscles controlling the scapula must be able to stabilize it so that the shoulder can properly and fully rotate. However as the swing continues, you must also be able to properly stabilize the shoulder complex during the transition and then eventually control movement as the shoulder moves into internal rotation. This allows you to stay on path during the downswing and allows you to properly decelerate the club during the follow-through to avoid injury.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Balance and proprioception training for efficient energy transfer
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception.
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception. One of the differences of golf when compared to most other athletic activities is the unpredictability of the slope, firmness, or type of surface on which you play. In soccer, American football, rugby, cricket, baseball, squash, tennis, and hockey, the athlete expects to play on the same type and firmness of surface with the same slope (flat) throughout the match.
The only time a golfer can be confident the lie will be flat during a round of golf is when the ball is placed on a tee to start each hole. After the ball leaves the tee, the golfer is at the mercy of how the ball bounces and interacts with the environment to determine what body position and set up will be required for the next shot. The golfer may find the ball on an upslope or downslope in a bunker or on the side of a hill. When playing a course such as Augusta, there won't be a flat lie anywhere on the golf course, including the putting surfaces. Mountain biking and trail running may be two sports that are comparable in this regard.
Players who succeed in major championships, where the courses often have significant changes in elevation and slopes throughout the 18 holes, usually place a significant emphasis on fitness and movement training, specifically on the function of their feet. While this may not be as important when playing on a course such as St Andrews or Hilton Head, where the course is unusually flat, it is extremely important on almost every other course. When the course slopes, the golfer must set up with varying degrees of dorsiflexion and plantar flexion at the ankle. Sometimes you will need a level of dorsiflexion in one ankle and plantar flexion in the other. This is significant because a change in the angle at the ankle will change the alignment and joint positions all the way up the body's kinetic web.
To appreciate these differences, place a two-by-four under your heels and address the ball. Then place that same two-by-four under your toes and do the same. You will notice the angle of your knees, hips, lower back, and thoracic spine all change. Now place the toes of one foot on the two-by-four and the heel of the other foot on a two-by-four and address the ball. Each of these stances challenges the body and its ability to move.
The athlete's feet and ankles must be able to move into position easily and with control while providing accurate information to the rest of the body so that the appropriate posture can be attained and maintained throughout the swing. This requires a high level of motor control, and motor control does not develop by accident. It is a deliberate part of a training program that should be considered in any program design. We need components in the training program that permit deliberate activation and movement at the ankles and feet, plus program modules that require our feet and ankles to function while our focus is on other areas of the body or external influences (such as a moving ball, another athlete, or another component of the environment).
We must prepare the connective tissue, muscles, and joints of the feet and ankles to perform as needed, and the other areas of the body must be able to adjust to what the feet are doing (figure 4.1). When the feet and ankles communicate with other body parts and function optimally, it results in a level of grace and efficiency of movement that makes the activity appear much easier than it is. Gymnasts, dancers, and figure skaters all exhibit a fluidity and control that is easy to identify.
Key muscles for balancing in the core and feet. Balance is the process by which the golfer maintains the center of gravity over the base of support.
Incredible balance and proprioceptive abilities throughout the body are needed to smash a ball 350 yards and finish the swing with balance and control like Rory McIlroy, to cut at incredible angles and immediately put the body over the base of support so to run upfield like American football running backs Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson, or to play with the soccer ball like Pelé, Maradona, Messi, or Ronaldo.
Exercises that improve the ability to move the feet with greater control are one of our training program fundamentals for all athletes, regardless of gender, sport, age, or experience. The feet are incredibly dense with mechanoreceptors, the sensory organs found throughout the body that provide feedback on how the body is positioned in relation to the rest of the body and the environment. Mechanoreceptors also communicate the amount and direction of force that the body is experiencing at all times. When we don't use the body in a manner that challenges these mechanoreceptors consistently, we minimize their function, and as a result, we have less accurate sensory information entering the body, which in turn creates less desirable motion, and performance suffers.
Shoes and socks are placed on our feet almost as soon as we are born. This is equivalent to placing mittens on your hands or a patch over one of your eyes. If you wore a mitten on your dominant hand for even a week, the ability to accurately move and control that hand would be considerably hindered. Likewise, if you wore a patch over your eye for an extended time, the muscles controlling the eye would be greatly affected, and your vision in that eye would be compromised.
Deliberately challenging these receptors in fitness training combats the negative effects shoes and socks have on feet and ankle receptors. This chapter is designed to help you improve foot and ankle control and then progressively incorporate more of the body until you are able to control the entire body through various angles and force requirements. Improving foot and ankle control will become something you don't have to think about as we move into more complex multijoint and full-body exercises. With this control, you can expect better performance in both your training program and sporting activities.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Rotational resistance and deceleration for injury-free swings
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target.
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target. The golfer then moves the club away from the target to the top of the backswing before powerfully accelerating toward the target. The golfer must then decelerate both body and club to zero and finish with the feet still relatively perpendicular to the target while most of the body is rotated toward or even beyond it.
This is an incredibly uneconomical and difficult body movement. Can you imagine telling a baseball pitcher, a shot put thrower, or a javelin thrower that movement has to begin perpendicular to the target, with the feet in the same position throughout the movement? These athletes would not only throw with significantly less velocity but also have a much greater likelihood of injury.
Elite ball strikers who have long careers and minimal injuries can effectively decelerate the golf club. All too often, players, golf coaches, and trainers focus on developing club-head speed with little to no concern for how the player decelerates the club. Even at the highest levels of golf, many players create incredibly high club and ball speeds but develop career-altering injuries as a result.
Players like Jason Day move through the swing with high velocity, but the efficiency in slowing down the club could be improved. An inability to slow the club down causes injuries, especially to the lower back, shoulder, and neck. Rickie Fowler has been working hard with his body coach, Dr. Troy Van Biezen, to improve his ability to decelerate. The results show because Rickie is better able to stay in balance through his finish, and his rate of injury has significantly decreased. Dustin Johnson creates tremendous club-head speed but is able to use his body effectively to slow down the club in a very short time, in part due to his work with his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi. Gary Woodland and Kevin Chappell use the DEAP Strategies developed by the DEPTH Systems (DepthSystems.com) to improve their potential to slow down these incredible speeds over very short distances. Extraordinarily efficient!
Being unable to decelerate the club brings injured players of all ages and from all levels to our training and treatment centers. One of the keys to implementing a return-to-sport strategy is to address the body's ability to decelerate, using the joints, muscles, and connective tissues to minimize the stress on these tissues. This requires the golfer to control each joint through the necessary range of motion and develop the proficiency to resist and decelerate force by improving the resiliency and function of tissues. Forces are better dissipated throughout the body, minimizing the stress placed on any one tissue. Examples of easy, helpful preparation exercises that improve segmentation include shoulder blade circles, foot pronation and supination, and segmental cat camel described in the warm-up, mobility and balance, and body awareness chapters.
Once a golfer has control of each joint complex, rotational resistance and deceleration are the next elements of focus. We can begin to focus on three main strategies:
- Resist force isometrically (rotational resistance)
- Resist force isometrically at one area of the body while performing dynamic movement at other areas of the body (dynamic rotational resistance)
- Decelerate force eccentrically
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Dynamic rotational resistance: step back internal shoulder rotation
Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
Execution
- Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
- Set your shoulder blade so that it is depressed and retracted. Rotate your shoulder externally with your right arm out to the right side, so that the shoulder and elbow are at 90 degrees. Your elbow should be positioned around the height of your shoulder, and the forearm should be perpendicular to the ground (the forearm may be leaning forward or backward of perpendicular, depending on the range of your shoulder external rotation).
- Once the shoulder is set in the proper position, step back without changing arm position to increase the tension in the band.
- Hold this position for 8 seconds, then slowly allow the shoulder to internally rotate until the forearm is parallel to the ground.
- Return to the start position and perform 8 repetitions. Repeat with the left shoulder.
Muscles Involved
- Primary: Infraspinatus, teres minor, rhomboids, deltoids, serratus anterior
- Secondary: Latissimus dorsi, middle and lower trapezius
Golf Focus
Shoulder mobility is obviously very important to a good golf swing, but so is your ability to properly rotate the shoulder throughout the swing. As you move into the backswing, the muscles controlling the scapula must be able to stabilize it so that the shoulder can properly and fully rotate. However as the swing continues, you must also be able to properly stabilize the shoulder complex during the transition and then eventually control movement as the shoulder moves into internal rotation. This allows you to stay on path during the downswing and allows you to properly decelerate the club during the follow-through to avoid injury.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Balance and proprioception training for efficient energy transfer
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception.
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception. One of the differences of golf when compared to most other athletic activities is the unpredictability of the slope, firmness, or type of surface on which you play. In soccer, American football, rugby, cricket, baseball, squash, tennis, and hockey, the athlete expects to play on the same type and firmness of surface with the same slope (flat) throughout the match.
The only time a golfer can be confident the lie will be flat during a round of golf is when the ball is placed on a tee to start each hole. After the ball leaves the tee, the golfer is at the mercy of how the ball bounces and interacts with the environment to determine what body position and set up will be required for the next shot. The golfer may find the ball on an upslope or downslope in a bunker or on the side of a hill. When playing a course such as Augusta, there won't be a flat lie anywhere on the golf course, including the putting surfaces. Mountain biking and trail running may be two sports that are comparable in this regard.
Players who succeed in major championships, where the courses often have significant changes in elevation and slopes throughout the 18 holes, usually place a significant emphasis on fitness and movement training, specifically on the function of their feet. While this may not be as important when playing on a course such as St Andrews or Hilton Head, where the course is unusually flat, it is extremely important on almost every other course. When the course slopes, the golfer must set up with varying degrees of dorsiflexion and plantar flexion at the ankle. Sometimes you will need a level of dorsiflexion in one ankle and plantar flexion in the other. This is significant because a change in the angle at the ankle will change the alignment and joint positions all the way up the body's kinetic web.
To appreciate these differences, place a two-by-four under your heels and address the ball. Then place that same two-by-four under your toes and do the same. You will notice the angle of your knees, hips, lower back, and thoracic spine all change. Now place the toes of one foot on the two-by-four and the heel of the other foot on a two-by-four and address the ball. Each of these stances challenges the body and its ability to move.
The athlete's feet and ankles must be able to move into position easily and with control while providing accurate information to the rest of the body so that the appropriate posture can be attained and maintained throughout the swing. This requires a high level of motor control, and motor control does not develop by accident. It is a deliberate part of a training program that should be considered in any program design. We need components in the training program that permit deliberate activation and movement at the ankles and feet, plus program modules that require our feet and ankles to function while our focus is on other areas of the body or external influences (such as a moving ball, another athlete, or another component of the environment).
We must prepare the connective tissue, muscles, and joints of the feet and ankles to perform as needed, and the other areas of the body must be able to adjust to what the feet are doing (figure 4.1). When the feet and ankles communicate with other body parts and function optimally, it results in a level of grace and efficiency of movement that makes the activity appear much easier than it is. Gymnasts, dancers, and figure skaters all exhibit a fluidity and control that is easy to identify.
Key muscles for balancing in the core and feet. Balance is the process by which the golfer maintains the center of gravity over the base of support.
Incredible balance and proprioceptive abilities throughout the body are needed to smash a ball 350 yards and finish the swing with balance and control like Rory McIlroy, to cut at incredible angles and immediately put the body over the base of support so to run upfield like American football running backs Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson, or to play with the soccer ball like Pelé, Maradona, Messi, or Ronaldo.
Exercises that improve the ability to move the feet with greater control are one of our training program fundamentals for all athletes, regardless of gender, sport, age, or experience. The feet are incredibly dense with mechanoreceptors, the sensory organs found throughout the body that provide feedback on how the body is positioned in relation to the rest of the body and the environment. Mechanoreceptors also communicate the amount and direction of force that the body is experiencing at all times. When we don't use the body in a manner that challenges these mechanoreceptors consistently, we minimize their function, and as a result, we have less accurate sensory information entering the body, which in turn creates less desirable motion, and performance suffers.
Shoes and socks are placed on our feet almost as soon as we are born. This is equivalent to placing mittens on your hands or a patch over one of your eyes. If you wore a mitten on your dominant hand for even a week, the ability to accurately move and control that hand would be considerably hindered. Likewise, if you wore a patch over your eye for an extended time, the muscles controlling the eye would be greatly affected, and your vision in that eye would be compromised.
Deliberately challenging these receptors in fitness training combats the negative effects shoes and socks have on feet and ankle receptors. This chapter is designed to help you improve foot and ankle control and then progressively incorporate more of the body until you are able to control the entire body through various angles and force requirements. Improving foot and ankle control will become something you don't have to think about as we move into more complex multijoint and full-body exercises. With this control, you can expect better performance in both your training program and sporting activities.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Rotational resistance and deceleration for injury-free swings
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target.
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target. The golfer then moves the club away from the target to the top of the backswing before powerfully accelerating toward the target. The golfer must then decelerate both body and club to zero and finish with the feet still relatively perpendicular to the target while most of the body is rotated toward or even beyond it.
This is an incredibly uneconomical and difficult body movement. Can you imagine telling a baseball pitcher, a shot put thrower, or a javelin thrower that movement has to begin perpendicular to the target, with the feet in the same position throughout the movement? These athletes would not only throw with significantly less velocity but also have a much greater likelihood of injury.
Elite ball strikers who have long careers and minimal injuries can effectively decelerate the golf club. All too often, players, golf coaches, and trainers focus on developing club-head speed with little to no concern for how the player decelerates the club. Even at the highest levels of golf, many players create incredibly high club and ball speeds but develop career-altering injuries as a result.
Players like Jason Day move through the swing with high velocity, but the efficiency in slowing down the club could be improved. An inability to slow the club down causes injuries, especially to the lower back, shoulder, and neck. Rickie Fowler has been working hard with his body coach, Dr. Troy Van Biezen, to improve his ability to decelerate. The results show because Rickie is better able to stay in balance through his finish, and his rate of injury has significantly decreased. Dustin Johnson creates tremendous club-head speed but is able to use his body effectively to slow down the club in a very short time, in part due to his work with his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi. Gary Woodland and Kevin Chappell use the DEAP Strategies developed by the DEPTH Systems (DepthSystems.com) to improve their potential to slow down these incredible speeds over very short distances. Extraordinarily efficient!
Being unable to decelerate the club brings injured players of all ages and from all levels to our training and treatment centers. One of the keys to implementing a return-to-sport strategy is to address the body's ability to decelerate, using the joints, muscles, and connective tissues to minimize the stress on these tissues. This requires the golfer to control each joint through the necessary range of motion and develop the proficiency to resist and decelerate force by improving the resiliency and function of tissues. Forces are better dissipated throughout the body, minimizing the stress placed on any one tissue. Examples of easy, helpful preparation exercises that improve segmentation include shoulder blade circles, foot pronation and supination, and segmental cat camel described in the warm-up, mobility and balance, and body awareness chapters.
Once a golfer has control of each joint complex, rotational resistance and deceleration are the next elements of focus. We can begin to focus on three main strategies:
- Resist force isometrically (rotational resistance)
- Resist force isometrically at one area of the body while performing dynamic movement at other areas of the body (dynamic rotational resistance)
- Decelerate force eccentrically
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Dynamic rotational resistance: step back internal shoulder rotation
Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
Execution
- Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
- Set your shoulder blade so that it is depressed and retracted. Rotate your shoulder externally with your right arm out to the right side, so that the shoulder and elbow are at 90 degrees. Your elbow should be positioned around the height of your shoulder, and the forearm should be perpendicular to the ground (the forearm may be leaning forward or backward of perpendicular, depending on the range of your shoulder external rotation).
- Once the shoulder is set in the proper position, step back without changing arm position to increase the tension in the band.
- Hold this position for 8 seconds, then slowly allow the shoulder to internally rotate until the forearm is parallel to the ground.
- Return to the start position and perform 8 repetitions. Repeat with the left shoulder.
Muscles Involved
- Primary: Infraspinatus, teres minor, rhomboids, deltoids, serratus anterior
- Secondary: Latissimus dorsi, middle and lower trapezius
Golf Focus
Shoulder mobility is obviously very important to a good golf swing, but so is your ability to properly rotate the shoulder throughout the swing. As you move into the backswing, the muscles controlling the scapula must be able to stabilize it so that the shoulder can properly and fully rotate. However as the swing continues, you must also be able to properly stabilize the shoulder complex during the transition and then eventually control movement as the shoulder moves into internal rotation. This allows you to stay on path during the downswing and allows you to properly decelerate the club during the follow-through to avoid injury.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Balance and proprioception training for efficient energy transfer
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception.
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception. One of the differences of golf when compared to most other athletic activities is the unpredictability of the slope, firmness, or type of surface on which you play. In soccer, American football, rugby, cricket, baseball, squash, tennis, and hockey, the athlete expects to play on the same type and firmness of surface with the same slope (flat) throughout the match.
The only time a golfer can be confident the lie will be flat during a round of golf is when the ball is placed on a tee to start each hole. After the ball leaves the tee, the golfer is at the mercy of how the ball bounces and interacts with the environment to determine what body position and set up will be required for the next shot. The golfer may find the ball on an upslope or downslope in a bunker or on the side of a hill. When playing a course such as Augusta, there won't be a flat lie anywhere on the golf course, including the putting surfaces. Mountain biking and trail running may be two sports that are comparable in this regard.
Players who succeed in major championships, where the courses often have significant changes in elevation and slopes throughout the 18 holes, usually place a significant emphasis on fitness and movement training, specifically on the function of their feet. While this may not be as important when playing on a course such as St Andrews or Hilton Head, where the course is unusually flat, it is extremely important on almost every other course. When the course slopes, the golfer must set up with varying degrees of dorsiflexion and plantar flexion at the ankle. Sometimes you will need a level of dorsiflexion in one ankle and plantar flexion in the other. This is significant because a change in the angle at the ankle will change the alignment and joint positions all the way up the body's kinetic web.
To appreciate these differences, place a two-by-four under your heels and address the ball. Then place that same two-by-four under your toes and do the same. You will notice the angle of your knees, hips, lower back, and thoracic spine all change. Now place the toes of one foot on the two-by-four and the heel of the other foot on a two-by-four and address the ball. Each of these stances challenges the body and its ability to move.
The athlete's feet and ankles must be able to move into position easily and with control while providing accurate information to the rest of the body so that the appropriate posture can be attained and maintained throughout the swing. This requires a high level of motor control, and motor control does not develop by accident. It is a deliberate part of a training program that should be considered in any program design. We need components in the training program that permit deliberate activation and movement at the ankles and feet, plus program modules that require our feet and ankles to function while our focus is on other areas of the body or external influences (such as a moving ball, another athlete, or another component of the environment).
We must prepare the connective tissue, muscles, and joints of the feet and ankles to perform as needed, and the other areas of the body must be able to adjust to what the feet are doing (figure 4.1). When the feet and ankles communicate with other body parts and function optimally, it results in a level of grace and efficiency of movement that makes the activity appear much easier than it is. Gymnasts, dancers, and figure skaters all exhibit a fluidity and control that is easy to identify.
Key muscles for balancing in the core and feet. Balance is the process by which the golfer maintains the center of gravity over the base of support.
Incredible balance and proprioceptive abilities throughout the body are needed to smash a ball 350 yards and finish the swing with balance and control like Rory McIlroy, to cut at incredible angles and immediately put the body over the base of support so to run upfield like American football running backs Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson, or to play with the soccer ball like Pelé, Maradona, Messi, or Ronaldo.
Exercises that improve the ability to move the feet with greater control are one of our training program fundamentals for all athletes, regardless of gender, sport, age, or experience. The feet are incredibly dense with mechanoreceptors, the sensory organs found throughout the body that provide feedback on how the body is positioned in relation to the rest of the body and the environment. Mechanoreceptors also communicate the amount and direction of force that the body is experiencing at all times. When we don't use the body in a manner that challenges these mechanoreceptors consistently, we minimize their function, and as a result, we have less accurate sensory information entering the body, which in turn creates less desirable motion, and performance suffers.
Shoes and socks are placed on our feet almost as soon as we are born. This is equivalent to placing mittens on your hands or a patch over one of your eyes. If you wore a mitten on your dominant hand for even a week, the ability to accurately move and control that hand would be considerably hindered. Likewise, if you wore a patch over your eye for an extended time, the muscles controlling the eye would be greatly affected, and your vision in that eye would be compromised.
Deliberately challenging these receptors in fitness training combats the negative effects shoes and socks have on feet and ankle receptors. This chapter is designed to help you improve foot and ankle control and then progressively incorporate more of the body until you are able to control the entire body through various angles and force requirements. Improving foot and ankle control will become something you don't have to think about as we move into more complex multijoint and full-body exercises. With this control, you can expect better performance in both your training program and sporting activities.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Rotational resistance and deceleration for injury-free swings
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target.
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target. The golfer then moves the club away from the target to the top of the backswing before powerfully accelerating toward the target. The golfer must then decelerate both body and club to zero and finish with the feet still relatively perpendicular to the target while most of the body is rotated toward or even beyond it.
This is an incredibly uneconomical and difficult body movement. Can you imagine telling a baseball pitcher, a shot put thrower, or a javelin thrower that movement has to begin perpendicular to the target, with the feet in the same position throughout the movement? These athletes would not only throw with significantly less velocity but also have a much greater likelihood of injury.
Elite ball strikers who have long careers and minimal injuries can effectively decelerate the golf club. All too often, players, golf coaches, and trainers focus on developing club-head speed with little to no concern for how the player decelerates the club. Even at the highest levels of golf, many players create incredibly high club and ball speeds but develop career-altering injuries as a result.
Players like Jason Day move through the swing with high velocity, but the efficiency in slowing down the club could be improved. An inability to slow the club down causes injuries, especially to the lower back, shoulder, and neck. Rickie Fowler has been working hard with his body coach, Dr. Troy Van Biezen, to improve his ability to decelerate. The results show because Rickie is better able to stay in balance through his finish, and his rate of injury has significantly decreased. Dustin Johnson creates tremendous club-head speed but is able to use his body effectively to slow down the club in a very short time, in part due to his work with his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi. Gary Woodland and Kevin Chappell use the DEAP Strategies developed by the DEPTH Systems (DepthSystems.com) to improve their potential to slow down these incredible speeds over very short distances. Extraordinarily efficient!
Being unable to decelerate the club brings injured players of all ages and from all levels to our training and treatment centers. One of the keys to implementing a return-to-sport strategy is to address the body's ability to decelerate, using the joints, muscles, and connective tissues to minimize the stress on these tissues. This requires the golfer to control each joint through the necessary range of motion and develop the proficiency to resist and decelerate force by improving the resiliency and function of tissues. Forces are better dissipated throughout the body, minimizing the stress placed on any one tissue. Examples of easy, helpful preparation exercises that improve segmentation include shoulder blade circles, foot pronation and supination, and segmental cat camel described in the warm-up, mobility and balance, and body awareness chapters.
Once a golfer has control of each joint complex, rotational resistance and deceleration are the next elements of focus. We can begin to focus on three main strategies:
- Resist force isometrically (rotational resistance)
- Resist force isometrically at one area of the body while performing dynamic movement at other areas of the body (dynamic rotational resistance)
- Decelerate force eccentrically
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Dynamic rotational resistance: step back internal shoulder rotation
Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
Execution
- Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
- Set your shoulder blade so that it is depressed and retracted. Rotate your shoulder externally with your right arm out to the right side, so that the shoulder and elbow are at 90 degrees. Your elbow should be positioned around the height of your shoulder, and the forearm should be perpendicular to the ground (the forearm may be leaning forward or backward of perpendicular, depending on the range of your shoulder external rotation).
- Once the shoulder is set in the proper position, step back without changing arm position to increase the tension in the band.
- Hold this position for 8 seconds, then slowly allow the shoulder to internally rotate until the forearm is parallel to the ground.
- Return to the start position and perform 8 repetitions. Repeat with the left shoulder.
Muscles Involved
- Primary: Infraspinatus, teres minor, rhomboids, deltoids, serratus anterior
- Secondary: Latissimus dorsi, middle and lower trapezius
Golf Focus
Shoulder mobility is obviously very important to a good golf swing, but so is your ability to properly rotate the shoulder throughout the swing. As you move into the backswing, the muscles controlling the scapula must be able to stabilize it so that the shoulder can properly and fully rotate. However as the swing continues, you must also be able to properly stabilize the shoulder complex during the transition and then eventually control movement as the shoulder moves into internal rotation. This allows you to stay on path during the downswing and allows you to properly decelerate the club during the follow-through to avoid injury.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Balance and proprioception training for efficient energy transfer
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception.
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception. One of the differences of golf when compared to most other athletic activities is the unpredictability of the slope, firmness, or type of surface on which you play. In soccer, American football, rugby, cricket, baseball, squash, tennis, and hockey, the athlete expects to play on the same type and firmness of surface with the same slope (flat) throughout the match.
The only time a golfer can be confident the lie will be flat during a round of golf is when the ball is placed on a tee to start each hole. After the ball leaves the tee, the golfer is at the mercy of how the ball bounces and interacts with the environment to determine what body position and set up will be required for the next shot. The golfer may find the ball on an upslope or downslope in a bunker or on the side of a hill. When playing a course such as Augusta, there won't be a flat lie anywhere on the golf course, including the putting surfaces. Mountain biking and trail running may be two sports that are comparable in this regard.
Players who succeed in major championships, where the courses often have significant changes in elevation and slopes throughout the 18 holes, usually place a significant emphasis on fitness and movement training, specifically on the function of their feet. While this may not be as important when playing on a course such as St Andrews or Hilton Head, where the course is unusually flat, it is extremely important on almost every other course. When the course slopes, the golfer must set up with varying degrees of dorsiflexion and plantar flexion at the ankle. Sometimes you will need a level of dorsiflexion in one ankle and plantar flexion in the other. This is significant because a change in the angle at the ankle will change the alignment and joint positions all the way up the body's kinetic web.
To appreciate these differences, place a two-by-four under your heels and address the ball. Then place that same two-by-four under your toes and do the same. You will notice the angle of your knees, hips, lower back, and thoracic spine all change. Now place the toes of one foot on the two-by-four and the heel of the other foot on a two-by-four and address the ball. Each of these stances challenges the body and its ability to move.
The athlete's feet and ankles must be able to move into position easily and with control while providing accurate information to the rest of the body so that the appropriate posture can be attained and maintained throughout the swing. This requires a high level of motor control, and motor control does not develop by accident. It is a deliberate part of a training program that should be considered in any program design. We need components in the training program that permit deliberate activation and movement at the ankles and feet, plus program modules that require our feet and ankles to function while our focus is on other areas of the body or external influences (such as a moving ball, another athlete, or another component of the environment).
We must prepare the connective tissue, muscles, and joints of the feet and ankles to perform as needed, and the other areas of the body must be able to adjust to what the feet are doing (figure 4.1). When the feet and ankles communicate with other body parts and function optimally, it results in a level of grace and efficiency of movement that makes the activity appear much easier than it is. Gymnasts, dancers, and figure skaters all exhibit a fluidity and control that is easy to identify.
Key muscles for balancing in the core and feet. Balance is the process by which the golfer maintains the center of gravity over the base of support.
Incredible balance and proprioceptive abilities throughout the body are needed to smash a ball 350 yards and finish the swing with balance and control like Rory McIlroy, to cut at incredible angles and immediately put the body over the base of support so to run upfield like American football running backs Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson, or to play with the soccer ball like Pelé, Maradona, Messi, or Ronaldo.
Exercises that improve the ability to move the feet with greater control are one of our training program fundamentals for all athletes, regardless of gender, sport, age, or experience. The feet are incredibly dense with mechanoreceptors, the sensory organs found throughout the body that provide feedback on how the body is positioned in relation to the rest of the body and the environment. Mechanoreceptors also communicate the amount and direction of force that the body is experiencing at all times. When we don't use the body in a manner that challenges these mechanoreceptors consistently, we minimize their function, and as a result, we have less accurate sensory information entering the body, which in turn creates less desirable motion, and performance suffers.
Shoes and socks are placed on our feet almost as soon as we are born. This is equivalent to placing mittens on your hands or a patch over one of your eyes. If you wore a mitten on your dominant hand for even a week, the ability to accurately move and control that hand would be considerably hindered. Likewise, if you wore a patch over your eye for an extended time, the muscles controlling the eye would be greatly affected, and your vision in that eye would be compromised.
Deliberately challenging these receptors in fitness training combats the negative effects shoes and socks have on feet and ankle receptors. This chapter is designed to help you improve foot and ankle control and then progressively incorporate more of the body until you are able to control the entire body through various angles and force requirements. Improving foot and ankle control will become something you don't have to think about as we move into more complex multijoint and full-body exercises. With this control, you can expect better performance in both your training program and sporting activities.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Rotational resistance and deceleration for injury-free swings
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target.
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target. The golfer then moves the club away from the target to the top of the backswing before powerfully accelerating toward the target. The golfer must then decelerate both body and club to zero and finish with the feet still relatively perpendicular to the target while most of the body is rotated toward or even beyond it.
This is an incredibly uneconomical and difficult body movement. Can you imagine telling a baseball pitcher, a shot put thrower, or a javelin thrower that movement has to begin perpendicular to the target, with the feet in the same position throughout the movement? These athletes would not only throw with significantly less velocity but also have a much greater likelihood of injury.
Elite ball strikers who have long careers and minimal injuries can effectively decelerate the golf club. All too often, players, golf coaches, and trainers focus on developing club-head speed with little to no concern for how the player decelerates the club. Even at the highest levels of golf, many players create incredibly high club and ball speeds but develop career-altering injuries as a result.
Players like Jason Day move through the swing with high velocity, but the efficiency in slowing down the club could be improved. An inability to slow the club down causes injuries, especially to the lower back, shoulder, and neck. Rickie Fowler has been working hard with his body coach, Dr. Troy Van Biezen, to improve his ability to decelerate. The results show because Rickie is better able to stay in balance through his finish, and his rate of injury has significantly decreased. Dustin Johnson creates tremendous club-head speed but is able to use his body effectively to slow down the club in a very short time, in part due to his work with his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi. Gary Woodland and Kevin Chappell use the DEAP Strategies developed by the DEPTH Systems (DepthSystems.com) to improve their potential to slow down these incredible speeds over very short distances. Extraordinarily efficient!
Being unable to decelerate the club brings injured players of all ages and from all levels to our training and treatment centers. One of the keys to implementing a return-to-sport strategy is to address the body's ability to decelerate, using the joints, muscles, and connective tissues to minimize the stress on these tissues. This requires the golfer to control each joint through the necessary range of motion and develop the proficiency to resist and decelerate force by improving the resiliency and function of tissues. Forces are better dissipated throughout the body, minimizing the stress placed on any one tissue. Examples of easy, helpful preparation exercises that improve segmentation include shoulder blade circles, foot pronation and supination, and segmental cat camel described in the warm-up, mobility and balance, and body awareness chapters.
Once a golfer has control of each joint complex, rotational resistance and deceleration are the next elements of focus. We can begin to focus on three main strategies:
- Resist force isometrically (rotational resistance)
- Resist force isometrically at one area of the body while performing dynamic movement at other areas of the body (dynamic rotational resistance)
- Decelerate force eccentrically
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Dynamic rotational resistance: step back internal shoulder rotation
Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
Execution
- Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
- Set your shoulder blade so that it is depressed and retracted. Rotate your shoulder externally with your right arm out to the right side, so that the shoulder and elbow are at 90 degrees. Your elbow should be positioned around the height of your shoulder, and the forearm should be perpendicular to the ground (the forearm may be leaning forward or backward of perpendicular, depending on the range of your shoulder external rotation).
- Once the shoulder is set in the proper position, step back without changing arm position to increase the tension in the band.
- Hold this position for 8 seconds, then slowly allow the shoulder to internally rotate until the forearm is parallel to the ground.
- Return to the start position and perform 8 repetitions. Repeat with the left shoulder.
Muscles Involved
- Primary: Infraspinatus, teres minor, rhomboids, deltoids, serratus anterior
- Secondary: Latissimus dorsi, middle and lower trapezius
Golf Focus
Shoulder mobility is obviously very important to a good golf swing, but so is your ability to properly rotate the shoulder throughout the swing. As you move into the backswing, the muscles controlling the scapula must be able to stabilize it so that the shoulder can properly and fully rotate. However as the swing continues, you must also be able to properly stabilize the shoulder complex during the transition and then eventually control movement as the shoulder moves into internal rotation. This allows you to stay on path during the downswing and allows you to properly decelerate the club during the follow-through to avoid injury.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Balance and proprioception training for efficient energy transfer
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception.
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception. One of the differences of golf when compared to most other athletic activities is the unpredictability of the slope, firmness, or type of surface on which you play. In soccer, American football, rugby, cricket, baseball, squash, tennis, and hockey, the athlete expects to play on the same type and firmness of surface with the same slope (flat) throughout the match.
The only time a golfer can be confident the lie will be flat during a round of golf is when the ball is placed on a tee to start each hole. After the ball leaves the tee, the golfer is at the mercy of how the ball bounces and interacts with the environment to determine what body position and set up will be required for the next shot. The golfer may find the ball on an upslope or downslope in a bunker or on the side of a hill. When playing a course such as Augusta, there won't be a flat lie anywhere on the golf course, including the putting surfaces. Mountain biking and trail running may be two sports that are comparable in this regard.
Players who succeed in major championships, where the courses often have significant changes in elevation and slopes throughout the 18 holes, usually place a significant emphasis on fitness and movement training, specifically on the function of their feet. While this may not be as important when playing on a course such as St Andrews or Hilton Head, where the course is unusually flat, it is extremely important on almost every other course. When the course slopes, the golfer must set up with varying degrees of dorsiflexion and plantar flexion at the ankle. Sometimes you will need a level of dorsiflexion in one ankle and plantar flexion in the other. This is significant because a change in the angle at the ankle will change the alignment and joint positions all the way up the body's kinetic web.
To appreciate these differences, place a two-by-four under your heels and address the ball. Then place that same two-by-four under your toes and do the same. You will notice the angle of your knees, hips, lower back, and thoracic spine all change. Now place the toes of one foot on the two-by-four and the heel of the other foot on a two-by-four and address the ball. Each of these stances challenges the body and its ability to move.
The athlete's feet and ankles must be able to move into position easily and with control while providing accurate information to the rest of the body so that the appropriate posture can be attained and maintained throughout the swing. This requires a high level of motor control, and motor control does not develop by accident. It is a deliberate part of a training program that should be considered in any program design. We need components in the training program that permit deliberate activation and movement at the ankles and feet, plus program modules that require our feet and ankles to function while our focus is on other areas of the body or external influences (such as a moving ball, another athlete, or another component of the environment).
We must prepare the connective tissue, muscles, and joints of the feet and ankles to perform as needed, and the other areas of the body must be able to adjust to what the feet are doing (figure 4.1). When the feet and ankles communicate with other body parts and function optimally, it results in a level of grace and efficiency of movement that makes the activity appear much easier than it is. Gymnasts, dancers, and figure skaters all exhibit a fluidity and control that is easy to identify.
Key muscles for balancing in the core and feet. Balance is the process by which the golfer maintains the center of gravity over the base of support.
Incredible balance and proprioceptive abilities throughout the body are needed to smash a ball 350 yards and finish the swing with balance and control like Rory McIlroy, to cut at incredible angles and immediately put the body over the base of support so to run upfield like American football running backs Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson, or to play with the soccer ball like Pelé, Maradona, Messi, or Ronaldo.
Exercises that improve the ability to move the feet with greater control are one of our training program fundamentals for all athletes, regardless of gender, sport, age, or experience. The feet are incredibly dense with mechanoreceptors, the sensory organs found throughout the body that provide feedback on how the body is positioned in relation to the rest of the body and the environment. Mechanoreceptors also communicate the amount and direction of force that the body is experiencing at all times. When we don't use the body in a manner that challenges these mechanoreceptors consistently, we minimize their function, and as a result, we have less accurate sensory information entering the body, which in turn creates less desirable motion, and performance suffers.
Shoes and socks are placed on our feet almost as soon as we are born. This is equivalent to placing mittens on your hands or a patch over one of your eyes. If you wore a mitten on your dominant hand for even a week, the ability to accurately move and control that hand would be considerably hindered. Likewise, if you wore a patch over your eye for an extended time, the muscles controlling the eye would be greatly affected, and your vision in that eye would be compromised.
Deliberately challenging these receptors in fitness training combats the negative effects shoes and socks have on feet and ankle receptors. This chapter is designed to help you improve foot and ankle control and then progressively incorporate more of the body until you are able to control the entire body through various angles and force requirements. Improving foot and ankle control will become something you don't have to think about as we move into more complex multijoint and full-body exercises. With this control, you can expect better performance in both your training program and sporting activities.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Rotational resistance and deceleration for injury-free swings
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target.
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target. The golfer then moves the club away from the target to the top of the backswing before powerfully accelerating toward the target. The golfer must then decelerate both body and club to zero and finish with the feet still relatively perpendicular to the target while most of the body is rotated toward or even beyond it.
This is an incredibly uneconomical and difficult body movement. Can you imagine telling a baseball pitcher, a shot put thrower, or a javelin thrower that movement has to begin perpendicular to the target, with the feet in the same position throughout the movement? These athletes would not only throw with significantly less velocity but also have a much greater likelihood of injury.
Elite ball strikers who have long careers and minimal injuries can effectively decelerate the golf club. All too often, players, golf coaches, and trainers focus on developing club-head speed with little to no concern for how the player decelerates the club. Even at the highest levels of golf, many players create incredibly high club and ball speeds but develop career-altering injuries as a result.
Players like Jason Day move through the swing with high velocity, but the efficiency in slowing down the club could be improved. An inability to slow the club down causes injuries, especially to the lower back, shoulder, and neck. Rickie Fowler has been working hard with his body coach, Dr. Troy Van Biezen, to improve his ability to decelerate. The results show because Rickie is better able to stay in balance through his finish, and his rate of injury has significantly decreased. Dustin Johnson creates tremendous club-head speed but is able to use his body effectively to slow down the club in a very short time, in part due to his work with his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi. Gary Woodland and Kevin Chappell use the DEAP Strategies developed by the DEPTH Systems (DepthSystems.com) to improve their potential to slow down these incredible speeds over very short distances. Extraordinarily efficient!
Being unable to decelerate the club brings injured players of all ages and from all levels to our training and treatment centers. One of the keys to implementing a return-to-sport strategy is to address the body's ability to decelerate, using the joints, muscles, and connective tissues to minimize the stress on these tissues. This requires the golfer to control each joint through the necessary range of motion and develop the proficiency to resist and decelerate force by improving the resiliency and function of tissues. Forces are better dissipated throughout the body, minimizing the stress placed on any one tissue. Examples of easy, helpful preparation exercises that improve segmentation include shoulder blade circles, foot pronation and supination, and segmental cat camel described in the warm-up, mobility and balance, and body awareness chapters.
Once a golfer has control of each joint complex, rotational resistance and deceleration are the next elements of focus. We can begin to focus on three main strategies:
- Resist force isometrically (rotational resistance)
- Resist force isometrically at one area of the body while performing dynamic movement at other areas of the body (dynamic rotational resistance)
- Decelerate force eccentrically
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Dynamic rotational resistance: step back internal shoulder rotation
Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
Execution
- Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
- Set your shoulder blade so that it is depressed and retracted. Rotate your shoulder externally with your right arm out to the right side, so that the shoulder and elbow are at 90 degrees. Your elbow should be positioned around the height of your shoulder, and the forearm should be perpendicular to the ground (the forearm may be leaning forward or backward of perpendicular, depending on the range of your shoulder external rotation).
- Once the shoulder is set in the proper position, step back without changing arm position to increase the tension in the band.
- Hold this position for 8 seconds, then slowly allow the shoulder to internally rotate until the forearm is parallel to the ground.
- Return to the start position and perform 8 repetitions. Repeat with the left shoulder.
Muscles Involved
- Primary: Infraspinatus, teres minor, rhomboids, deltoids, serratus anterior
- Secondary: Latissimus dorsi, middle and lower trapezius
Golf Focus
Shoulder mobility is obviously very important to a good golf swing, but so is your ability to properly rotate the shoulder throughout the swing. As you move into the backswing, the muscles controlling the scapula must be able to stabilize it so that the shoulder can properly and fully rotate. However as the swing continues, you must also be able to properly stabilize the shoulder complex during the transition and then eventually control movement as the shoulder moves into internal rotation. This allows you to stay on path during the downswing and allows you to properly decelerate the club during the follow-through to avoid injury.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Balance and proprioception training for efficient energy transfer
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception.
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception. One of the differences of golf when compared to most other athletic activities is the unpredictability of the slope, firmness, or type of surface on which you play. In soccer, American football, rugby, cricket, baseball, squash, tennis, and hockey, the athlete expects to play on the same type and firmness of surface with the same slope (flat) throughout the match.
The only time a golfer can be confident the lie will be flat during a round of golf is when the ball is placed on a tee to start each hole. After the ball leaves the tee, the golfer is at the mercy of how the ball bounces and interacts with the environment to determine what body position and set up will be required for the next shot. The golfer may find the ball on an upslope or downslope in a bunker or on the side of a hill. When playing a course such as Augusta, there won't be a flat lie anywhere on the golf course, including the putting surfaces. Mountain biking and trail running may be two sports that are comparable in this regard.
Players who succeed in major championships, where the courses often have significant changes in elevation and slopes throughout the 18 holes, usually place a significant emphasis on fitness and movement training, specifically on the function of their feet. While this may not be as important when playing on a course such as St Andrews or Hilton Head, where the course is unusually flat, it is extremely important on almost every other course. When the course slopes, the golfer must set up with varying degrees of dorsiflexion and plantar flexion at the ankle. Sometimes you will need a level of dorsiflexion in one ankle and plantar flexion in the other. This is significant because a change in the angle at the ankle will change the alignment and joint positions all the way up the body's kinetic web.
To appreciate these differences, place a two-by-four under your heels and address the ball. Then place that same two-by-four under your toes and do the same. You will notice the angle of your knees, hips, lower back, and thoracic spine all change. Now place the toes of one foot on the two-by-four and the heel of the other foot on a two-by-four and address the ball. Each of these stances challenges the body and its ability to move.
The athlete's feet and ankles must be able to move into position easily and with control while providing accurate information to the rest of the body so that the appropriate posture can be attained and maintained throughout the swing. This requires a high level of motor control, and motor control does not develop by accident. It is a deliberate part of a training program that should be considered in any program design. We need components in the training program that permit deliberate activation and movement at the ankles and feet, plus program modules that require our feet and ankles to function while our focus is on other areas of the body or external influences (such as a moving ball, another athlete, or another component of the environment).
We must prepare the connective tissue, muscles, and joints of the feet and ankles to perform as needed, and the other areas of the body must be able to adjust to what the feet are doing (figure 4.1). When the feet and ankles communicate with other body parts and function optimally, it results in a level of grace and efficiency of movement that makes the activity appear much easier than it is. Gymnasts, dancers, and figure skaters all exhibit a fluidity and control that is easy to identify.
Key muscles for balancing in the core and feet. Balance is the process by which the golfer maintains the center of gravity over the base of support.
Incredible balance and proprioceptive abilities throughout the body are needed to smash a ball 350 yards and finish the swing with balance and control like Rory McIlroy, to cut at incredible angles and immediately put the body over the base of support so to run upfield like American football running backs Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson, or to play with the soccer ball like Pelé, Maradona, Messi, or Ronaldo.
Exercises that improve the ability to move the feet with greater control are one of our training program fundamentals for all athletes, regardless of gender, sport, age, or experience. The feet are incredibly dense with mechanoreceptors, the sensory organs found throughout the body that provide feedback on how the body is positioned in relation to the rest of the body and the environment. Mechanoreceptors also communicate the amount and direction of force that the body is experiencing at all times. When we don't use the body in a manner that challenges these mechanoreceptors consistently, we minimize their function, and as a result, we have less accurate sensory information entering the body, which in turn creates less desirable motion, and performance suffers.
Shoes and socks are placed on our feet almost as soon as we are born. This is equivalent to placing mittens on your hands or a patch over one of your eyes. If you wore a mitten on your dominant hand for even a week, the ability to accurately move and control that hand would be considerably hindered. Likewise, if you wore a patch over your eye for an extended time, the muscles controlling the eye would be greatly affected, and your vision in that eye would be compromised.
Deliberately challenging these receptors in fitness training combats the negative effects shoes and socks have on feet and ankle receptors. This chapter is designed to help you improve foot and ankle control and then progressively incorporate more of the body until you are able to control the entire body through various angles and force requirements. Improving foot and ankle control will become something you don't have to think about as we move into more complex multijoint and full-body exercises. With this control, you can expect better performance in both your training program and sporting activities.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Rotational resistance and deceleration for injury-free swings
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target.
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target. The golfer then moves the club away from the target to the top of the backswing before powerfully accelerating toward the target. The golfer must then decelerate both body and club to zero and finish with the feet still relatively perpendicular to the target while most of the body is rotated toward or even beyond it.
This is an incredibly uneconomical and difficult body movement. Can you imagine telling a baseball pitcher, a shot put thrower, or a javelin thrower that movement has to begin perpendicular to the target, with the feet in the same position throughout the movement? These athletes would not only throw with significantly less velocity but also have a much greater likelihood of injury.
Elite ball strikers who have long careers and minimal injuries can effectively decelerate the golf club. All too often, players, golf coaches, and trainers focus on developing club-head speed with little to no concern for how the player decelerates the club. Even at the highest levels of golf, many players create incredibly high club and ball speeds but develop career-altering injuries as a result.
Players like Jason Day move through the swing with high velocity, but the efficiency in slowing down the club could be improved. An inability to slow the club down causes injuries, especially to the lower back, shoulder, and neck. Rickie Fowler has been working hard with his body coach, Dr. Troy Van Biezen, to improve his ability to decelerate. The results show because Rickie is better able to stay in balance through his finish, and his rate of injury has significantly decreased. Dustin Johnson creates tremendous club-head speed but is able to use his body effectively to slow down the club in a very short time, in part due to his work with his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi. Gary Woodland and Kevin Chappell use the DEAP Strategies developed by the DEPTH Systems (DepthSystems.com) to improve their potential to slow down these incredible speeds over very short distances. Extraordinarily efficient!
Being unable to decelerate the club brings injured players of all ages and from all levels to our training and treatment centers. One of the keys to implementing a return-to-sport strategy is to address the body's ability to decelerate, using the joints, muscles, and connective tissues to minimize the stress on these tissues. This requires the golfer to control each joint through the necessary range of motion and develop the proficiency to resist and decelerate force by improving the resiliency and function of tissues. Forces are better dissipated throughout the body, minimizing the stress placed on any one tissue. Examples of easy, helpful preparation exercises that improve segmentation include shoulder blade circles, foot pronation and supination, and segmental cat camel described in the warm-up, mobility and balance, and body awareness chapters.
Once a golfer has control of each joint complex, rotational resistance and deceleration are the next elements of focus. We can begin to focus on three main strategies:
- Resist force isometrically (rotational resistance)
- Resist force isometrically at one area of the body while performing dynamic movement at other areas of the body (dynamic rotational resistance)
- Decelerate force eccentrically
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Dynamic rotational resistance: step back internal shoulder rotation
Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
Execution
- Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
- Set your shoulder blade so that it is depressed and retracted. Rotate your shoulder externally with your right arm out to the right side, so that the shoulder and elbow are at 90 degrees. Your elbow should be positioned around the height of your shoulder, and the forearm should be perpendicular to the ground (the forearm may be leaning forward or backward of perpendicular, depending on the range of your shoulder external rotation).
- Once the shoulder is set in the proper position, step back without changing arm position to increase the tension in the band.
- Hold this position for 8 seconds, then slowly allow the shoulder to internally rotate until the forearm is parallel to the ground.
- Return to the start position and perform 8 repetitions. Repeat with the left shoulder.
Muscles Involved
- Primary: Infraspinatus, teres minor, rhomboids, deltoids, serratus anterior
- Secondary: Latissimus dorsi, middle and lower trapezius
Golf Focus
Shoulder mobility is obviously very important to a good golf swing, but so is your ability to properly rotate the shoulder throughout the swing. As you move into the backswing, the muscles controlling the scapula must be able to stabilize it so that the shoulder can properly and fully rotate. However as the swing continues, you must also be able to properly stabilize the shoulder complex during the transition and then eventually control movement as the shoulder moves into internal rotation. This allows you to stay on path during the downswing and allows you to properly decelerate the club during the follow-through to avoid injury.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Balance and proprioception training for efficient energy transfer
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception.
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception. One of the differences of golf when compared to most other athletic activities is the unpredictability of the slope, firmness, or type of surface on which you play. In soccer, American football, rugby, cricket, baseball, squash, tennis, and hockey, the athlete expects to play on the same type and firmness of surface with the same slope (flat) throughout the match.
The only time a golfer can be confident the lie will be flat during a round of golf is when the ball is placed on a tee to start each hole. After the ball leaves the tee, the golfer is at the mercy of how the ball bounces and interacts with the environment to determine what body position and set up will be required for the next shot. The golfer may find the ball on an upslope or downslope in a bunker or on the side of a hill. When playing a course such as Augusta, there won't be a flat lie anywhere on the golf course, including the putting surfaces. Mountain biking and trail running may be two sports that are comparable in this regard.
Players who succeed in major championships, where the courses often have significant changes in elevation and slopes throughout the 18 holes, usually place a significant emphasis on fitness and movement training, specifically on the function of their feet. While this may not be as important when playing on a course such as St Andrews or Hilton Head, where the course is unusually flat, it is extremely important on almost every other course. When the course slopes, the golfer must set up with varying degrees of dorsiflexion and plantar flexion at the ankle. Sometimes you will need a level of dorsiflexion in one ankle and plantar flexion in the other. This is significant because a change in the angle at the ankle will change the alignment and joint positions all the way up the body's kinetic web.
To appreciate these differences, place a two-by-four under your heels and address the ball. Then place that same two-by-four under your toes and do the same. You will notice the angle of your knees, hips, lower back, and thoracic spine all change. Now place the toes of one foot on the two-by-four and the heel of the other foot on a two-by-four and address the ball. Each of these stances challenges the body and its ability to move.
The athlete's feet and ankles must be able to move into position easily and with control while providing accurate information to the rest of the body so that the appropriate posture can be attained and maintained throughout the swing. This requires a high level of motor control, and motor control does not develop by accident. It is a deliberate part of a training program that should be considered in any program design. We need components in the training program that permit deliberate activation and movement at the ankles and feet, plus program modules that require our feet and ankles to function while our focus is on other areas of the body or external influences (such as a moving ball, another athlete, or another component of the environment).
We must prepare the connective tissue, muscles, and joints of the feet and ankles to perform as needed, and the other areas of the body must be able to adjust to what the feet are doing (figure 4.1). When the feet and ankles communicate with other body parts and function optimally, it results in a level of grace and efficiency of movement that makes the activity appear much easier than it is. Gymnasts, dancers, and figure skaters all exhibit a fluidity and control that is easy to identify.
Key muscles for balancing in the core and feet. Balance is the process by which the golfer maintains the center of gravity over the base of support.
Incredible balance and proprioceptive abilities throughout the body are needed to smash a ball 350 yards and finish the swing with balance and control like Rory McIlroy, to cut at incredible angles and immediately put the body over the base of support so to run upfield like American football running backs Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson, or to play with the soccer ball like Pelé, Maradona, Messi, or Ronaldo.
Exercises that improve the ability to move the feet with greater control are one of our training program fundamentals for all athletes, regardless of gender, sport, age, or experience. The feet are incredibly dense with mechanoreceptors, the sensory organs found throughout the body that provide feedback on how the body is positioned in relation to the rest of the body and the environment. Mechanoreceptors also communicate the amount and direction of force that the body is experiencing at all times. When we don't use the body in a manner that challenges these mechanoreceptors consistently, we minimize their function, and as a result, we have less accurate sensory information entering the body, which in turn creates less desirable motion, and performance suffers.
Shoes and socks are placed on our feet almost as soon as we are born. This is equivalent to placing mittens on your hands or a patch over one of your eyes. If you wore a mitten on your dominant hand for even a week, the ability to accurately move and control that hand would be considerably hindered. Likewise, if you wore a patch over your eye for an extended time, the muscles controlling the eye would be greatly affected, and your vision in that eye would be compromised.
Deliberately challenging these receptors in fitness training combats the negative effects shoes and socks have on feet and ankle receptors. This chapter is designed to help you improve foot and ankle control and then progressively incorporate more of the body until you are able to control the entire body through various angles and force requirements. Improving foot and ankle control will become something you don't have to think about as we move into more complex multijoint and full-body exercises. With this control, you can expect better performance in both your training program and sporting activities.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Rotational resistance and deceleration for injury-free swings
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target.
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target. The golfer then moves the club away from the target to the top of the backswing before powerfully accelerating toward the target. The golfer must then decelerate both body and club to zero and finish with the feet still relatively perpendicular to the target while most of the body is rotated toward or even beyond it.
This is an incredibly uneconomical and difficult body movement. Can you imagine telling a baseball pitcher, a shot put thrower, or a javelin thrower that movement has to begin perpendicular to the target, with the feet in the same position throughout the movement? These athletes would not only throw with significantly less velocity but also have a much greater likelihood of injury.
Elite ball strikers who have long careers and minimal injuries can effectively decelerate the golf club. All too often, players, golf coaches, and trainers focus on developing club-head speed with little to no concern for how the player decelerates the club. Even at the highest levels of golf, many players create incredibly high club and ball speeds but develop career-altering injuries as a result.
Players like Jason Day move through the swing with high velocity, but the efficiency in slowing down the club could be improved. An inability to slow the club down causes injuries, especially to the lower back, shoulder, and neck. Rickie Fowler has been working hard with his body coach, Dr. Troy Van Biezen, to improve his ability to decelerate. The results show because Rickie is better able to stay in balance through his finish, and his rate of injury has significantly decreased. Dustin Johnson creates tremendous club-head speed but is able to use his body effectively to slow down the club in a very short time, in part due to his work with his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi. Gary Woodland and Kevin Chappell use the DEAP Strategies developed by the DEPTH Systems (DepthSystems.com) to improve their potential to slow down these incredible speeds over very short distances. Extraordinarily efficient!
Being unable to decelerate the club brings injured players of all ages and from all levels to our training and treatment centers. One of the keys to implementing a return-to-sport strategy is to address the body's ability to decelerate, using the joints, muscles, and connective tissues to minimize the stress on these tissues. This requires the golfer to control each joint through the necessary range of motion and develop the proficiency to resist and decelerate force by improving the resiliency and function of tissues. Forces are better dissipated throughout the body, minimizing the stress placed on any one tissue. Examples of easy, helpful preparation exercises that improve segmentation include shoulder blade circles, foot pronation and supination, and segmental cat camel described in the warm-up, mobility and balance, and body awareness chapters.
Once a golfer has control of each joint complex, rotational resistance and deceleration are the next elements of focus. We can begin to focus on three main strategies:
- Resist force isometrically (rotational resistance)
- Resist force isometrically at one area of the body while performing dynamic movement at other areas of the body (dynamic rotational resistance)
- Decelerate force eccentrically
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Dynamic rotational resistance: step back internal shoulder rotation
Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
Execution
- Attach a band to an immovable object in front of you, somewhere between the floor and waist height. Stand upright with good posture, holding the tense band in your right hand out in front of you.
- Set your shoulder blade so that it is depressed and retracted. Rotate your shoulder externally with your right arm out to the right side, so that the shoulder and elbow are at 90 degrees. Your elbow should be positioned around the height of your shoulder, and the forearm should be perpendicular to the ground (the forearm may be leaning forward or backward of perpendicular, depending on the range of your shoulder external rotation).
- Once the shoulder is set in the proper position, step back without changing arm position to increase the tension in the band.
- Hold this position for 8 seconds, then slowly allow the shoulder to internally rotate until the forearm is parallel to the ground.
- Return to the start position and perform 8 repetitions. Repeat with the left shoulder.
Muscles Involved
- Primary: Infraspinatus, teres minor, rhomboids, deltoids, serratus anterior
- Secondary: Latissimus dorsi, middle and lower trapezius
Golf Focus
Shoulder mobility is obviously very important to a good golf swing, but so is your ability to properly rotate the shoulder throughout the swing. As you move into the backswing, the muscles controlling the scapula must be able to stabilize it so that the shoulder can properly and fully rotate. However as the swing continues, you must also be able to properly stabilize the shoulder complex during the transition and then eventually control movement as the shoulder moves into internal rotation. This allows you to stay on path during the downswing and allows you to properly decelerate the club during the follow-through to avoid injury.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Balance and proprioception training for efficient energy transfer
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception.
Every great ball striker has the ability to control each body segment but must also consider the ground from which he or she is hitting. This last component is perhaps the least appreciated aspect of balance and proprioception. One of the differences of golf when compared to most other athletic activities is the unpredictability of the slope, firmness, or type of surface on which you play. In soccer, American football, rugby, cricket, baseball, squash, tennis, and hockey, the athlete expects to play on the same type and firmness of surface with the same slope (flat) throughout the match.
The only time a golfer can be confident the lie will be flat during a round of golf is when the ball is placed on a tee to start each hole. After the ball leaves the tee, the golfer is at the mercy of how the ball bounces and interacts with the environment to determine what body position and set up will be required for the next shot. The golfer may find the ball on an upslope or downslope in a bunker or on the side of a hill. When playing a course such as Augusta, there won't be a flat lie anywhere on the golf course, including the putting surfaces. Mountain biking and trail running may be two sports that are comparable in this regard.
Players who succeed in major championships, where the courses often have significant changes in elevation and slopes throughout the 18 holes, usually place a significant emphasis on fitness and movement training, specifically on the function of their feet. While this may not be as important when playing on a course such as St Andrews or Hilton Head, where the course is unusually flat, it is extremely important on almost every other course. When the course slopes, the golfer must set up with varying degrees of dorsiflexion and plantar flexion at the ankle. Sometimes you will need a level of dorsiflexion in one ankle and plantar flexion in the other. This is significant because a change in the angle at the ankle will change the alignment and joint positions all the way up the body's kinetic web.
To appreciate these differences, place a two-by-four under your heels and address the ball. Then place that same two-by-four under your toes and do the same. You will notice the angle of your knees, hips, lower back, and thoracic spine all change. Now place the toes of one foot on the two-by-four and the heel of the other foot on a two-by-four and address the ball. Each of these stances challenges the body and its ability to move.
The athlete's feet and ankles must be able to move into position easily and with control while providing accurate information to the rest of the body so that the appropriate posture can be attained and maintained throughout the swing. This requires a high level of motor control, and motor control does not develop by accident. It is a deliberate part of a training program that should be considered in any program design. We need components in the training program that permit deliberate activation and movement at the ankles and feet, plus program modules that require our feet and ankles to function while our focus is on other areas of the body or external influences (such as a moving ball, another athlete, or another component of the environment).
We must prepare the connective tissue, muscles, and joints of the feet and ankles to perform as needed, and the other areas of the body must be able to adjust to what the feet are doing (figure 4.1). When the feet and ankles communicate with other body parts and function optimally, it results in a level of grace and efficiency of movement that makes the activity appear much easier than it is. Gymnasts, dancers, and figure skaters all exhibit a fluidity and control that is easy to identify.
Key muscles for balancing in the core and feet. Balance is the process by which the golfer maintains the center of gravity over the base of support.
Incredible balance and proprioceptive abilities throughout the body are needed to smash a ball 350 yards and finish the swing with balance and control like Rory McIlroy, to cut at incredible angles and immediately put the body over the base of support so to run upfield like American football running backs Barry Sanders and Adrian Peterson, or to play with the soccer ball like Pelé, Maradona, Messi, or Ronaldo.
Exercises that improve the ability to move the feet with greater control are one of our training program fundamentals for all athletes, regardless of gender, sport, age, or experience. The feet are incredibly dense with mechanoreceptors, the sensory organs found throughout the body that provide feedback on how the body is positioned in relation to the rest of the body and the environment. Mechanoreceptors also communicate the amount and direction of force that the body is experiencing at all times. When we don't use the body in a manner that challenges these mechanoreceptors consistently, we minimize their function, and as a result, we have less accurate sensory information entering the body, which in turn creates less desirable motion, and performance suffers.
Shoes and socks are placed on our feet almost as soon as we are born. This is equivalent to placing mittens on your hands or a patch over one of your eyes. If you wore a mitten on your dominant hand for even a week, the ability to accurately move and control that hand would be considerably hindered. Likewise, if you wore a patch over your eye for an extended time, the muscles controlling the eye would be greatly affected, and your vision in that eye would be compromised.
Deliberately challenging these receptors in fitness training combats the negative effects shoes and socks have on feet and ankle receptors. This chapter is designed to help you improve foot and ankle control and then progressively incorporate more of the body until you are able to control the entire body through various angles and force requirements. Improving foot and ankle control will become something you don't have to think about as we move into more complex multijoint and full-body exercises. With this control, you can expect better performance in both your training program and sporting activities.
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
Rotational resistance and deceleration for injury-free swings
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target.
The movements that make the golf swing unique also make it challenging. The swing begins with the golfer at a standstill, feet and pelvis perpendicular to the target. The golfer then moves the club away from the target to the top of the backswing before powerfully accelerating toward the target. The golfer must then decelerate both body and club to zero and finish with the feet still relatively perpendicular to the target while most of the body is rotated toward or even beyond it.
This is an incredibly uneconomical and difficult body movement. Can you imagine telling a baseball pitcher, a shot put thrower, or a javelin thrower that movement has to begin perpendicular to the target, with the feet in the same position throughout the movement? These athletes would not only throw with significantly less velocity but also have a much greater likelihood of injury.
Elite ball strikers who have long careers and minimal injuries can effectively decelerate the golf club. All too often, players, golf coaches, and trainers focus on developing club-head speed with little to no concern for how the player decelerates the club. Even at the highest levels of golf, many players create incredibly high club and ball speeds but develop career-altering injuries as a result.
Players like Jason Day move through the swing with high velocity, but the efficiency in slowing down the club could be improved. An inability to slow the club down causes injuries, especially to the lower back, shoulder, and neck. Rickie Fowler has been working hard with his body coach, Dr. Troy Van Biezen, to improve his ability to decelerate. The results show because Rickie is better able to stay in balance through his finish, and his rate of injury has significantly decreased. Dustin Johnson creates tremendous club-head speed but is able to use his body effectively to slow down the club in a very short time, in part due to his work with his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi. Gary Woodland and Kevin Chappell use the DEAP Strategies developed by the DEPTH Systems (DepthSystems.com) to improve their potential to slow down these incredible speeds over very short distances. Extraordinarily efficient!
Being unable to decelerate the club brings injured players of all ages and from all levels to our training and treatment centers. One of the keys to implementing a return-to-sport strategy is to address the body's ability to decelerate, using the joints, muscles, and connective tissues to minimize the stress on these tissues. This requires the golfer to control each joint through the necessary range of motion and develop the proficiency to resist and decelerate force by improving the resiliency and function of tissues. Forces are better dissipated throughout the body, minimizing the stress placed on any one tissue. Examples of easy, helpful preparation exercises that improve segmentation include shoulder blade circles, foot pronation and supination, and segmental cat camel described in the warm-up, mobility and balance, and body awareness chapters.
Once a golfer has control of each joint complex, rotational resistance and deceleration are the next elements of focus. We can begin to focus on three main strategies:
- Resist force isometrically (rotational resistance)
- Resist force isometrically at one area of the body while performing dynamic movement at other areas of the body (dynamic rotational resistance)
- Decelerate force eccentrically
Learn more about Golf Anatomy, Second Edition.
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