Energy On The Course

Fitness

Energy On The Course

In my last post I spoke about the often overlooked part of a golf training program, recovery. Four areas were mentioned in the post and I promised that I would give you some strategies that you could use for each area to give you the best possible chance of including effective recovery as part of your golf training program. The four areas that need to be addressed in a recovery program are hydration, fuelling, physical and psychological recovery. Below you will see some easy to use approaches that you can use in your own golf training.

Hydration is arguably the most important area as just a 1% drop in your hydration levels will negatively impact on your golf performance. Replacing the fluid lost during a round of golf is extremely important if you are playing several days in a row so it needs to be part of your recovery program. A simple way to monitor your fluid levels is to check your weight prior to and after your round of golf. Every kilogram of weight you have lost during the round is 1 litre of water you need to replace after the round. You need to replace a little more than what you have lost during the round to allow for urination so as a general rule you should replace 150% of what you have lost during the round. This means that a golfer who weighs 80kg prior to a round and 78kg after a round needs to drink three litres of water after the round to ensure they are fully hydrated for the round the next day.

Fueling is the next part of recovery and as golf is not as physically taxing as some other sports and is played at a pace that allows for snacking to occur on the course this is not as large an issue as it may be with some other sports. That being said it is important that you eat a balanced diet and fuel your body with healthy meals prior to and in between rounds. Lean protein and vegetables are a great evening meal between rounds to refuel carbohydrate stores as well as being easy to digest. It is important to ensure you plan your meals as it is easy to get caught in the fast food trap, especially if you are traveling for an event. Make sure you have access to cooking facilities and appropriate sources of food to avoid unhealthy choices.

Physical recovery is something we all can relate to as we have all finished a round at some stage and felt stiff, sore and tired. The easiest way to deal with this soreness is with massage and a qualified masseuse can be very beneficial in aiding recovery between rounds. Unfortunately, we can’t all afford to have such a person on call so there are a variety of self-massage techniques you can use. You can access self-massage strategies using foam rollers by clicking here or spikey balls by clicking here. Massage can also be used in conjunction with hydrotherapies such as hot and cold immersions to ensure a well-rounded physical recovery strategy is maintained. By alternating between a hot shower for one to two minutes and a cold burst for 30 seconds you will assist the recovery process. The shower also provided an ideal environment for self-massage.

The final area is psychological recovery. This is an area that is often unknowingly completed by golfers but it is often done very poorly. Most golfers will finish a round and retire to the clubhouse with their playing partners to relive the round and talk about all the shots that got away and the bad shots that they played. This discussion is a good thing but the focus on the bad shots is only going to make it easier to replay the same shots during the next round. A golfer needs to debrief after a round and “complete” the round from a psychological point of view. This can be done very effectively by using a debriefing work sheet (click here to find an example of one that I use). This sheet can then be used to start a conversation with your coach, playing partners or other friends. Once this conversation is over the player needs to get rid of the sheet (sometimes I have players rip them up!), focus on the positives of the round and refocus on the game plan for the next round.
Hopefully the above information gives you some help when you are next facing a tournament with golf on several consecutive days.

Until next time,
Brent Davis

 

Brent Davis

Brent Davis

PGA Professional

Training & Education Coordinator
PGA Centre For Learning Performance
Melborne, Victoria, Australia

Email: [email protected]

 

Fitness Archives

Progressing Your Fitness Program

Progressing Your Fitness Program The topic of this blog post is progression of your fitness program. One of the most common things I experience with my clients is that they sign up for a fitness program, go through an evaluation, get a written program tailored to...

read more

Energy On The Course

Energy On The Course In my last post I spoke about the often overlooked part of a golf training program, recovery. Four areas were mentioned in the post and I promised that I would give you some strategies that you could use for each area to give you the best possible...

read more

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Backswing Pivot Drill

Fitness

Backswing Pivot Drill

In this video, Brent Davis shows you how to make the proper backswing.  Make a better turn with Brent today!

Until next time,
Brent Davis

Brent Davis

Brent Davis

PGA Professional

Training & Education Coordinator
PGA Centre For Learning Performance
Melborne, Victoria, Australia

Email: [email protected]

 

Fitness Archives

Progressing Your Fitness Program

Progressing Your Fitness Program The topic of this blog post is progression of your fitness program. One of the most common things I experience with my clients is that they sign up for a fitness program, go through an evaluation, get a written program tailored to...

read more

Energy On The Course

Energy On The Course In my last post I spoke about the often overlooked part of a golf training program, recovery. Four areas were mentioned in the post and I promised that I would give you some strategies that you could use for each area to give you the best possible...

read more

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Body Weaknesses & Swing Faults

Fitness

Body Weakness & Swing Faults

The topic of my latest blog is something that has caught my interest for a while now. As a coach, I see a lot of swing faults that are caused by the golfer’s body inability to move in a particular manner. I am not saying that this is always the cause of swing faults but it can be. The good thing about these types of swing faults is they can generally be corrected by prescribing an exercise program rather than endless hours on the range hitting balls or doing drills. That’s not to say that the exercises are easy, there is a real possibility that they will be tough for you to do, especially when you first start the program. The benefit of exercise to fix golf swing faults is that exercise is good for you and if it helps your golf it is a double positive!

Let me first outline some of the more common in swing problems I see on the coaching tee and some of the body limitations that may cause these swing problems.

 

Bad Spinal Posture at Address:     This is a very common fault that I see all the time. Poor spinal posture makes it very difficult to rotate your body properly.

Physical Causes:
Poor spinal flexibility
Tight upper body muscles (pecs, lats, neck)

Exercises to Help:

Angel wings stretch
Supine chest stretch on a swiss ball
Lat stretch

 

Loss of Posture (Lifting Up):          In a good golf swing, you want your body to be rotating around a constant spine angle. A common fault I see is when your spine angle changes during the golf swing.

 Physical Causes:

Lack of core strength or lack of core mobility,  Hip mobility problems (lack of or too much movement),  Lower body instability

Exercises to help:

Hip stretch
Planks
Swiss ball crunches

Reverse Pivot:              This is when your upper body moves towards the target on the backswing and away from the target on the downswing. It can be caused by trying to keep your head still/down or if your clubs don’t suit you. It also has some physical causes that are listed below.

 Physical Causes:  Tightness in your hips,  Inability to separate shoulders and hips,  Lack of core strength

Exercises to Help:
Supine shoulder mobility/lumbar stretch
Planks
Hip/Trunk/Lat extension

Swinging Over the Top:       This is a very common swing fault and is when the downswing is initiated with the upper body instead of the lower body.

 

Physical Causes:

Hip immobility
Lack of glute and lower body strength
Poor trunk and shoulder mobility

 

 

Exercises to Help:
Articulating bridge position
Standing glute/hip stretch
Trunk stretch

These are just a few of the more common problems that I see on the coaching tee. It is important to realize that there are a number of different reasons that golfers make bad swings. It is important that you see your local PGA Professional to make sure you are working on the correct fix for your individual swing fault.

If you have any questions about the above information or exercises, please feel free to post your comments and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Until next time,

Brent Davis

Credits:

http://www.performbettergolf.com/blog/proper-golf-posture-video

http://www.finishfirstsports.com/the-twelve-most-common-swing-faults.html

http://therangeatleonsprings.com/tip-of-the-week-archives

http://www.thegolfswinggenius.com/over-the-top-golf-swing.html

Brent Davis

Brent Davis

PGA Professional

Training & Education Coordinator
PGA Centre For Learning Performance
Melborne, Victoria, Australia

Email: [email protected]

 

Fitness Archives

Progressing Your Fitness Program

Progressing Your Fitness Program The topic of this blog post is progression of your fitness program. One of the most common things I experience with my clients is that they sign up for a fitness program, go through an evaluation, get a written program tailored to...

read more

Energy On The Course

Energy On The Course In my last post I spoke about the often overlooked part of a golf training program, recovery. Four areas were mentioned in the post and I promised that I would give you some strategies that you could use for each area to give you the best possible...

read more

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Improve Your Swing With Better Posture

Fitness

Improve Your Swing With Better Posture

In my last blog post I spoke about how you could test yourself to determine the areas of your golf fitness that needed to be improved. In this blog I am going to talk about the major problems that are seen in golfers from a posture point of view. I will then talk about some of the golf swing problems you may see as a result of these weaknesses.

The most common postural problem we see is poor upper body posture. This is generally demonstrated by rounded shoulders at address with a forward head and neck posture. You can see in the picture what this looks like. This type of posture makes it difficult to rotate correctly during your swing so a common swing fault with these golfers is an “armsy” type swing with limited body rotation.

Golfers also have a tendency to be short and tight in the muscles of the right, lower back (for right handers). This can be caused by the correct golf set up in which you have the left hip and shoulder set slightly higher than the right hip and shoulder. This may lead to the right side collapsing during the downswing and overactive hands through impact.

Another common body issue in golfers is weak scapular muscles. This is generally seen in conjunction with the rounded shoulders position I spoke about in the first point and can lead to a number a swing faults. Disconnection between the arms and body is the most common problem I see when a golfer is weak in the scapular area. This, again, leads to “armsy” type swings that I see on the lesson tee every day.

The last of the common postural problems I see is weak glutes and hips. This leads to increased movement through the pelvis region which can lead to reverse pivots, sliding through impact or the inability to engage the core muscles effectively to help generate power in the down swing. It is basically defined as excess movement in the lower body during the golf swing. You can see in the picture some of the swing issues that weak glutes and hips can cause in the golf swing.

If you have had any of these types of swing problems, and you are having difficulty correcting them with your coach, there is a chance that you may have one of the postural issues I have spoken about. I would encourage you to go and see a golf specific physiotherapist/trainer for a detailed screening and have them design an exercise program for you. This, combined with the swing work you are doing with your coach, will give you the best possible chance to improve your swing and your game.

In my next blog I will be discussing some simple exercises you can do to help overcome some of the weaknesses I have discussed here.

Until next time,

Brent Davis

Brent Davis

Brent Davis

PGA Professional

Training & Education Coordinator
PGA Centre For Learning Performance
Melborne, Victoria, Australia

Email: [email protected]

 

Fitness Archives

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Where Do You Start A Golf Fitness Program?

Fitness

Where Do You Start A Golf Fitness Program?

Mike Fay Golf welcomes Australian PGA Professional Brent Davis to the staff of talented writers.  Brent’s knowledge of golf fitness and how it relates to the golf swing will be a great asset to the site.  Below is his first post.  Welcome, Brent!

I often get asked what exercises a player should do when they are working out in the gym. While it is important for golfers to get into the gym and exercise it is more important to be working out correctly if you want to improve your golf game.

There are different areas of fitness and each of these areas is important for golfers. The three areas of fitness are cardiovascular fitness, strength and flexibility. Cardiovascular fitness is important for being able to complete your round without fatiguing.  Strength and flexibility is important for making a strong and powerful golf swing. Each of these areas should be addressed in a good golf fitness training program.

The first stage in any golf training should be an evaluation. You need to know your strengths and weaknesses so you can get the appropriate program for you.   A good evaluation will also give you a starting point from which to measure your improvement. Measuring your improvement is also a great way to see if your program is appropriate and effective.

The next question then is how do you evaluate your current fitness levels? As a coach I use a number a different strategies to do this. Through my own research I have developed a series of evaluation tests that assess your ability to complete each test. This link will take you to a document that outlines the tests and how to complete them. You can then record your results and redo the tests after a set period of time. I like my students to complete the tests at the start of each macrocycle of their annual plan and you can determine the best timing for you with your own coach.

Another strategy I use, and this is arguably the best way to go about developing your fitness program, is to utilise expert service providers such as exercise physiologists and physiotherapists. Melbourne Golf Injury Clinic here in Australia has golf specific physiotherapists that will complete a entire body screening which will identify areas that need improvement. From this screening a personalised program can be designed to address the weaknesses. You can see a copy of this screening report by clicking on this link.

I also utilize a exercise physiologist to evaluate my client’s golf specific strength. He uses a series of tests to determine the areas that need to be worked on and from this can design the appropriate training program. He also has tour player benchmarks to compare yourself to and to aim for in your own training.

The purpose of this blog post is to give you an introduction into golf specific fitness training and to stress the importance of evaluating yourself before getting started. There will be plenty of people in your local area who you can talk to regarding your fitness programs. Check your local gym for sport specific trainers as well as online resources such as the TPI website and the Fitness for Golf website that you can find by clicking on the links provided.

 Keep your eye on this website for more fitness articles.

 Until next time,
Brent Davis

Brent Davis

Brent Davis

PGA Professional

Training & Education Coordinator
PGA Centre For Learning Performance
Melborne, Victoria, Australia

Email: [email protected]

 

Fitness Archives

Progressing Your Fitness Program

Progressing Your Fitness Program The topic of this blog post is progression of your fitness program. One of the most common things I experience with my clients is that they sign up for a fitness program, go through an evaluation, get a written program tailored to...

read more

Energy On The Course

Energy On The Course In my last post I spoke about the often overlooked part of a golf training program, recovery. Four areas were mentioned in the post and I promised that I would give you some strategies that you could use for each area to give you the best possible...

read more

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