GolfRx: December 2007

One of the components to building a solid golf swing that has been over looked is the physical condition of a golfer. In the past, a player’s physical condition was not looked at as a part of a players development. Ever since Tiger Woods has come along, physical conditioning has been a major part of a player’s development and performance.

Because of this, a physical evaluation of a golfer is becoming a part of the overall evaluation of golfers when assessing their needs for improvement. Not only is this important to golf-swing performance but also to injury prevention.

When I evaluate a player’s swing I see faults that are directly related to a lack of the player’s strength or mobility. Titleist Performance Institute (TPI), part of Titleist Golf, has put together a program that specifically addresses a player’s physical condition and its relationship to the swing. The workshop to become a TPI certified golf fitness instructor helped me with organizing and matching up swing faults to the player’s body and then prescribing exercises for the individual.

TPI has developed a physical screening that involves a series of tests to identify a player’s limitations that may lead to swing faults. So not only can you look at the swing and predict where a player may have strength or mobility problem, but also through a series of tests predict what swing faults a player may have. Once you determine a player’s limitations you can prescribe exercises for that particular player.

I have always looked at golf conditioning in two ways; golf-specific as well as golfer specific. General conditioning is great, golfspecific conditioning that targets a certain area related to the golf swing is great, but player-specific conditioning that is for that individual player is the BEST. For most of us our busy lifestyles do not afford us much time to spend on conditioning. However, if you have a few specific exercises that fit your swing faults, you will be able to find the time during the offseason to do them.

Taking a break in the offseason can be the start of bad swing habits when you pick up a club in the spring. When we take a swing our bodies tend to move into positions of least resistance and into positions of strength. After a long break the flexibility and strength we may have had from swinging a golf club all summer may be lost. The start of the season can mean the start of bad habits as the body compensates for the lack of mobility and or strength. Restriction in trunk rotation or tight hip flexors may be the cause of a sway or over use of the arms and hands in the swing.

Many of the exercises that the TPI use to correct a players limitations resemble many of the yoga postures that you find in any yoga class. There is no wonder why I have played my best golf during periods of time when I was able to make it to yoga class on a regular basis. Even when I am not able to get to a class I will do my four or five postures at home that are specific to helping my swing.

Here are three exercises that you can do at home and the related areas of the golf set-up or swing they will help.

Quadruped Pelvic Tilts (Cats and Dogs)

Start in the quadruped position (all-fours) with your arms and thighs perpendicular to the floor. Without bending your elbows, try to lower (swayback) your spine creating the dog position (Fig. 1); and then lift or arch your back up creating the cat position (Fig. 2). Repeat this back and forth and then find the middle or neutral position. Hold this position with the abdominal muscles engaged for two breaths. Repeat several times.

This will help a player’s ability to move and control the pelvis during the swing. This is important for optimal power transfer from the lower body to the upper body during the swing. The cat and dogs exercise will also help a player improve their posture in the set-up position by making it easier to tilt forward from the pelvis and keep a neutral spin position at the same time. This will help a player in making a proper rotation in the back swing as well as helping a player stay in posture during the forward swing. The player who feels that they can’t stay down on the ball in the follow-through will benefit from this exercise.

Two Hip Rotation Exercises

Hip Circles – Start by stabilizing your core in the quadruped (all-fours) position. Try to have a feeling of strength in the core to prevent any movement from the spine. Slowly start to make circles with your right hip, try to create the biggest range of motion possible without losing your stable spin. Repeat on the left side.

Pigeon – From an all-fours position bring your right knee forward just inside your right hand, move your right foot toward your left hand in a bent position and extend your left leg back (Fig. 3). Bring your torso down into a forward bend over your right leg. Let the weight of your body rest on your leg (Fig.4). Repeat on the left side.

These two hip exercises will help in internal and external hip rotation. This is important in both coiling and loading into the hips on the back swing and bracing into and rotating around the hips on the downswing. Anytime there are restrictions in the hips’ range of motion there will be the potential for excessive lateral motion (sway and slide) in the golf swing.

I hope these exercises get you started with your golf-conditioning program. Maybe that bad habit you have been fighting in your golf swing is due to the lack of mobility or strength more so than lack of practice. Find out what is important to improving your swing and just maybe your swing improvements will come from improved physical condition rather from hitting balls at the range.

Have a happy holiday season!

Any questions or suggestions for future article topics please contact me at: joep@carlsgolfland.com.

GolfRX: Physical Causes of a Poor Pivot

We know that the best players in the world spend many hours a week in the gym stretching and strengthening. They know the condition of their bodies play a vital role in their ability to swing the golf club correctly.

Far too often player’s work on their golf swing mechanics without realizing that swing flaws may be due to a physical condition.

This month lets look at the pivot, the rotation of the body in the back swing. Two of the biggest faults that I see are a sway and a reverse spin tilt. They both have common physical causes. I will first look at the swing faults; second the physical condition that may cause that fault; and lastly, simple exercises to improve the condition.

What is a sway?

A sway is an excessive lateral lower body movement away from the target during the back swing. This may result in your weight going to the outside of the back foot. The right hip needs to rotate in the back swing, but should not move laterally. This swing fault makes it difficult to make a proper weight shift at the start of the downswing.

Physical causes of a sway

The most important factor in preventing any lateral movement is good right hip internal rotation into the right hip. If the body is unable to rotate around the right hip due to joint or muscular restrictions, then lateral movement will be difficult to stop.

A second reason a player may sway is the inability to separate the upper body from the lower body. The ability to separate the upper body from the lower body allows the lower body to laterally stabilize while rotating the shoulders in the back swing. Limited torso to pelvis separation can be due to limited spinal mobility and shortened lat flexibility.

Lastly, the ability to keep a stable right leg in the back swing is related to the strength and stability of your gluteal musculature (the behind). The glute medius being the most important in preventing lateral sway in the right leg and hip.

Reverse spin tilt

A reverse spin tilt is an excessive upper body backward bend towards the target at the top of the back swing. This makes it very difficult to initiate the down swing with the lower body. This position is one of the major reasons why golfers suffer from lower back pain.

Physical causes of a reverse spin tilt

Just as with the sway right hip internal rotation is important to turn into the right hip without any lateral movement. Any lateral sway in the right leg and hip will cause the spin to tilt backwards to the target.

Also as with the sway tightness in the latissmus dorsi muscle group can lead to a reverse tilt to the spin.Tightness here can lead to a backwards bend in the spin as the arms try and elevate in the back swing.

Strength and stability in the core muscles (abs and glutes) are necessary to stabilize your spin angle during the back swing.

Corrections

There are numerous exercises to improve the conditions that cause a sway and the reverse spin tilt. Any general strength or flexibility conditioning you do will help.

Here are three exercises that you can try at home without any special equipment to help strengthen and correct these problems.

Whether you have hours a week or are limited on the time you are able to devote to exercise spend it on specific exercises that will help you improve your game. Have fun with your practice.

1. Half-Kneeling Turns

This will help improve thoracic spin rotation and hip internal rotation as well as lat flexibility. Get into a half-kneeling position. Grab each end of a golf club, hold it over your head and keep your posture as tall as possible. (Fig. A)

Without moving your lower body, try to rotate your torso as far as possible to the right. (Fig. B) Repeat back and forth in each direction.

2. Torso Turns – one leg

This will improve your core strength and torso rotation.

Stand on one leg, cross your arms over your chest and get into your golf posture. Try and rotate your torso back and forth for up to 15 to 20 seconds without moving your lower body Repeat on the other leg.

3. Dead bug arm drops for improving Lat flexibility

Lying flat on your back with your knees bent and your arms elevated (Fig. C). Keeping a neutral spin and stable core posture try to lower your arms down to the ground behind your head one at a time (Fig. D) and then together.

GolfRx: March 2007

You shouldn’t wait until the courses open and you plan your first round of the year to think about improving your game. It can be very frustrating to a golfer to play year after year and not see any improvement. Regardless of your level of ability, golf will be more fun if you see improvement over time.

There can be many reasons for the lack of improvement; limited practice time, practicing your strengths instead of your weaknesses, not understanding swing technique and the fear to change, among others.

The more you know your game the more you will be able to see improvement as you play and practice throughout the year. Players that improve over time understand the golf swing to some degree. Your body can only do what your mind tells it to do so, if you have no concept or a poor concept of the swing it’s difficult to get better. You need to practice with a purpose. That means knowing what parts of your game need the most work and what to do to improve those areas.

EVALUATING YOUR GAME & SETTING GOALS

Whether you are a single digit handicap or not even at a level where you keep track of your score, evaluating your game is an important part of making progress. You must determine your strengths and weakness in order to know which areas to spend your practice time. One of the first questions I ask a player when they come in for a lesson is, “What bad shots prevent you from having a lower score?”

Before you pick up a club, think back to your last few rounds and identify what type of shots cost you the most strokes.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

Tee Shots –

• How many fairways did I hit?

• How many tee shot cost me a penalty shot?

• How many tee shots prevented me from having a second shot?

There is a difference between a tee shot that is out of bounds, or behind a tree, and one that is off the fairway by five yards. Being off the fairway by five yards still gives you a swing to at least advance the ball.

Fairway Shots –

• How many greens did I hit in regulation?

• Can I hit my fairway woods off the ground?

• Do I have trouble hitting shots from different lies?

Short Game –

• Do I get my first chip or pitch shot onto the green?

• How many putts per round?

Your questions and goal-settings need to match your level of play. For example, a low handicap player keeps track of how many pitch shots he hits within two feet, whereas a higher handicap player might be keeping track of how many pitch shots he gets onto the green with the first try.

TIME FOR THE RANGE

Before you start hitting balls spend some time warming up the body. Do a few of your favorite stretches; focus on your back, hamstring and shoulders. Swing a weighted club a few times. If you don’t have a weighted club, swing two of your irons at the same time.

Especially early in the year, it is a good idea to start hitting your fist few shots with shorter and slower than normal swings.

A good place to start would be to hit balls with the toe of the club up drill. Two of the common positions of a better player would be to have the toe of the golf club almost pointing directly to the sky at the hip high position in the back swing (Fig. 1) and the mirror image of that position in the follow through. (Fig 2).

You can practice this at home without even having to hit balls. Not only look for the toe of the club position, but also check that the shaft of the golf club is parallel to the target when it is hip high.

After hitting balls with a short swing for a few minutes, increase your swing until you are taking your normal full swing, keeping your swing slower than normal. Better players will have a practice swing speed that is slower than normal. This can help in several ways.

First, early in the year your body needs a chance to get back into the swing of things. Most golf injuries happen early in the year when our bodies are not stretched or warmed up enough. Swinging slower and easier than normal will also help you relax. Tension is one of the biggest reasons why players hit bad shots.

Swinging slower will also help you feel what you are doing in your swing. If you can’t feel where your club is, or what your body is doing during your swing, it is difficult to make any improvements.

Keep your mind free of technical stuff for the first couple of times hitting balls. Use this time to loosen up and evaluate your shots. Look for patterns to your bad shots. If you have a pattern to your bad shots, you can look into your swing to make corrections. If you are not sure how to make corrections, it might be time to learn more about the golf swing whether by book, video or by taking a lesson. No one can see their own swing, even the best players in the world who understand the golf swing completely need another pair of eyes.

Have fun with your spring season practice.

GolfRx: February 2007

We all want to play better golf. The challenge becomes how? Is the answer new clubs, using more expensive golf balls, or is it taking a lesson? Although lessons and equipment help us play better golf, the answer might have more to do with improving our body’s ability to perform the required movements.

I see players working so hard on improving their golf swing. What they don’t realize is the problem with their swing might have more to do with their lack of strength, or flexibility, in some area of their body. This not only can lead to poor performance, but also physical injury and mental disappointment.

That’s probably not what a lot of you want to hear, but you don’t have to spend hours each day at the gym to play better golf.

There are “golf-specific” strength and stretching exercises you can do but more importantly, “golfer-specific” exercises you can do. Each golfer needs to know what specific stretching or strengthening drills he can do to improve his own golf swing. If you know what areas to work on each day for a few minutes- not hours – it can make a difference. The more you understand the golf swing, the more able you will be to improve. This is independent of your swing mechanics or physical condition.

Each month I will try to help you better understand the swing mechanics related to the golf club as well as the bio-mechanics of the swing.

Let’s start with our golf posture. What happens first is most important: the set-up, or address position. A good set-up can lead to a good backswing and a good backswing can lead to a good downswing.

First, we must understand that while there are certain fundamentally correct positions, every golfer deviates from these positions. You don’t have to be perfect.

The better your posture is at the address position and through the swing, the more consistent your swing will be.

What is good posture? Good posture in golf is tilting our spine at the pelvis from a vertical position to an angle somewhere between 25 and 40 degrees. The amount of tilt forward would vary depending on a player’s height. The best way to find this position is as follows:

From a standing vertical position, push your behind back and tilt forward until your shoulders are out to your toes and your behind is out past your heels by 2 or 3 inches. Use a mirror at home to check your position.

Ideally, you should have a flat upper back. The more curved your back, the harder it will be to make a full shoulder turn or trunk rotation.

A good drill to check and improve this position is to hold the grip end of your driver against the back of your head with one hand; with your other hand try to get the other end against your behind. Try to make both ends touch while standing first. Then try again in your golf posture, tilting forward (Fig 1).

If you can’t make both ends touch, then some stretching is in order for you. Maintaining good hamstring, glute and hip flexor flexibility also helps with your posture.

The stronger your back and abdominal muscles are, the easier it is to have a flat back and maintain it during the swing.

Another exercise you can do to help with your upper back posture and flexibility would be to hold the shaft of your driver across your back with one hand on either side (Fig 2). It might be difficult to do at first if you lack flexibility in your upper chest and shoulders. Using a longer club will make it easier for you to get the club behind your back.

This exercise will help you open up the front of your body. In your back you will feel your scapulas come together. This will take the rounding, or curve, out of your upper back.

You can use the “club behind your back drill” to help improve trunk flexibility. Stand upright with the club across your back, stand with your right foot to the outside of your left foot and then turn you shoulder to the right. Placing your right foot across your left prevents your hips from turning. This puts the stretch into your torso. Tour players are capable of turning their shoulders 90 degrees to hip rotation. Make sure to stretch both sides of your body. You can also work on your pivot with a club behind your back (Fig 3). Get into your golf posture and rotate back; ideally you would want a 90-degree turn.

There are many activities and exercises that can help you improve your golf flexibility and strengthen your golf muscles. I know my yoga practice has helped my golf game both mentally and physically. The drills I have shown you today only take a few minutes and can be done at home. We know the more quality time we put into something, the better the results. Even if your time is limited, take a few minutes to stretch before each practice session or round of golf, it not only will help prevent injury but also improve your golf game.

Joe Portfilio is a PGA Golf Professional at Carl’s Golfland in Bloomfield Hills. He is a graduate of the Professional Golf Management Program at Ferris State University. Since joining Carl’s in 1988, Joe has given over 2,000 lessons per year. He is co-founder of Michigan Adaptive Golf which helps people with disabilities start, or resume, golf after an illness or injury.

If you have a question, or topic you would like to see, can contact Joe at: joep@carlsgolfland.com