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Golf fitness articles
Everything I've written on mobility, strength, power, back pain and nutrition for golfers. Pick whatever's costing you shots and start there.
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What is Golf Fitness?
If you don’t know what ‘Golf Fitness’ actually is, how can you understand the array of BENEFITS it can have on your game?
And if you don’t understand the BENEFITS, why would you ever bother working on your body in an effort to improve your game?
Take this one step further, and I could argue that a lack of knowledge of what Golf Fitness is, is limiting the progression and improvement of thousands of golfers throughout Australia!!
Two Kids at the Zoo [Easy Strength]
In the mind of many people. (Some 'Trainers' included.)
You need to be working at your absolute LIMIT in the gym to progress & improve.
This idea in itself can create FEAR and RESISTANCE to even starting a fitness program.
But it can also be a gateway to injury.
What's all this fuss about Golf Fitness?
Now, if you've arrived at our website, you might be wondering, what’s all this fuss about Golf Fitness?
How important is it really?
Isn’t Golf Fitness just for elite players and Tour Pros?
Absolutely not.
Make no mistake, golfers of every level are athletes and an effective golf swing requires a great deal of athleticism.
Is this causing your back pain …? (S-Posture)
It's the most common 'pain/injury' complaints of golfers. And it can be super-frustrating for those who suffer regular bouts of it …
It restricts your ability to practice and to play. To get the 'repetitions' in that you need to improve ...
You guessed it. It's lower back pain.
And one of those most common causes of lower back discomfort in golfers is the lower crossed syndrome or 'S-Posture'.
Can You Maintain Posture In Your Golf Swing...??? (Try This Test)
You would be hard pressed to find a golf magagzine these days where one of the 'tips from the tour' doesn't mention something about how the Pro works hard on 'Maintaining their Posture' throughout their golf swing...
Today I want to give you a little insight into what that means exactly...
And then we are going to branch off into a Super-Important TPI Screen ...
That you can try at home ...
And that could give you an insight at to why YOU struggle to 'Maintain Your Posture' ...
Was it the sausage roll ...? (On Course Snacks)
It was just a 'social' round. Three mates and I. 4 ball best-ball Stableford matchplay...
But you know how these things go. We were all out to win. Things got competitive.
My partner and I ended up 3 holes down after 7....
Just couldn't hit a green. Couldn't make a putt...(spent a fair bit of time in the trees too...)
But things changed on the 8th tee.
The food and drinks cart arrived...
How do you measure up ...? (Golf Strength)
I didn't foresee this happening on the first day ...
And it definitely wasn't the start I wanted to make with a new group of exercise professionals ...
That first day was going pretty well.
Until I was singled out.
Assessed as having Female-Like Flexibility.
Respecting The One-Sided Nature Of Golf (Imbalance Injury)
All of this got me thinking hard about the one-sided nature of golf ...
The imbalances this produces, how it can restrict performance and how it could set you up for injury ...
Now we are not going to get too deep into the theory here ...
Because I just want to give the most useful 'nuggets' of golf fitness info I can ...
But if continuing to play golf (uninjured) for years to come is high on your list of priorities, then this one is for you ...
'Gamify' your Weight Loss for better Golf Endurance
The official Broome guide said the walk was 5km from bus drop-off back to Cable Beach.
One of those walks where you can see your destination the whole time ...
WAAAAY off in the distance ...
And it barely looks like its getting any closer, ever.
Not unlike having a Weight Loss Goal.
When it can feel frustratingly slow ...
And all you can do is just keep putting one foot in front of the other ...
Or is it ...?
The "fitness" difference between the pros and amateurs
So last week I was driving to work listening to my favourite Golf Fitness podcast (of course, right!?) ...
Catching up on some 'golf fitness gossip'.
Checking in with what other Golf Fitness Professionals around the world are doing. What's working, what's not.
When I almost had to pull over and write this lesson down !!!
It was so profound and yet so simple.
A simple difference with far-reaching consequences ...
The question that was posed (and I'm sure we all want the answer):
"What do professional golfers do fitness-wise that is so different from your average amateur ..."
Keep reading to find out.
So How Would You Know …? (Golf Injuries)
So how would you know …?
If you are about to get injured playing golf …
The injury could be simply annoying.
Performance reducing / score increasing.
Or, I hate to say it, at worst an injury could be career ending.
But is there a way to predict it …?
He was in pain ...
He was definitely in pain …and it was affecting his golf.
Until recently ...
If you have been following the PGA Tour of late you may have seen Ryan Moore notch up another victory at the John Deere Classic ...
I didn't give that too much though initially ...
Until he gave credit to none other than his TPI Certified TRAINER ...
Brian Chandler.
He dunked it in the toilet ...
Yes, you read that subject line correctly ...
My two year old son did indeed dunk his sister's toy bunny in the toilet ...
But you know what?
He had good intentions and was actually trying to do the right thing.
(Not unlike someone who is trying to eat healthy, get fit and improve their performance on the golf course ...)
The 'Stress Bucket' ...(and how it affects your golf ...)
Sometimes I don't feel like training at all ...
(Usually Mondays, haha)
Just cannot be bothered. Not feeling it ...not inspired ...
But, on those days, I try to do some "self-analysis".
Figure out what's going on. And what is the most effective way to proceed ...
When working with clients, I often use 'The Stress Bucket' analogy ...
To help them to read their own bodies and the signals they provide ...
Lessons from a swooping bird ...
I have a major swooping bird phobia …OK, there, I said it ...
"...My name is Andrew, The Golf Fitness PT and I'm scared of swooping birds..."
I feel like there should be a support group for people like me !!
I've been done by Magpies at various times over the years ...
And I've also had a run-in or two with a pair of Plovers ,,. both on a golf course ...
I got ahead of myself ...again !!!
On Friday we chatted about the benefits of lifting weights for golfers.
Getting stronger was the theme ...
(As well as addressing media trepidation around the way modern golfers are training).
We encountered some great reasons for a golfer to go about getting strong in the right places ...
Reduced injury risk and more club-head speed were two of the biggies ...
However ...I got ahead of myself ...again ...!!
There's a CRUCIAL step or two that comes well before jumping under a 100kg back-squat for 3 reps ...
Should golfers lift weights ...?
You are probably aware of the Media v Golf Fitness battle that has flared at different times this year ...
In answer to my own subject line, Should golfers lift weights ...?, clearly, I give that a BIG YES.
And I'm just going to quickly summarise a few points from Dr Greg Rose's new article on the TPI site as to WHY I believe its important...
How's Your Rotation ...??? (Try This Test)
The old 'X-Factor' article that gets churned out time and again ...
The general rule: you need to get more torso / shoulder rotation than you get hip rotation.
In other words, you need to SEPARATE your torso / shoulders from your hips ...
BUT... what if that's not physically possible for you at the moment ...?????
And how would you know whether it is or not...?????
What happened to KO ...? (exercises included)...
These are the emails I love to get ...
Sometimes you can predict them, sometimes not.
For Golfer's Edge client KO (protecting his anonymity here ...), it was clear he was about to put something awesome together.
The 'feeling' you need for good golf
Have you ever thought about the feeling that shiny, dirty, worn grips transmit through your body ...?
The potential loss of confidence they may bring ...?
So you just can't commit properly to each shot ...?