Category — Golf

Anterior pelvic tilt is a posture characterized by increased tightness of the hip flexors/lumbar erectors and weakened hip extensors/abdominals. This pelvic position is what Dr. Vladimir Janda classified as “lower-crossed syndrome”.

In this video, I offer two techniques for addressing the erector spinae musculature (which act as a force couple with the hip flexors in an anterior tilt). These techniques require the client to be active during the treatment process, which helps them to learn what it feels like to move their pelvis between both anterior and posterior pelvic tilts.

Being able to both anteriorly and posteriorly tilt the pelvis is an essential component of the golf swing and is tested during the “pelvic tilt test” in the Titleist Performance Institute Golf Fitness Assessment.  You may observe many clients who are unable to move out of anterior pelvic tilt, or if they are they do so with what Dr. Greg Rose refers to as a “shake and bake”, where you see their body actually shake as the muscles try and allow this movement to happen.

Hopefully you find these techniques useful!

Patrick
patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

This week I attended the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Level 1 Golf Fitness Instructor Certification in Philadelphia, PA.  The class is the first level of the TPI training system and is open to trainers/strength coaches, physical therapist, chiropractors, doctors, athletic trainers, and golf instructors.  Pretty much everyone is welcome to come.  After you complete level 1, you can then break off into one of their many tracks depending on what your profession is based around.  Tracks include things like – more advanced golf fitness instructor levels (for trainers and strength coaches), medical track (for medical professionals), golf instructor track (for those that are teaching professionals), juniors track (for those that work with junior athletes), and a biomechanics track (for those that are interested in a deeper understanding of the biomechanics of the golf swing).

Brief Recap of the Course

The class started on Monday with an overview of how TPI came to be, their philosophy of the golf swing, their philosophy on exercise, and twelve common swing faults/characteristics.  After a wonderfully catered lunch, we went over some of the physical assessments (AKA movement screens) used to determine a players physical limitations.  Dr. Greg Rose finished up by giving us some information on working with junior athletes and various information on the Long Term Athletic Development Model.  The day concluded with a meet and greet, where everyone there was given free drinks and snacks, and hung out for about an hour talking shop and getting acquainted.

Tuesday started out with golf teaching professional Dave Phillips talking about some of the technology that we can use to videotape golfers as a way to give them feedback on their swing, and even correlate that to some of the things we are seeing in their physical assessment.  After that we jumped right in with more of the physical assessment and finished up the rest of the tests.  After lunch, which was again catered and tasted great, we were paired up and did a full assessment with our partners.  We then came back to our seats and Dr. Rose and Lance Gill talked about exercise corrections for some of the physical limitations present with each test.  Dr. Rose and Dave Phillips followed that up by taking an individual’s assessment sheet and writing the results up on the big screen for everyone to see.  They broke down the assessment and then grilled us on some of the swing faults that may occur with various limitations.  They then rolled a video of said persons swing (taken in the lobby earlier in the day) to see how close we were at predicting what might happen when this individual gets up to swing the club.  The correlations were spot on and each time the biggest limitations led to the most obvious swing fault(s).  Wrapping up the day Dr. Rose did a whole talk on marketing and how to develop a team of professionals – strength coach, medical professional (physical therapist or chiropractor), and golf teaching professional. 

My Review

From the moment I showed up to check in on Monday, I got the impression that this organization oozes professionalism.  They walk the walk, talk the talk, and deliver the goods.  Everyone working for them was dressed like a professional – no jeans, no shorts, no t-shirts, etc.

The support materials for the course were excellent.  Aside from free membership to the My TPI site (which is free to anyone, by the way, not just those who are certified) we got an awesome book of course material.  It consisted of quality color photos on quality paper.  Some may say I am being picky here, but I can’t tell you how many continuing education courses I have been to where the support materials were just garbage.  The support materials for this class let me know that these guys take their organization seriously and they expect you to as well. 

The speakers were very well spoken and delivered their message in a clear and easy to understand manner.  This can be very difficult when you have a room made up of three different kinds of professionals – trainers, medical professionals, golf instructors – who may not all be speaking the same language (yet!).  The TPI crew did a great job making sure everyone understood the verbiage they were using.

The instructors were very approachable and willing to sit and talk shop long after the course had ended to ensure that they answered all of your questions.

The exercise and assessment stuff was not new to me as I have been heavily influenced by Gray Cook for a long time, and you can see a lot of parallels between his work and the TPI course material.  The swing faults were excellent as this was what I came to the course for.  Having worked with a number of golfers and teaching professionals in the past, I knew a decent amount about some of these characteristics, but it was great to hear them explained more in depth and to see how the physical assessment correlates to what the individual is doing on the golf course.

For fitness and medical professionals who have never be introduced to Gray Cook’s work, this course will be an eye opener for you into the world of movement assessment.  It might make you question some of the things you know (or think you know), but it will be an excellent course to add to your arsenal, especially if you are working with or plan to work with golfers.  For those fitness and medical professionals who have been introduced to Gray Cook’s work, you wont grab a whole lot of new stuff with regard to assessment and exercise, BUT, you will learn a ton about the golf swing and how what you are seeing in your assessment fits in with how that person golf’s.  Additionally, it will give you the appropriate language to speak with golfers and their coaches to help them feel comfortable that you know what you are doing.  That last part is huge, as golf has a language all unto itself.  Knowing how to speak this language in essential to working with this population of people.

I can’t recommend this course enough for those looking to work with golfers.  Additionally, a lot of the info that they talk about could apply to any athlete in a rotary sport.  Aside from the course being full of great information, Titleist Performance Institute is a very professional organization.

Patrick
patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

Lets face it, golf can be a pretty stressful game.  It is a game of both patience and skill, and demands an increased ability to focus and concentrate.

On top of the game itself, professional golfers have several other stressors with (besides the obvious stressors – family, social, financial):

• A long competitive season
• Weekly travel (which has them traveling all over the world through the year)
• Long practice hours
• Several rounds of competitive play (typically 4-round for PGA tour events, although some LPGA events are 3-rounds)
• The stress of worrying about ‘making the cut’ during the early rounds of competition
• Nutritional needs that have to be met on a busy travel, practice, and competition schedule
• Hydration needs that have to be met during long hours of practice and competition (with 18-holes of golf lasting anywhere from 3-4 hours in time)

An interesting study recently looked at both the stress response and immune response of elite level golfers (both male and female) to both practice and competition.

Stress response was measured by salivary cortisol levels, while immune function was measured by salivary immunoglobulin A during four periods of time for either a round of competition or practice:

• At rest
• Before the round
• During the round
• After the round

Cortisol, a hormone in our body which, when released in excess – due to high amount of stress or anxiety – can have some negative affects, has been shown to be elevated before and during competition because of the both the anticipation of competition and physical exertion.  In this study, it was found that males had higher levels of cortisol before the round or practice/competition, with higher levels of cortisol being measured prior to competition compared to practice.  In contrast women had their highest levels of cortisol measured during their round of practice/competition.  It is hypothesized that men could stabilize their anticipatory response, where as woman may get more anxious or stressed as the round of golf goes on.

Salivary Immunoglobulin A, an antibody contained in our mucous which, acts as a defense mechanism against pathogens, has been known to drop temporarily following intense exercise, causing some athletes to become susceptible to upper respiratory tract infections.  In the elite male golfers, salivary immunoglobulin A tended to be decreased when cortisol levels were increased (which was before the round of practice/competition); however, during and after the round, salivary immunoglobulin A tended to be increased.  In female athletes, the opposite was true, with salivary immunoglobulin A being elevated during the round of golf, at a time when cortisol levels were actually higher!  It is hypothesized that salivary immunoglobulin may be elevated during and after the rounds of golf, as the bodies way of coping with the physiological and psychological stress placed on it (more on this later).

What does this all mean?

The first thing that stands out is that there appears to be a different affect with regard to stress and immune function in the game of golf (psychological and physical stress) between men and women.

The second thing that stands out is that there are more questions that need to be asked.  For example, this is just a look at one day of either practice or competition.  As stated earlier, professional golfers will play/practice many days in a row (competitions usually lasting four days), and have the added stress of travel.  It would be interesting to see the results during several weeks, or an entire season, for a professional golfer.  It was hypothesized that the body increased salivary immunoglobulin A, as a way of attempting to handle the physical and psychological stress placed on it.  How long can the body do this for?  Obviously we adapt to our demands, but eventually there is going to be a period where the body begins to break down and can no longer adapt to what we throw at it.  One would have to think that the travel, practice and competition schedule of a professional golfer would eventually take its tole on their immune function.

Finally, what stands out is that given the high amounts of stress that professional golfers are placed under, recovery strategies are essential to both high performance, and overall health and wellness (a chronically sick or injured golfer is not one that is typically successful).  Aside from offseason preparation – which should help the athlete develop the needed work capacity, strength, and power to withstand the daily grind of being on the professional circuit – professional golfers need to be proactive about their rest and recovery program following both competition and practice.

In a nutshell, this paper is a step towards helping us understand what the body goes through when having to perform at an elite level.  All athletes are susceptible to overtraining syndrome, and understanding the demands of the sport and how each individual athlete is able to deal with these demands is an essential component in developing both a training and recovery program to improve performance and maintain optimal health. 

Patrick

patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

Reference

Kim KJ, Park S, Jim KH, Jun TW, Park DH, Kim KB. Salivary Cortisol and Immunoglobulin A Responses During Golf Competition vs. Practice in Elite Male and Female Junior Golfers. J Strength Cond Res 24(3):852-858, 2010.

Part 1 and Part 2 of this three part series looked at injuries and mobility, respectively, as they apply to golf.  In this final part, I wanted to discuss strength training since it seems to be misunderstood in the golf community.

While some golfers are starting to come around with regard to resistance training – given that many PGA pro’s, like Tiger Woods, advocate strength training - many still approach training for golf with the idea that the sport is aerobic in nature because of the 18-hole walk and the time it takes to complete a round.  This mentality typically scares golfers away from lifting weights with any sort of intensity and performing true strength training.

However, this rationale could not be further from the truth.  Golf is more of a power sport, in which the athlete is forced to use their entire body to transfer power from the ground, up through the club, and then into the ball.  Wells et al., state that “A typical male player will maximally recruit 30lbs of muscle to generate 400 horsepower during a golf swing, using nearly every joint and limb in the body, a very high power output that translates into 900kg of force being applied to the ball in little more than half a millisecond at impact.”

Now that is POWER!

Having an understanding of the dynamics of golf is important for developing a training program.  The SAID principles (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand) basically tell us that, “we get what we train for”.  If we train to be powerful and strong, then we get power and strength.  If we train for endurance, then we get endurance.  Obviously the later quality has less to do with the actual force application and swing during a round of golf, so it should not be the highest priority in our training program.

Many researchers have noted the benefits a well-rounded strength and conditioning program can have on the game of golf; eliciting improvements in club head speed, driving distance, and putting control.  These beneficial results were noted in a broad range of individuals and in both males and females.  One study evaluated the effects of a strength and conditioning program on collegiate golfers, while another looked at an older population, ranging from 61-80.  

While the increase in golf performance of the 61-80yr old group is certainly exciting, what is more exciting is the benefits that an appropriate strength and power training program can have on this population as aging has been shown to decrease muscle mass and power output, causing seniors to be more susceptible to falls and injury.

Training: Strength and Power

Training for strength and power is not something to be worried about and it doesn’t have to be overly complicated.  The most important thing to remember is to learn great technique for every exercise you are going to perform.  Don’t stand for sloppy reps or poor exercise execution.  Strive to have the best technique possible. 

Because it is out of the scope of this article for me to address the individual needs of every person who is reading it, I encourage you to locate a professional in your area that can assess you to determine what the appropriate starting point and exercise selection is for you. 

That being said, I will give you some basic guidelines to follow and you can take them and tailor them to your individual needs.

Train your total body

Don’t just go in and focus on “arms” or “shoulders” or “back”.  Rather, focus on your entire body.  To keep things simple, we say, “push something, pull something and do something for your legs.”  For example, using that mantra, our total body workout may be as easy as:

Push up
1-arm cable row
Romanian Deadlift

Use exercises that challenge your power output

Knowing that we need to have great power to be effective in the game of golf, using power-training exercises will be critical to our program.  For golfers, I like to use things like various medicine ball throws and kettlebell swings, as they require the individual to move quickly and apply high amounts of force.  In addition, when appropriate, plyometrics can be used for golfers to work on applying force into the ground.

Because of their technical demand, and because fatigue tends to slow down velocity (having a negative impact on power), these exercises are best done first in the training session, following an appropriate warm up of course.

Single leg exercises are helpful

While I don’t discount the importance of bilateral leg exercises like squats and deadlifts (or romanian deadlifts as shown above).  Single leg exercises can be helpful, as the ”non-working” leg is getting some mobility work, while the working leg is developing strength.  In addition, the loading in a single leg exercise is less than what it would be in a bilateral exercise, which may help to take some of the pressure of the lower back (this can be important if you are playing a lot of golf and practicing daily).

Be consistent

Don’t just go to the gym once a week and hope for the best.  Two times a week is the minimum amount of time to train and three times a week is even more optimal.  To often people don’t see the results they seek due to their lack of consistency.  Make a commitment to get into the gym and train.  Aside from improvements in your golf game, this will bring profound improvements to your overall health and well-being.

Have a plan

Don’t waste time in the gym.  Go in with a plan/program that specifically tells you what to do and when to do it.  Get in and get out.  This doesn’t have to be an all day affair!  While writing a program may seem overwhelming or complex, it doesn’t have to be!  Keep it simple.  Warm up using the mobility training ideas in Part 2 of this series, pick a power exercise (medicine ball throws or kettlebell swings) for the day and then pick a pushing movement, a pulling movement and an exercise for your legs.  If you want something more specific, find a professional in your area or take advantage of an online consulting/program design option that many professionals offer.

Wrapping up

Golf is a popular sport and the number of participants seems to be increasing every year.  Having an understanding of the injuries related to the game of golf and the dynamics of the sport can help to guide you in developing a safe and effective training program which not only can enhance performance but potentially prevent injury.  Hopefully you found this 3-part series informative and helpful and now have a better understanding of how to properly train for the game of golf.

For information on our online consulting program or our various training options or to set up a complimentary assessment please call 602-377-3362 or email patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com. 

Patrick

References

Wells GD, Elmi M, Thomas S. Physiological Correlates of Golf Performance. J Strength Cond Res 2009;23(3):741-750.

Sell TC, Tsai YC, Smoliga JM, Myers JB, Lephart SM. Strength, Flexibility and Balance Characteristics of Highly Proficient Golfers. J Strength Cond Res 2007;21(4):1166-1171.

Fletcher IM, Hartwell M. Effect of An 8-week Combined Plyometrics Training Program on Golf Drive Performance. J Strength Cond Res 2004;18(1):59-62.

Doan BK, Newton RU, Young-hoo K, Kraemer WJ. Effects of Physical Conditioning on Intercollegiate Golf Performance. J Strength Cond Res 2006;20(1):62-72.

Thompson CJ, Cobb KM, Blackwell J. Functional Training Improves Club Head Speed and Functional Fitness in Older Golfers. J Strength Cond Res 2007; 21(1):131-137.

Powers SK, Howley ET. Exercise Physiology: Theory and Application To Fitness and Performance. McGraw Hill. 2007.

In part 1 of this three part series I briefly went over the some of the injuries in golf and the importance of screening out your limitations and a well balanced training program.

In this article I would like to talk a little bit about mobility, as it is critical to the golf swing and potentially a deal breaker when it comes to whether you will get injured or not.

The golf swing, like other rotational sports (IE, baseball), requires that the individual have adequate hip mobility and thoracic mobility to not only transfer force from the ground, up through the core, into the upper extremity and out to an implement; but to also decrease the potential for injury:

• When hip mobility is poor or inadequate, we then attempt to get that movement somewhere else – the lower back
• When thoracic spine mobility is poor or inadequate, this can often times lead to shoulder issues (or even elbow issues)

In addition to the benefits that your mobility training has on injury prevention, it may also improve your overall golf performance, as strength and flexibility have been shown to be characteristics of more skilled golfers in things like handicap, power production, and carry distance in both the 5-iron and driver.

We begin by warming up with mobility training for two reasons:

1. It helps to prepare the body for the workout (or round of golf) by getting the joints moving and “playing well together”.
2. Stability is dependent on adequate mobility.  We can’t train ourselves to be stable (core training or strength training) on a poor platform.  Otherwise, we have a strong/stable dysfunctional person.  So, get mobility first and then add stability to it.

Address The Soft Tissue First

I think there is value to addressing the soft tissue prior to stretching or performing mobility movements.  Call it whatever you want – “get the knots out”, “create thixotropic change”, “get rid of trigger points”, etc – people generally tend to move better once this stuff is addressed as the tissue seems to be more compliant.  In my facility, with my one-on-one clients, I’ll often address the soft tissue with my hands:

But, if you are on your own, feel free to grab a foam roller or the massage stick and work on yourself.

The soft tissue work can be performed in the lower extremity and up through the thoracic spine as well.  This should only take about 5-8min, as the goal is not to get a full on massage at this time (save that for another day).  Depending on the individual, soft tissue work may or may not be needed prior to warming up, and may be better left for days in between intense workouts or competition.

Flexibility

The stretching as part of a warm up debate has been on going (and will continue to be on going, I’m sure) and some of my comments regarding this are posted HERE and HERE.

In a nut shell, the goal is to move into the stretch position, hold for a 3-5 count, and then relax out of it and do anywhere from 5-10 reps in this fashion.

Depending on your level and abilities, you may or may not need much flexibility work (or any at all) in your warm up.  This would have to be determined in your initial assessment.  What is appropriate for some may not be appropriate for others (there is a whole bunch of individuality to this).

Mobility

Now we are ready to get the body moving and working to enhance mobility.  Here are some of my mobility exercises to get you started, as performed by one of our amateur golfing clients.

Thoracic Mobility

Hip Mobility

Static Lunge Progressions (master one before moving on to the next!)

Addressing hip mobility in the squat pattern (this was originally posted in a previous blog post)

Conclusions

The goal of any training program is to enhance qualities of fitness that will benefit the athlete in the field of play.   These are a few mobility exercises that may help you enhance your golf game.  Because of the individuality that goes into designing a program, this is not by any means an exhaustive list, and the golfer is encouraged to seek out a qualified strength and conditioning specialist to enhance their golf game, prevent injury or develop fitness qualities when re-turning from injury.

In part 3 I will wrap up this article series by discussing power and strength training for golfers.

For information on how Optimum Sports Performance can help with your golf training program, please contact me at patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

References

Sell TC, Tsai YC, Smoliga JM, Myers JB, Lephart SM. Strength, Flexibility and Balance Characteristics of Highly Proficient Golfers. J Strength Cond Res 2007;21(4):1166-1171.

Gordon BS, Moir GL, Davis SE, Witmer CA, Cummings DM. An Investigation into the Relationship of Flexibility, Power, and Strength to Club Head Speed. J Strength Cond Res 2009;23(5):1606-1610.

Wells GD, Elmi M, Thomas S. Physiological Correlates of Golf Performance. J Strength Cond Res 2009;23(3):741-750.