My previous article on this topic walked through a series of steps intended to culminate in a better understanding of your golf swing. In brief, the article focused on finding out how fast you swing by using speed measuring devices available at Franchise Golf Centers and then working to improve your swing speed to gain distance. Balanced against the objective of improving speed is leveraging your newfound knowledge to throttle back your speed to optimize chances for solid contact, thereby gaining consistency. This article focuses on the physical fitness aspects necessary to make use of the information you've learned.
Shortcut to Greater Distance and Consistency.
Snack Game
So what is the panacea for gaining distance? There is none and you should stop deluding yourself that you can buy it in a magazine. Better technology and longer golf balls are going to keep the longest hitter in your foursome ahead of you unless you do something about it. So why am I touting it in the first place? Folks who specialize in the study of such topics will tell you it takes about 21 days to ingrain new habits or to establish routines that become somewhat "natural". For a golfer who is motivated to improve, the key is to get the right practice or exercise activity and to stick with it until you "own it". An example of this is the story of how Jack Nicklaus lost weight, kept it off and also resolved some early back problems caused by his follow through. He was so disciplined at the routine he established for himself that he went over a year without missing a day. In fact, I seem to recall him going several years without missing a day, even with his busy schedule. By the time he was into the long term discipline phase of his routine, he was thinner, healthier, pain free and a golfing machine.
The Consistency Part Of The Equation.
now that you know your golf swing speed (from my previous article), it is time to develop and execute an improvement program. Regardless of your current speed, it can be improved by getting in shape. Players in the peak of physical condition can improve by developing consistent backswings that can be repeated time after time. A swing back to 0900, where the lead arm is parallel to the ground (knockdown swing) will hit the ball about 70% or so, all things being equal (ATBE), as a full swing with the same club. A full swing is about a 1030 swing or halfway between parallel to the ground and straight behind your head. I can already hear the questions about 1030 not being a full swing.
The topic is consistency and the swing we are talking about is a knockdown swing. You may be that rare individual who can not only do the 0730 but also the 1230 swing consistently. For the rest of us mortals, we likely struggle with consistency in developing these shots due to two predominant types of errors; (1) we think it is a partial swing so we don't follow through as if it is a full shot (2) or we follow through harder than normal to try to achieve more distance. Once you can execute these swings consistently, an exercise routine such as described below can improve the amount of speed you get through the ball, thus improving your distance while maintaining consistency.
Getting Fit.
So the above was for those in the peak of physical condition who can benefit by focusing on the consistency part of the issue. What is the peak of physical condition? Your best bet to figure this out is to take a physical and ask for a doctor's advice. There is no substitute for professional advice in this regard. Once you do that you can verify the following advice and adapt it to your own routine. When I retired from the military I took the transitional tests and filled out paperwork and I remember being wowed by 1 question in particular; do you exercise to the point of perspiration at least three times per week? I thought it sounded somewhat silly at the time, since we ran two or three miles about every day and did a variety of calisthenics and the like on a regular basis. But not everyone is in the business of making fitness a part of their daily life and routine. So ten years later, when I found myself filling out similar paperwork, I had to admit that I did not work out to the point of perspiration on a regular basis. In fact, I was not working out at all.
Aerobic Fitness And Diet.
Once you get advice from a doctor, you will likely verify that you can obtain and maintain good aerobic fitness by exercising for at least 20 minutes every other day at 70% of your heart efficiency rate (220-your ageX70%). In my case its 220-50=170X70%=119. So if I get on a treadmill, elliptical device, ski tracker or go for a brisk walk and maintain my heart rate at 119 or higher for a minimum of 20 minutes, I will get in pretty decent aerobic shape (eventually). I have to add ATBE, because you have to pay attention to your diet as you get older, as you can't expect to eat everything in sight and also get in good aerobic shape. Muscle weighs more than fat, so as you transform one to the other you might not lose that weight you intended to, but if you add muscle it's all to the good. Do you watch what you eat and drink? If you work out for 20 minutes at a 70% rate and then celebrate with two non-light beers, ATBE you just net gained at least 20 calories (380 calories burnt in workout, 400 calories in beer).
Not a big deal, but it is easy to take note of your caloric intake if you get serious about getting in shape. You will find it maddening how easy it is to negate a lot of work in a relatively small amount of time by eating snacks, fast food, or simply not paying attention to what you eat. Non-diet soda, potato chips, peanuts and snack foods or candy are high in calories. Is your golf game worth this type of commitment to loosely track and cut these items out of your diet? That takes care of the aerobic part of the equation. With the doctor's advice, consent and recommendation, you can take it up a notch to 80% or some other level that provides a balance of challenge and interest.
When you achieve good aerobic conditioning you will find it a bit easier to do all the things you need to do on a golf course, such as concentrate, execute the swing consistently, walk, etc. My knees are pretty much shot from running in boots back when the Army thought that was OK, so I have come to live with running inside. The comfort and low impact of the treadmill is a necessary evil. It is no substitute for actual running. I like to do interval settings at 4.9 at a brisk walk to warm up, with a minimum speed of 6.2 (about 8.30 minute mile) and a maximum setting of 9.4 (about 6.08 minute mile). The cycle runs about 30 seconds and goes from 6.2 to 7.6, to 6.6 to 9.4 and back to 6.2. This gets my heart up about 85% or so and is a good workout.
Anaerobic Fitness.
The other side of the physical conditioning equation is your anaerobic conditioning and I do it on the alternating days. Simply put, this is the muscle or strength part of the conditioning routine. I like to use relatively low weights and greater repetitions rather than larger weights and less repetition. I feel the lower weight helps build tone and enhances speed needed for golf, but you should study up on this topic a bit to reach your own conclusions in this area. I think much of it comes down to body type, as well. Another words, tall and thin, or somewhat short and stocky, or somewhere in between. The exercises I do include routines focused on; single arm standing bicep curls, single and double arm seated triceps, seated rowing, seated chest lift (flys), seated shoulder lifts, seated lats, standing shrugs.
I also exercise my hands, fingers and wrists by doing twirling and reverse wrist curls with relatively light weights. I also do pull-ups and dips. This list is not all inclusive and is best developed by a fitness trainer or someone paid to provide help by developing individual fitness routines at your gym, starting with a guided self-assessment. The more important aspect of my routine is stretching. I have a ten minute warmup routine that focuses on standing and seated stretches. It is a bit complicated to explain, but it is based on standard martial arts warm-ups done for Tae Kwon Do to get ready to go through a normal workout. I usually do some aspect if not all of the routine every day as part of my workout. I find the stretching helps build width with the extension of the arms, the turn of the shoulders and the hips. I have not mentioned push ups or sit ups yet, but I do them as part of my stretching routine. I like to do as much of a forward facing split as I can and then do about 50 to 60 pushups of varying types. For sit ups, I do a lot of crunches, seated rows and inclined bench work.
Golf Focused Exercises.
So far no good you say? Where is the development of distance and consistency that I promised? Glad you asked. I focus on my golf swing by doing my standing exercises that I mention above in my golf ready or linebacker position. When I do my standing exercises, for instance, the standing curls, I adopt my golf stance and work with the mirror to ensure I am not raising or lowering in my stance as I work through the exercise. I do the same for all my standing exercise routines. To work on my turn, I take a 24 pound exercise bar and put it behind my neck. I adopt the same type stance as described above, and slowly turn from side to side, limiting my motion somewhat through leg and lower body tension, while gaining a bit of speed over time. I'm a bit more flexible than average despite my age from years of martial arts work, so I turn beyond 90 degrees in both directions.
After doing this for a dozen or more iterations in an easy back and forth manner, I set my left hip and retard my shoulders from going forward to work on building tension between my lower and upper body. The feel of this is similar to if you cross your arms over your chest under your armpits and turn your hips with your left side but resist with your shoulders. My favorite golf swing focused exercise device is a dual cable machine. It almost looks like a mini crane, with dual arms and a locking mechanism that runs from 1 to 15, representing a lift straight above your head and lowered down on the floor. I like to set it about 6 or 7, put a medium weight on it, and then adopt my golf stance.
Standing just out of reach sufficiently so the slack is taken up and the weight tugs my hand, I start from a 0900 knockdown position with my arm parallel to the ground and start my lower body and hips through a golf turn and supinate to or through impact. The key is to stay in a good golf stance position and to adopt a good impact position with your head and center line of your body at or behind the ball. I do ten with each arm, with the right arm launching off the hip from a bent position. I then turn the other way and repeat. This exercise is great for the inside muscle feel. I then put two and a half times the weight on the machine and step out until the weight is taken up. It takes both hands to do this to prevent being dragged off balance. Adopting a good golf stance, with both hands holding the weight and my lead arm parallel to the ground in a 0900 position, I snap my hips and supinate to or through impact with both hands. Try to isolate and coordinate the arms with the hip so it feels like the hip is slinging the arms through.
The above exercises will help build your golf muscles while focusing on stability, power, and isolation of the muscles needed to improve distance. Focusing on your stance while in these positions helps with your stability and a sense of balance while applying power, while in motion. The use of the mirror and the tracking of your position against set objects in the gym can provide feedback on your success in maintaining a good, level posture and a steady head. Finally, the cable drill will help build some explosive power that can be directly applied to your swing. I like to work the 0900 position because I want to know that position cold. I use it as the basis for my short game and the repetition built up over the course of a month's worth of exercising will pay immediate benefits for your knockdown shots.
Summary.
In my previous article I provided some tips and recommendations to help you find out how fast you swing and also discussed how to modulate your swing to find a balance between speed and solid contact. This article adds the element of physical conditioning, both aerobic and anaerobic, as well as stretching, to improve your ability to build speed while not losing consistency (e.g., solid contact). The golf focused portion of the effort such as the exercises conducted while adopting a golf stance, as well as the cable drills, can be augmented with the swinging of a weighted golf club. I particularly like the weighted clubs you can use to hit balls. Use a drill to get used to the optimal knockdown swing with your lead arm parallel to the ground or at a 0900 position. That is the best way to build a consistent swing, with the 0900 position as the base element of a repeating swing. There is no substitute for getting in better physical condition and it is likely going to take a bit of time once you commit to a routine. Your golf game will thank you for it!
If you have no idea about stretching routines or how to go about this portion of the workout, email me or submit comments with contact info and I will figure out how to post a video that runs through my martial arts workout. Gaining width through stretching can be just as important as adding strength!
Good Golfing! Mark Choiniere
Enhancing Distance and Consistency Part Two - Golf FitnessChris Brown - Sweet Love Video Clips. Duration : 3.42 Mins.Music video by Chris Brown performing Sweet Love. (C) 2012 RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
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