Having good balance is an absolute necessity for generating a powerful golf swing. If you do not have a strong foundation, then you simply will not have the ability to generate a full turn, and thus, you will lose power in the swing.
But, what are the keys to good balance? Well, this is where improved fitness comes in. Probably the most significant muscle involved in proper balance is the hamstring. Not only must it be flexible, it must be strong.
The hamstrings must first be flexible. The reason for this is that the hamstrings, through the glutes, are tied to the lower back. Since it is crucial to maintain a straight spine angle throughout the golf swing, there is pressure on the lower back. The lower back gets support from the glutes and hamstrings. So, if the hamstrings are not flexible, they will not provide proper support to the lower back muscles. This is one reason why many golfers suffer from a tight back during and after a round of golf.
First, determine your own personal flexibility with a little test. We’ve all done this! While keeping your legs straight, bend at the waist slowly and try to touch your toes. Can you do this? If not, you need to work on stretching the hamstrings.
I generally prefer stretching one leg at a time. Here is my stretching routine for the hamstrings:
Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you. Pull the right foot in so that the bottom of the foot touches the inside of the left knee. Point the toes of the left foot straight up. Keeping your back as straight as possible, reach down to the leg, starting at the knee, and move your body forward, pushing the chest toward the knee. Reach further down the leg as far down as you can go, and try to draw the chest as close to the knee as possible. Once you have hit your limit, feeling a good stretch, hold that position for 15 seconds. Try and relax as much as possible, then try to reach further down the leg to the ankle or foot and move the chest even closer to the knee, and hold for another 15 seconds. Slowly rise up, and switch legs, repeating this sequence.
In order to work on strengthening the hamstrings, my favorite exercise, since it also works the quadriceps, is the step-back lunge. This exercise is performed as follows:
Standing with your feet shoulder width apart, holding a pair of dumbbells, step back with the left foot at one full step, and sink down into a lunge position with your right leg. Your upper right leg should be parallel to the floor. Hold this position for a second, then push off with the left foot and return to the starting position. Repeat by stepping back with the right foot and sink down into a lunge position with the left leg. Repeat each side for 8 to 12 repetitions, so don’t use a heavy weight.
If you can develop flexible and strong hamstrings, you will better be able to get into a good golf posture, and maintain that spine angle through impact, and that is the key to solid, consistent ball striking.
Scott Cole www.powergolftraining.net
There are plenty of golf fitness gurus out there who insist that you can gain greater distance by doing a few exercises and stretches. This will be true if you already have a good golf swing. But, the bottom line is, if you have a faulty swing, you can exercise until you are blue in the face, and it won't matter.
A week ago I was in Dallas attending the Hank Haney "Teaching the Teacher" seminar that he holds annually. We all had the opportunity to work with Hank's staff on our swings. Fortunately, I also had the opportunity to get a full swing lesson from Hank in front of the rest of the pros. He analyzed video of my swing, showed me my faults, then showed me how to improve my swing. He essentially gave me the same lesson that one of his instructors, Doug Alexander, had given me a couple days earlier. However, it did reinforce what I needed to work on.
A couple hours later, I took these ideas to the driving range. I struggled for a while, mainly because I was not getting the release at impact correct, and my follow through was off. After a while though, it finally clicked. I ripped four straight 5-irons with a slight draw, and decided to pull out the driver. I made perfect contact with the driver, and the ball flew dead straight. I have no idea how far it went, but the ball flight was beautiful, and the ball shot off the clubface like a bullet. The beauty of all this was that the physical effort required to hit these shots was far less than with my old swing.
So, first thing is first. If you want more distance, improve your swing. Then, when you want to take it to the next level, work on your fitness.
Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net
This is a follow up to a recent post discussing the keys to generating more power in your golf swing. In the first installment, I discussed the importance of a good set up with balance. In this post, the focus is on the shoulder turn.
What I have noticed in most average players is the lack of a good shoulder turn. This may be the result of a physical issue, but in most cases, it is due to a swing flaw, such as a reverse pivot. Most golfers that learn the game as adults have difficulty developing a big shoulder turn since they are primarily focused on trying to either just make contact with the ball, or keep it in play. Junior golfers and those that learn the game at an early age rarely have this problem.
However, generating a powerful golf swing requires that full shoulder turn, since when you combine that with a smaller hip turn, you generate significant torque. When this torque is unwound, significant clubhead speed is generated.
If flexibility is your issue in trying to generate a full shoulder turn, I suggest you learn some basic stretching exercises that will help to loosen up your upper body. My ebook, "How to Improve Your Golf Swing Power" provides a number of such exercises along with strength training routines you can perform at home with no equipment.
If you have a swing flaw such as a reverse pivot, you are losing significant power in that regard. Seek a qualified golf instructor to help you deal with that issue.
Scott Cole www.powergolftraining.net
As is my custom, I started my New Year workout routine on the first Monday of the New Year. Now, keep in mind, I worked out more consistently in 2008 than any year in the last 15. But, as the holidays approached, and I tried to get a lot of my other work completed so I could relax for a couple weeks, I slacked off.
Today, I started my new routine. As someone who is experienced with working out, I knew I needed to not go all out today, or I would be in serious pain on Tuesday, since I had not worked out for three weeks. I warmed up as I always do by jumping rope for a few minutes along with some light stretching. Unfortunately, my "gym" is in my garage, although these days I do not do heavy lifting. So, since I live in Pennsylvania, it is a little cold in there in the mornings in January.
I went through my entire 45 minute workout consisting of a variety of pushups and pullups, but may not have been loose enough. Near the end, I felt the familiar twinge in my upper back, under my shoulder blade, that indicates the onset of a muscle spasm. As the day wore on, the spasm became more painful, and now it will be difficult to get through all of my routines the rest of the week.
Although I don't believe I over did it, as the rest of my upper body is a little sore, but not too sore, I probably should have eased into the routine a bit more.
The moral to this story is...if you have not worked out for a couple weeks or more, don't over do it the first few workouts, especially if you are starting a routine once the golf season is underway. Sore muscles on the golf course tend to inhibit good scoring!
Scott Cole www.powergolftraining.net
The PGA named Corey Pavin as Ryder Cup Captain for the 2010 event in Wales. Pavin has had a long career on tour, with a notable victory in the 1995 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, where he held off Greg Norman with his incredible 4-wood shot into the 18th hole in the final round. Overall, he has had 15 wins on tour.
I have no problem with this choice, as he was probably next in line for the job after Paul Azinger. What I am noticing, however, is a trend over the past decade of shorter and shorter resume for our Ryder Cup captains. The fact is, besides Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, professional golfers on both major tours just don't win much anymore. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is due to the huge amount of money these guys make on tour now. Maybe they just are not as hungry, or maybe the fields are just deeper, I don't know.
I will say this though, and I have said it many times before...there are fewer players on tour that really know how to win, and win consistently. I think the 1960's through the early 1980's was probably the Golden Era of golf. Look at how many truly outstanding players there were, and how often they won. Not only tour events, but majors. Let's specifically look at major winners. Obviously you start with Nicklaus and his 18 professional majors, then you have Gary Player (9), Tom Watson (8), Arnold Palmer (7), and Lee Trevino (6). Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo came on at the end of this period and had 5 and 6 majors respectively.
Back during that period, the list of winners is littered with players that won more than one major. From 1960 to 1983, the list of major championship winners is dominated by repeat major championship winners. Since 1990, besides Tiger Woods, there have only been a handful of winners who have gone on to win another major. Among today's players, Tiger has 13 major victories, and his nearest contemporary competitors all have just 3 (Mickelson, Singh, Els and now Harrington).
What I have noticed in recent years is that the only player who goes out and really wins a major without backing into it, is Tiger Woods. In all 3 of his majors, Ernie Els essentially survived while is competitors fell apart. Mickelson did well to win his three, and so have Harrington and Singh. Otherwise, we have not seen any major brilliant displays such as Nicklaus' 65 at Augusta in 1986, Player's 64 at Augusta in 1978, or the splendid battle between Nicklaus and Watson at Turnberry in 1977. And to top the list, Johnny Miller's 63 at Oakmont in 1973.
The point is, going forward, unless either Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson is the captain of the Ryder Cup team, the resume of the captain of the U.S. side will be pretty thin in the foreseeable future. Most of the great players from the 1990's just have one major victory (Love and Couples). Payne Stewart should be mentioned here, he had 3. And, in the last five years, only four Americans have won majors (Woods, Mickelson, Todd Hamilton and Zach Johnson).
Somehow, our players need to learn how to win!
Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net