My two passions in life are golf and fitness. I am truly excited by how golf and the image of golfers are changing. It is fantastic to finally see golfers being considered as athletes and more and more golfers are beginning to understand how being physically and mentally fit can improve their game just as much as working on their golf swing.
I am a certified Titleist Performance Instructor. I have an excellent understanding of how a golfer’s biomechanical makeup can be hindering their performance. I provide conditioning programmes including corrective exercises which address the physical issues that are stopping the golfer from reaching their full potential.
Increasing a player’s golfing fitness can be key to improving their performance. A player, who can avoid physical fatigue a golf tournament, is always going to have the edge over fellow competitors. We only need to look at the top of the game to see this. The most dominant players are generally the fittest I,e Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods to name a few.
A strong core will support your lower back and provide stability to your lower half during the golf swing. This can help you to avoid injury and enable you to generate more club head speed without the risk of injury. A strong core is key to allow the golfer to maintain posture during the golf swing, an extremely common swing flaw which makes consistent ball striking extremely difficult and can often lead to injury.
Intense exercise with an elevated heart rate will prepare your body (and mind) to handle the grind of a golf round. Feeling stronger for longer will allow you to make more of your ‘good’ swings and avoid fatigue which will often lead to swing faults which will negatively impact performance. Fatigue also can result in poor posture and gait, which increases the risk for physical injury and will be detrimental to performance.
"Exercise can only be beneficial to your golf game"
Mobility and a decent range of motion at key joints, enables players to get the club into technically sound positions which allow the golfer to play consistently better golf. It is proven that mobility within the shoulders, hips and thoracic spine are key to producing technically sound golf swings with speed and consistent ball striking.
Strength gains can help power, speed, mobility, balance, muscular endurance and coordination. All are key components when generating club head speed which is highly correlated with handicap. The lower a player's handicap is, the higher their club head speed at impact tends to be. Studies have shown a 24% increase relates to a reduction of 4 shots off a golfer's handicap. This is just one example of the benefits of strength and conditioning for golf. An elite golfer who creates large amounts of club head speed will benefit from additional strength. It will allow the golfer to remain in control of the club and decelerate after impact safely without putting unnecessary strain on the body which may result in injury. i.e Rory Mcilroy
This is a very general overview and it must be noted that being golf fit and generally fit are very different and therefore any fitness programme a golfer undertakes must be tailor made to the individual’s needs. This will ensure the training the golfer puts in at the gym will have a positive impact on their performance.
I can perform a simple 12 point screen that will analyse how ‘golf fit’ you are and how your biomechanical makeup may be hindering your performance. From there we can create a simple but effective programme to improve your golf fitness and help you achieve your goals whether that is to play 18 holes without fatigue, hit longer drives, prevent injury or simply help you to make the swing changes required to improve your performance.
