Spring/Summer Swing 2

Here at the Athlete Institute we are lucky to have Adam Hoffman (The Director of Athletic Development). Adam is a CGFI (Certified Golf Fitness Instructor) holding Combine 360, NSCA-CPT and TPI certifications to help show us a couple of exercises and movements that will help your body be ready for the start of the summer.


With Adam's help we put together an explanation below of what is important in the golf swing and some practical ways of making improvements. 

Stability and Mobility

The golf swing is a very unique movement that requires the perfect combination of stability and mobility. When preparing your body for the golf swing it is important not to think of just becoming more flexible, or just becoming stronger, there needs to be that balance. When talking about stability in the golf swing we generally think about strengthening our core. It is very beneficial to have a strong core in golf, but there needs to be just as much focus on our lower body, specifically our glutes for power generation and the lateral muscles in our legs that give us a solid foundation throughout the swing.

Mobility is just as important as being strong and stable in the golf swing. Your body has to be able to get the golf club in a specific spot and be able to repeat that motion consistently to achieve success on the golf course. For example, how are you supposed to turn to get your back to the target, keep that lead shoulder under your chin, while keeping your head still without mobility in your Hips, Thoracic Spine (mid-upper back), and Shoulders? It isn’t possible, and isn’t affected by how much weight you can lift in the gym.

The goal to training for golf is to incorporate movements and exercises that allow strength to be gained while increasing mobility. It doesn't matter if you are a 5 or 20 handicap, the results will all be the same; IMPROVEMENT. The movements shown below do not sacrifice mobility to gain strength and will get you ready to start this season with a body much more functional than last year!"

The following exercises can be completed with only a golf club and some open space. 

Squat Press: Hip Mobility, Upper Back and Shoulder Mobility, Glute Strength.


Make sure your arms are at a 90 degree angle to the club, with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. From there squat down and simultaneously press the club above your head.

The goal is try and get low enough to create a 90 degree angle between your upper and lower legs, while keeping your back straight and heels on the ground. When you reach 90 degrees or lower the club should be pressed with straight arms above your head and in line or behind your ears.  

This may take some practice, but make sure you are pushing your body a little bit more every time you try this movement. You will see that over time, your hip, upper back, and shoulders will feel more mobile and your golf swing will reflect those improvements. 

Plank: Abdominal, Lower Back, and Shoulder Stability

Core stability is one of the main components of a well balanced and powerful golf swing. Below is a great way to improve it. The classic plank! The key here is to have the body in a neutral position. Notice how the body is in a straight line. Try to hold this for 20 seconds the first time you try it and build your strength up so you you can hold it for a minute or longer at one time. Again it may be difficult at the start, but will become easier with practice.

Push-Up Opposites: Full body Strength and Mobility

Start at the top of a push-up position with hands directly in line with your shoulders.

Once stabilized, extend your left arm and right leg simultaneously. While keeping your balance in this position, hold it for a split second to ensure you have completed the motion.

Then back to push up position.

The next move is to repeat the motion with the opposite arm and leg. The goal here is to keep your balance and start with 5 on each side and build from there.

Lateral Golf Club Shuffle: Lateral Stability, Coordination, Glute Strength


Start with the club in your right hand, holding your stance in an athletic position, keeping your chest up and back straight.

As your explode up and to the left, move the club into your left hand and shift your weight to the left leg.

Finish with the club in your left hand, touching the ground in the same position as you started, just on the opposite side. Start with doing as many as you can in one minute. Look out bomb drives!

The Finale


V-Sit Golf Club Rotation: Core Stability 

The starting position is seated with legs straight out in front of you about a foot off the ground. With straight arms rotate your chest from side to side, bringing the club to the ground beside you in line with your hip. Make sure your core stays tight and minimize the side to side movement of your legs.

Start with 10 on each side and build from there.

Enjoy the added distance and reduced pain!




Here is Sam Snead with some inspiration. Side note, he is the only player in PGA Tour history with more wins than Tiger Woods. He was an amazing athlete!

From: http://www.travellinggolfer.com

Spring Golf

As the warm the weather makes the move into spring golf weather. I thought it would be a great time to give a couple tips on how to get ready and the edge on your golfing buddies.

The Question:


 Is it possible to get better at golf without playing on grass???? I would say without a doubt, yes!


Lets take a look at a great example of this, Mark Wilson. He has had great starts to his PGA Tour seasons for the last 2 years, so what has he been doing? Well, he is on tour, so like many of the players, you would guess he lives in a warm climate, like Florida, Arizona or California. That would have been my guess too. He actually spends his winter months living at his home outside of Chicago. In 2011, he came out of the gates hot winning two of the first three events, and to prove that it wasn't a fluke, he had another great start this year. Winning one of his first three events, and he also finished 3rd at the WGC Matchplay Championship.

http://www.pgatour.com/golfers/021878/mark-wilson/career/#uber

Here is a great look at Mark Wilson over the winter and him getting ready for his first event of the year on 'Inside the PGA Tour.'

Lets get into some practical ways to set yourself up for the best summer of golf you have ever had.

If you don't have a indoor golf area like Mark Wilson or cannot come see me at The Athlete Institute, here are some drills/exercises you can do at home to get you ready to beat your buddies this summer.

Lets start with putting, since we hit more shots in a round with our putter then with any other club. We should practice the most with it to drop shots!

This drill will help you improve your stroke and is easily done inside your home.

Supplies: your putter, 5 golf tees, and 5 to 10 feet of carpet.

With this drill, it is important to space the first two tees just outside your putter head to ensure the contact is in the centre of the putter. The next two tees should be placed an even distance in front and behind the ball. Start with 8 inches back and 8 inches through, and see how far that putt rolls. Everyone is different, and putting is 90% feel, so play around to see how far you hit the putt.

Notice below how the face of the putter head gets all the way to the back tee and stops at the forward tee. This is a key step.

Like in every shot in golf, your rhythm is key. I say your rhythm because whether fast or slow, make sure is it the same speed back and through. Below are two stroke videos that are very different, but both very effective. The first is from Stricker and the second is  from Snedeker.

Pay attention to Brandt's quick but even back and through stroke. Now lets picture their swings; Stricker is slow and smooth, and Snedeker's  is quick and snappy. Very similar look to their putting strokes. Keep that in mind to help you find your putting rhythm. Once you get comfortable with the drill, see how many times you can hit this putt without knocking down the tees that are on the heel and the toe of the putter. The last challenge is to continue to do the same thing, but now look only at the target and not the ball. This will be strange at the start, but will eventually become easy.

Quick review.

Step 1

- Even back and through (longer putt = longer stroke).

Step 2

- Consistent rhythm (match it to your swing).

Step 3

- Change the focus to the target. If you can putt it where you look, and look at the hole, you'll make a lot of putts! Tiger describes it as "putting to the picture" which is another great analogy. 

The next 'Spring Golf' tip to follow.

THE FINE LINE OF GREATNESS

During my college years I played on the golf team at Coastal Carolina University. 


I had the pleasure of being the teammate of some amazing players. These included: 

• 5-time PGA Tour winner and current #7 in the world Dustin Johnson
• Nationwide Tour player Zack Byrd
• European Tour player Alvero Velsco, and 
• 2002 British Amateur Champion Alejandro Larrazzabal. 

Those are currently the most notable players from my days at Coastal, but all the guys on the team had amazing potential to become players on the PGA tour or European Tour. So, what was the difference and what really does it take? 

                                                                     source
I vividly remember in my third year at Coastal that the weather was terrible out. Golf practice was cancelled, so we met at our Coach's office and headed to the 'Prince' building where we gathered in a lecture hall; coach, the teacher, and us, the students. It was a pump you up/wake you up type of speech. I don't remember all of it, but there was one point that I will never forget. Coach was a bit intense at times as the guys would probably agree with and the talk that day was no different. At one point during this lecture, he asked, "which of you think you can play on the PGA Tour?" All of us put our hands up. Then he said, "in all likelihood, maybe 3 of you have a chance" (there was 11 on the team at the time). This was not a 'shoot your dreams down' speech, but more of a 'how much do you want it' speech. 


He went on to ask questions like, 'would you want to have a putt to decide if you can pay your mortgage, or put  food on the table?' These types of questions (for me) put into perspective the game, commitment, confidence and toughness that was needed to make it. There are currently 2 players from that speech that are on tour and one other that is on his way to making it.


So what do these players have that made the difference? Well in my opinion, an amazing amount of confidence, an inner belief that they would make it, absolutely zero doubt and 100% focus on achieving their goal. 


I am guessing that this may not be the first time you have heard you need those traits to make it on tour. But during my time playing with Dustin, his confidence in himself never wavered. If he shot 79 or 65 his attitude may have changed slightly, but the score never dictated his confidence. 




Here is Dustin's scoring average and tournament stats from his years at Coastal.

source

Stats from Golf Stat


Season    Tourn   Rds.   Avg.     VS      National    Low          In.     Par or      Fin.      Wins       Best
                                     score     par      Rating         Rd.        60's    Better     Pct.                       Fin.
2003-04   10    30.0     75.60      3.70        660          70         0             3       52.7%       0        T6                                                                             
2004-05  13   39.0     72.21      0.44        28           64         8            21      89.1%         1          1


2005-06   13    40.0      71.80     0.03        22            66         10          23      87.3%       3           1


2006-07   14    43.0      70.40    -1.00         7             66         16          33       91.8%      4            1




As you can see from the stats he continued to improve each season and with that became one of the best players in the nation.




How do we build confidence and why is it so important in golf??


When I look closer at the players who have made it, I see a couple things in common...




1. One dream.


It was almost a program in their mind. Dustin had no idea what he would be doing if he wasn't on tour. I saw this in those players that made it. NO other option. This is what they were meant to do. All it is, is a choice; a decision to not worry about what other people think. Or maybe at that time, it was unrealistic, but it was a choice, with no plan B. If this happens, your focus will become much clearer on the path to success. 

This is a great interview that shows the 100% focus. Right at the end of the interview, Dustin is asked what would he be doing if he wasn't on the PGA Tour. His answer, "I have no idea." 

2. Protecting their game.


What does that mean? By no way do I mean they didn't change or improve their swings and games, but they protected their feeling. They may have made adjustments to be more consistent, but to me, they never lost their feel. They had almost a stubbornness to change. They always wanted to be in control of what they were doing. They protected their game. They were able to use this to continue to improve, without taking any major steps back. It is important through any change in your swing or game to be in control of what you are doing. Your swing-feel should always remain intact, thus giving you confidence that you are in control of your game. 





3. Taking the good and not the bad.


My great buddy Christian Smith and I talked about this the other day. Christian was on the team with me at Coastal and is currently a Mental Conditioning Coach at IMG Performance Academy in Florida. He is amazing when it comes to the mental game, so taking the good without the bad. What I mean by this is they always took or saw the positive. Say for example, the score for the day wasn't as low as they wanted, they didn't let this affect their confidence. They would actually use the good shots to build confidence. I remember almost doing the opposite, I was so intent on improving. Most of my focus was on things I needed to improve, as opposed to, what I was doing well. I was actually reducing my confidence, not increasing it. A practical way that Christian teaches to his students, is for them to write down their best shot they hit in every round. This helps them replay it in their mind and build inner confidence. 


4. Routine.


Here is a couple swings from Dustin, pay attention to the 2 taps with the club to the grass then he pulls the trigger.

Routine is so key in golf because it is something you control and can repeat every time. As Christian once said, "if you asked a golfer, 'are you nervous about your routine?' The answer is always 'no'." Being in control of something in golf is very important for confidence because there are so many aspects you cannot control.




5. Be an athlete, not just a golfer.


I know there are some players on tour that are not in the best shape. But, lets take a look at the top 10 in the world (as of February 28th, 2012):

1.  Donald - 9.13
2. McIlroy - 8.60 
3. Westwood - 8.17
4. Kaymer - 6.02 
5. Stricker - 5.80 
6. Simpson - 5.14 
7. Johnson - 5.11
8. Scott - 5.05
9. Mahan - 5.03 
10. Day - 5.01

There are some great athletes in this group. Why is this so important for confidence? To me, the training that they are doing is setting them apart - not only physically, but the mental edge they have knowing they deserve it more that any one else. Because they are working harder and are sharper than everyone else is a huge confidence builder. Below is Dustin going through an extreme tough move in his workout, but it is not a secret why he hits it so far (strength, coordination and mobility).

                                                                      source


To wrap it up.                                                                                        


I remember playing with Dustin for the first time, we were both around par and Dustin said to me pretty much out of the blue, 'if I make a couple putts, I'll shoot under par every round.' This to me was an over-the-top statement from a freshman to make and I was caught a bit off guard. Under par every round.... really?! But all it was, was a deep down belief in his game. Looking back, why not think like that?! That thought could be the most important difference-maker in getting you to the next level.

What do you think is the best way to build confidence in golf?