|
Getting Ready for Golf
By Wayne L. Westcott |
Golf season is right around the corner, and you are probably
well prepared to participate in every area but one. That is
the area of muscle conditioning and it is likely the most
important aspect of your pre-season preparation.
A few years ago we conducted several research studies with
senior golfers that significantly improved their health,
fitness, and driving power for a much better golf game. In
fact, this research led to the publication of our book,
Complete Conditioning For Golf, which helped change
professional golfers’ attitude towards strength training.
Let me begin by stating that we conducted our golf studies
in conjunction with Dr. John Parziale, the medical doctor
and university professor who specializes in treating golf
injuries.
Perhaps our most important finding was that the previously
injured and injury-prone golfers who completed our
golf-conditioning program played essentially pain-free the
following season. In addition, their improved physical
fitness enabled them to play golf for longer periods of time
with less fatigue, as well as to play more frequently.
With respect to better health, the senior golfers improved
their body composition by two percent after just two months
of strength training. More specifically, they replaced four
pounds of fat with four pounds of muscle, for an eight pound
body composition improvement in eight weeks.
With respect to better fitness, the 77 golfers increased
their muscle strength by 56 percent. In other words, they
gained strength at an average rate of seven percent per week
over the two month training period.
With respect to greater driving power, the golfers who did
strength training (only) increased their club head speed by
three percent. Those who combined 20 minutes of strength
training with five minutes of stretching exercise increased
their club head speed by six percent. Of course, faster club
head speeds translate to longer drives, as long as you hit
the ball squarely.
Although our golfers trained on Nautilus weight stack
machines, you can substitute free-weight exercises (bar
bells/dumbbells) if you prefer. Here is our basic program of
strength exercise for better golf. Perform each strength
exercise at a controlled movement speed (about six seconds
per repetition) and through a full range of joint action. If
you rest about one minute between exercises this overall
strength-training program should be completed in
approximately 20 minutes. Conclude your exercise session
with a few stretching exercises for the muscles of your
hips, lower back and shoulders. If time is limited, the
Figure 4 stretch will concurrently stretch all of these
areas. Simply sit on the floor with your right leg straight
and your left leg bent so that your left foot touches your
right inner thigh. Reach your right hand as far as
comfortable towards your right foot and hold the stretched
position for about 30 seconds. Repeat twice, then change leg
positions and reach your left hand towards your left foot
for two 30-second stretches.
You should do your golf conditioning exercises two or three
nonconsecutive days per week. You may be surprised to find
how much better you look, feel and function after just a few
weeks on this training program. |
About The Author
Wayne L. Westcott, Ph.D., is fitness research
director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, and author of 20
books on strength training.
|
|
