Winter Workouts for a Better Golf Swing by Dr. Paul Callaway Winter is approaching and, for many golfers in the Northern parts of the country, their golf clubs are put away and thoughts of improved golf performance are put on hold until spring. But, as a golf fitness and performance specialist, I inform my clients and the golfers I speak to in my golf fitness workshops, the ‘off-season’ is really the best time of year to focus on golf fitness training and swing re-education to make the biggest improvements in your golf performance for next season.  With all-season facilities like where I see my golf fitness clients here at the Cantigny Golf Academy in Wheaton, IL www.CantignyGolf.com, golfers now have 12-month access to all four of the essential golf performance ingredients including professional golf instruction, golf-fitness training, golf mental training and custom golf equipment fitting. The biggest challenge now is to change the mindset of golfers in the colder climates to take advantage of the opportunity available to them to significantly improve their game during the winter months. We’ve all heard the definition of ‘insanity’... “Keep doing the same things and expect different results.” So, if you feel frustrated in any way with your play this season, don’t spend another winter doing nothing to work on your game and expect better results and a more satisfied feeling next golf season. Instead, I encourage you to sit down, right now, and set your performance goals for next season. Meet with your team of performance specialists (golf coach, golf fitness expert, mental coach, and equipment fitters) and create your customized, fully integrated performance plan for this off-season. This is the time of year to take advantage of all that extra time and money you’re not applying to playing golf. Whether you’re a senior golfer wanting more flexibility and strength to reduce some aches and pain, a junior golfer looking to take your game to the next level and get the college scholarship of your dreams, or a top amateur golfer wanting to increase your flexibility and strength for some added swing speed and needed distance to shave your scoring average a few percentage points, there couldn’t be a better time to start your golf training program than now. What should a ‘winter’ golf-specific training program look like? A fully customized, golf-specific fitness and total performance program should include a combination of elements depending on the strength and weaknesses of your current swing and golf game. But, once your individual needs are fully identified through the complete evaluation process provided by your professional performance team, each of the four essential performance ingredients must be addressed. 1) Improved Golf-Specific ‘Physical’ Performance Factors This is huge, for all golfers at any age and skill level. Grooving your swing with swing re-education drills alone will not get the job done most efficiently and safely. The fundamental truth about improving your golf swing performance potential through positive changes in your physical conditioning stems from the biomechanical law known as “structure governs function”. Simply put, to swing better, you need to first change your body structure. Custom fitness training including golf-specific exercises addressing posture, balance, flexibility, strength and conditioning, combined, as needed, with manual restructuring techniques performed by qualified manual therapy professionals, is the best way to go. 2) Professional Swing Coaching As you are changing your physical factors and body structure to enhance your swing performance potential, integrating professional swing re-education is vital – especially during the ‘off-season’! Swing faults are more difficult to fix during the season when you are playing more than you practice - and, if attempted, can make you play worse before you get better. So, getting with your swing coach for targeted work on specific swing changes is best done during the winter and when complimented by golf-specific fitness training to support your physical ability to easily, repeatedly and safely get into the more optimal posture and swing positions your coach wants you to achieve. 3) Golf-Specific Mental Training It is often said that golf is 90% mental. It is certainly true; our ‘body’ is the instrument of our ‘mind’. Therefore, improved focus, concentration, confidence, and the ability to make good decision on the course definitely are vital to improved let alone optimal performance. That’s why finding a golf-specific mental coach/resource and communicating with that coach/resource throughout the off-season to build appropriate on-the-course mental strategies helps fulfill the mental element of the four essential performance factors of golf. 4) Golf Equipment Fitting Although the club equipment manufacturers would like us to believe otherwise, when it comes to effective shot making, scoring and total golf performance, it is much more about the golfer than the golf club. Nevertheless, technologically advanced and properly fit golf equipment is also one of the four essential golf performance factors that requires our appropriate degree of attention. Meeting with your golf coach during the off-season and getting input from your golf-fitness specialist to inquire about when our body and swing might be ready for a custom equipment fitting is a very good idea. After all, we ‘do’ need to have the proper ‘tools’ in our collective ‘tool kit’ to do the job properly as golfers. There you have it, having a comprehensive winter work-out plan can and will help your game make potentially quantum improvements compared to only working on your game during the regular golf season or, worse yet, doing nothing at all! Your comprehensive, golf-specific winter golf workout program needs to include all four of the essential golf performance factors to get the best and safest results. If you don’t have your professional team of performance specialists identified as of yet, the time is now to find them, meet with them, and establish your customized winter golf workout program so you can have an extraordinary golf experience next season. To get help with identifying your team of performance specialists and/or to get help with your custom golf fitness training program this off-season and beyond, feel free to contact me at Paul@CallawayGolfFitness.com or call: 1-630-567-7572. Get the "Golf Fit for Life" e-Book at |
 |
|||||||
 
CategoriesGolf fitness and performanceGolf Injuries Golf Nutrition Health and Wellness Personal Enhancement |
|
 |
|||||
    |
|||||||
