The need to get in shape strategy…If I’m in better shape it will clear up my swing faults.
This can end up being a slice!
The next step you think… well I may need to see a personal trainer!! Or, I’ll get a book on exercises to improve my golf game!!
Your thought… if I’m stronger, I’ll hit the ball straighter and further!
For the most part, this is true, but there is a lot in that statement to consider.
So, you get out your smart phone and Google, personal trainers in my area? Maybe you go to your local fitness club and ask to see their personal trainer! The Country Club you belong to has them on staff!
From my many years of experience, unless you are the luckiest person in the world, you’re probably not going to find the most qualified person you need this way. “Now trainers don’t get your feathers ruffled”.
There are many highly skilled personal trainers out there, but a majority of them do not have the skill set specific to training golf biomechanics. Their idea of a golf specific exercise programming is putting you on weight machines, bosu balls and exercises that mimic the golf swing. I’m sure at first glance this type of exercise program seems like a great plan. I will be addressing later in this series specifically why this approach will not eliminate swing faults and improve your game…
Just a reminder, one of my main goals of this blog series is to get you to think about how important proper process is, think out of the box!
I know this is a worn out cliché, but a very true one, “never judge a book by its cover”. There are different levels of skills and experience in every career field and personal trainers are no different. Your average personal trainer probably does not have the background, experience, screening skills and golf performance certifications that are needed to perform a thorough golf functional movement screen (evaluation) to determine if your body can perform correctly during the golf swing.
If the trainer you choose does not, or can not properly perform a physical screen they can also easily miss if you have any predisposition to injury. This miss-step could cause them to recommend exercises that you maybe should not be doing in the first place.
Many components are crucial to permanently improving a golf swing. Too many times it’s about the task, not the process! Again, I can’t emphasize enough how important that the trainer you choose has the ability to properly evaluate your biomechanical soundness.
Buying a book to help improve your golf game;
This course of action is inexpensive. But, have you ever heard the saying, “you get what you pay for”!
This idea is never at the top of my list. Being a strength and conditioning and performance coach I get asked quite often if I recommend a workout book. My answer is always, NO!
This in my book, no pun intended, is a swing and a miss. Buying a book on golf workouts and how to improve your swing can lead to more negative consequences, than positive ones. More often than not, a book will lead to more problems with your swing mechanics and increase potential for injury. What I always stress to my clients’ is that a book doesn’t tell you how an exercise is supposed to feel or cannot tell you if you are performing the exercises with the proper form. What it boils down to is a guessing game?? This guessing game can cause not only damage to your swing mechanics, but injury to oneself. I think that if you don’t have the education and experience in biomechanics/kinesiology, picking out specific exercises that you feel will benefit you from a book is a very challenging task. A book will not assess your specific needs; it doesn’t tell you if you are physically ready to do their specific recommended exercises.
A book, like a personal trainer who does not know how to properly assess you, can do far more harm than good.
Playing golf is an expensive endeavor. Believe me, it’s not my goal to push people out of the game. My goal is to make sure you have all the tools necessary for success. It’s a game you can practically play for your whole life. But, if you want to truly improve your game, avoid injury, enjoy a life time of playing the game, it’s going to require you to invest in yourself.