We are pleased to announce that Sean Cochran, a nationally renowned golf fitness instructor and the personal golf fitness trainer to 2005 PGA Champion Phil Mickelson, has joined PGA.com as a fitness advisor. Cochran, who also has served as strength and conditioning coach for the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres major league baseball teams, will write a weekly fitness blog that will appear exclusively on PGA.com. He'll update it a couple of times a week, telling you about how to achieve better fitness, life on the road -- and in the gym -- with Lefty, plus answer your questions about fitness and how it can help you play better golf. More of Cochran's articles and his acclaimed fitness aids are available at his web site, www.bioforcegolf.com.
Joint Range of Motion and a Fluid Golf Swing
The Memorial is behind us, this week we are at Westchester, and next is the second major of the year at Winged Foot. Time flies when you are on the road. It seems just like yesterday we were at Augusta. I have a great opportunity next week. I am going to play Westchester on Tuesday. The course will have the Sunday pin placements and I've already been told it will be tough. Regardless, it is going to be a fun round of golf.
The last couple of weeks we have been on the topic of flexibility training, a cornerstone of developing your body for the golf swing. We have talked about principles and guidelines to adhere to on the development of your flexibility program. Additionally, we have broken down flexibility training into three separate categories: responsive, operational and dynamic. Last week responsive flexibility training was introduced, and this week we are going to present operational flexibility training.
Remember, responsive flexibility exercises are geared towards stretching muscles that are "tight." Muscles that are tight limit joints moving through full ranges of motion. This easily causes compensations to be developed in the golf swing -- something I am sure we have all seen one time or another on the course. Responsive flexibility exercises "fix" the muscles that are tight. Once we have got this part of the problem corrected, it is time to begin developing the ranges of motion within the joints needed to swing the golf club.
For example, the shoulder is a ball and socket joint required to move through a large range of motion while swinging the golf club. If the shoulder is unable to move through a large range of motion, the golf swing may very well be impeded. Operational flexibility exercises do just that. They develop the ranges of motion in each individual joint involved in the golf swing.
The golf swing involves numerous joints in the execution of the golf swing. The hips, spine, and shoulders are just a couple of them involved. A great operational flexibility exercise is the Bent-Arm Windmills. This is a great operational flexibility exercises focusing on the spine (remember the spine is a joint) and the range of motion required of the golf swing in this joint.
A simple exercise to perform: begin by placing feet shoulder-width apart, hands clasped together, elbows bent and elevated at shoulder height. Begin by rotating the arms and shoulders as far as possible to the left, keeping the feet flat on the floor. Then rotate as far as possible to the right. Alternate left and right, keeping the elbows at shoulder height. I like to perform anywhere from 10 to 20 repetitions of this exercise.
I am currently taking odds on my score at Westchester. My current goal is to break 90, and if you have any suggestions for my round, I would love to hear them.
Previous blog entries:
05/29/06 Flexibility Exercises to Help with Those Tight Muscles
05/23/06 Guidelines for Your Golf Flexibility Program
05/16/06 Assess Your Flexibility First
05/09/06 Better Golf Exercises to Improve Your Swing
05/02/06 Developing a Repeatable Golf Swing and Your Body
04/26/06 Increasing the Clubhead Speed in Your Golf Swing
04/18/06 How To Prepare for Your Round
04/17/06 Swing Faults are Not Really Swing Faults
03/27/06 You can improve balance in your swing
03/24/06 Improve Your Flexibility and See Results in Your Swing
03/20/06 Your Body is the Foundation of Improving Your Golf Swing
