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.
Getting Yourself Ready for a Round of Golf
The build-up to the U.S. Open at Winged Foot has begun. The Barclays Classic at Westchester Country Club, according to many Tour players, was an ideal warm-up for the second major of the year. Attention now shifts just down the road to Winged Foot and the 2006 U..S Open. Everything I have heard about the course sounds as though it will be an extremely challenging four days of golf (nothing new when it comes to U.S. Open venues). The rough is very high, which means tee shots hitting the fairway of the greatest importance.
It is going to be an exciting week of golf and come Sunday we will have a 2006 U.S. Open champion. Over the past few weeks, we have been talking about flexibility training. Undoubtedly, a very important component of golf fitness training and golf swing improvement. We have discussed responsive flexibility training to stretch "tight muscles," and operational flexibility exercise to develop joint range of motion for the swing. One final category of flexibility training exists.
We all understand the execution of the golf swing is a "total body" athletic movement. The execution of the golf swing from start to finish requires you to use the whole body. Again, you do not swing the golf club only with your arms (if you do, you might have some difficulty). Rather you swing the golf club with your whole body.
That being said we must follow a sequential order when it comes to flexibility training. No. 1, we must stretch "tight" muscles with responsive flexibility exercises. Secondly, develop the ranges of motion of each joint involved in the golf swing with operational flexibility training. Once these two components are addressed, we move onto developing total body ranges of motion with dynamic flexibility exercises.
Think of flexibility training like breaking down the parts of the swing when you practice. Often times you break down the swing into segments and work on each component. Maybe it is getting in a good address position and then working on the backswing. Eventually you will be practicing a full swing. Flexibility training is very similar. You begin by addressing individual muscles (responsive flexibility), move onto the joints (operational flexibility) and finish with the entire body (dynamic flexibility).
A great dynamic flexibility exercise for golf is the Inch Worm.
Begin the exercise by positioning yourself in a push-up position, back flat, hands shoulder width apart, and feet slightly separated. Remember to keep the legs straight throughout the entire exercise.
Begin by slowly walking your feet towards your hands. Keep your hands stationary and continue to walk your feet as close to your hands as possible.
Pause for two seconds and slowly walk your hands forward, keeping the legs and arms straight. Repeat the movement of walking your feet towards your hands, and hands back to a push-up position for 10 to 15 repetitions. Again, this is a great dynamic flexibility exercise to work on your entire body.
I am excited for this upcoming weekend. Michael Campbell is the defending champion and Phil is going for the third major in his quest for the "Phil Slam." It should make for a great tournament.
Previous blog entries:
06/06/06 Joint Range of Motion and a Fluid Golf Swing
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
