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.
Want to Maintain the Angles in Your Golf Swing?
Tiger put on quite a show this weekend at the Buick Open. It was reported he was at Medinah earlier last week prepping for the PGA Championship. I also know Phil Mickelson was at Medinah over the weekend preparing as well. It is hard to believe the final major of the year is one week away. Hopefully the weather will be a little cooler than last year at Baltusrol where the temperatures were in the 90s. We'll just have to wait and see.
At this point in time, if you have been following this column, you probably have a good understanding of the components comprising a golf fitness program for improvement of your game. Flexibility, we know, is of great importance as is developing your balance. If you can't make a shoulder turn it's because of a lack of flexibility or you are unable to maintain the balance in your swing. Compensations are going to be a common part of your golf swing (not a good thing in my book).
The last couple of weeks we introduced the component of strength into your comprehensive golf fitness program. The conventional wisdom of how "strength training is bad for your golf swing" has been eradicated through numerous research studies. We added more "fuel to the fire" to support strength training for golf through review of training programs from such professionals as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh. All-in-all strength training is beneficial for the golfer.
But, there is an "if," if-and-only-if the correct type of exercises are implemented in your golf fitness program. Last week we discussed the first category of strength training beneficial for golf. This week we will introduce the second category of strength training exercises beneficial to golf. These strength exercises are categorized as dynamic stabilization exercises.
Improving your dynamic stabilization strength will pay dividends in your backswing, downswing, impact, and follow-through. Dynamic stability is the ability of your body to integrate the movement of your hips, pelvis, trunk and shoulder in the correct order and timing (Paul Chek, The Golf Biomechanics Manual, pg. 125). Developing dynamic stabilization strength allows your body to execute the coordination of these body parts in the golf swing, create efficiency within them and allows for an increase in clubhead speed.
A strength exercise I use with my professional golfers to develop their dynamic stabilization capabilities is what I call the Physio-Ball Prone Hold.
This is a great exercise to develop the strength in the muscles required to dynamically stabilize the body during your golf swing.
Begin this exercise by placing both forearms on top of the physio-ball with your elbows directly under your shoulders and knees resting on the floor.
Elevate your body into a push-up position, resting your body weight on your toes and forearms. Place your body in a "traditional" push-up position. Hips should not be up in the air, or sagging toward the floor (visualize balancing a broom stick down the middle of your back).
Hold the prone position for a specified amount of time. I like to begin golfers with a single set holding the position for 20 seconds. Increasing the "hold time" up to 60 seconds as the golfer gets stronger.
Keep in mind the importance of developing strength for your golf swing. Also, remember there is a right way and wrong way to develop strength for your golf swing.
Previous blog entries:
08/08/06 Utilize Strength Training to Maintain Your Spine Angle
07/24/06 Strength in Your Core to Drive the Golf Ball Farther
07/11/06 Use Progression to Keep Improving Your Golf Swing
07/04/06 Dynamic Balance Exercises
06/27/06 Two Types of Balance are Key to Your Golf Swing
06/20/06 Balance in Your Golf Swing Leads to More Power
06/13/06 Getting Yourself Ready for a Round of Golf
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
