What is Golf Fitness?

For those of you who don’t know, Golfer’s Edge has recently taken up residence inside the brand new X-Golf Surrey Hills kiosk.

It’s an amazing facility and I feel very lucky to be there. (Check out our Instagram page for some pics).

And it’s also giving me the chance to get around and talk to lots of golfers from all walks of life.

One of the more enlightening conversations for me came around 3 or 4 weeks ago.

Chris, one of our X-Golf customers, was just finishing up after his hour on one of the simulators.

We got chatting, as you do.

About golf, where he’s a member, what he struggles with. You know the sort of conversation.

Then I brought up my gym.

“…That’s my golf fitness studio upstairs…” I pointed up to the mezzanine level.

Chris looked slightly puzzled.

“…Golf...fitness?…” he said.

“…I didn’t even know there was such a thing…!”.

————

Now you might think I’d be surprised by this sentence.

But I wasn’t.

I completely understand that this is where our ‘Golf Fitness Industry’ is currently.

For me, as a Golf Fitness Professional this simply represents an exciting challenge.

An opportunity to educate the golfing public about the impact that working on their body can have on their game.

But, here’s the problem for you, the golfer…

If you don’t know what ‘Golf Fitness’ actually is, how can you understand the array of benefits it can have on your game?

And if you don’t understand the benefits, why would you ever bother working on your body in an effort to improve your game?

Take this one step further, and I could argue that a lack of knowledge of what Golf Fitness is limiting the progression and improvement of thousands of golfers throughout Australia!!

And if you are in, or almost in, the Senior ranks, that same lack of knowledge could quite literally cut short your golfing life.

Heart-breaking.

————

OK, so from a ‘Golf-Fitness-Knowledge’ perspective, chances are you fall into 1 of 3 groups:

Group 1: Blissfully Unaware

Group 1 is a large chunk of golfers in Australia who have no knowledge whatsoever that Golf Fitness is even ‘a thing’…

And who can blame them? The Golf Fitness industry as a whole is still very young.

Group 2: General Awareness

Golfers in group 2 may know of the Golf Fitness phenomenon but still not quite grasp what ‘Golf Fitness’ actually is.

Golfers in this group may be aware that tour pros are working out more these days but no idea how or why that applies to them in ‘Club Golf Land’.

(It absolutely does apply to them!)

Without the knowledge of what ‘Golf Fitness’ actually is, it is incredibly hard for this group to foresee the many possible benefits of following a Golf Fitness plan.

Group 3: Early Adopters

Golfers in group 3 have made a jump on the rest of you.

They realised the importance of working on their body a while back and got stuck in with a Golf Fitness Program.

This group still requires and benefits from the guidance of a qualified Golf Fitness Pro but they are well and truly convinced of the on-course benefits that Golf Fitness has to offer.

The Definition

The truth is, all three groups can benefit big-time from creating a better golf body.

But as we’ve seen, due to a lack of awareness and education among golfers in this area, selling the benefits requires us to start right back at the start.

Defining what Golf Fitness actually is.

What does it really mean?

What does it include and exclude?

And what is it aiming to do?

So without further ado, I’m gonna jump right in and throw out a definition, followed by a few examples…

DEFINITION: Golf Fitness describes the use of EXERCISE to make CHANGES to the body that help improve performance and scoring on the golf course.

The word ‘exercise’ is used in it’s broadest sense here to cover everything from using a foam roller to loosen off some tight muscles, to slamming medicine balls against a wall in an effort to increase power.

Similarly, the word ‘performance’ is used to describe everything from playing golf pain free again, through to adding 30 metres to your driver.

Examples

A definition like that is all well and good but let’s take it one step further with a couple of examples

First off, let me just say that you would be hard-pressed to find a golfer who doesn’t want to improve.

And all improvements generally come back to a desire to shoot lower scores and possess a lower handicap.

This is what keeps us coming back.

So where does Golf Fitness fit in here?

EXAMPLE 1:

Let’s say Golfer A feels that a lack of distance (i.e club-head speed) is holding them back from achieving their scoring potential.

What Golfer A is feeling is very real and study after study (in particular recent Trackman Data) has shown that lower handicappers are bigger hitters and that a lack of distance and club-head speed puts tremendous pressure on scoring.

So Golfer A goes through a full Golf Fitness Evaluation (hopefully at Golfer’s Edge!).

Golf Specific flexibility, mobility, stability, strength, power, endurance. The whole lot. It all gets assessed.

And the numbers get compared with our PGA Tour averages.

The result?

Although there are a couple of range of motion / flexibility issues to work on, it’s found that Golfer A’s lack of power is due to a lack of strength.

Dig a little deeper, and the Evaluation can even tell us precisely where Golfer A needs that strength.

For example it might tell us that Golfer A needs significantly more lower body strength, his upper body pulling strength needs some work also, but his upper body pushing strength is OK.

Based on the priorities derived from the data a very specific Golf Fitness Program can then be devised for Golfer A.

And if Golfer A is diligent and consistent at following their program, it won’t be long before they see their strength numbers going up.

More importantly, it won’t be long before they see increased club-head speed, ball speed and driver carry distance.

Lower scores? Just around the corner…

EXAMPLE 2:

Golfer B feels increasingly ‘tight’ and restricted due to his 50+ hour per week seated workplace job and really struggles to get into some of the positions that his swing coach wants him in.

He also suffers from a significant ‘Back Nine Fade’ where he struggles to score well from about hole 12 onwards and feels very tired at the end of a round.

Golfer B is extremely common.

Rotational power sports like golf and seated jobs do not mix very well.

First step, assess.

Golfer B goes through the same complete Golf Fitness Evaluation (again, hopefully at Golfer’s Edge!).

Full assessment with a comparison of numbers against our PGA Tour averages.

What are we like to find with Golfer B?

Well, it’s not a pretty picture but I’ll paint it for you anyway.

Golfer B’s main issue is that he has very limited rotational flexibility in his hips and his torso / middle back (thoracic spine).

(Remember, golf is a rotational sport and the two primary areas in the body that create that rotation are the hips and the thoracic spine!!)

Golfer B also has some restriction in his lat muscles which means that every time he tries to get his arms up high overhead in his backswing he loses his ‘Postural Angles’.

Topped or thin shots anyone?

Couple these things with weak gluteal muscles (his butt), a non-functioning core and very limited aerobic fitness and strength endurance, and Golfer B is doing VERY well to play to his 15 handicap and walk away unscathed.

And if Golfer B doesn’t have some lower back discomfort currently, it’s right around the corner!

But, as I said above Golfer B is extremely common.

The room for improvement is enormous.

A Program for Golfer B would comprise 2 Parts:

Part 1: A Daily Flexibility Program - something that could be done at home each night for 15 or 20 mins to address the top 3 or 4 flexibility challenges from the Evaluation

Part 2: A Golf Specific Strength Endurance Circuit - performed 3 times per week this would help solidify flexibility changes by taking Golfer B through full ranges of motion under light weights to begin with, and short rest periods between exercises to help improve aerobic fitness.

Give Golfer B six to nine months on a program like this and he would feel like a new man.

Conclusion

What do I want you to get out of this article?

Just an understanding of what Golf Fitness actually is and how it can help.

An understand that there is in fact a ‘Body-Swing Connection’ as the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) have termed it.

As well as a belief that it is possible to change and improve your body.

And if done the right way, this can drive improvements in scoring and a reduced handicap.

So here’s my advice for 2019.

Make the Body-Swing Connection personal for YOU.

Get an Evaluation.

Set Goals.

Put in consistent work towards those goals

Reap the benefits.

Start with an full Golf Fitness Evaluation HERE: https://www.golfersedge.com.au/golf-fitness-evaluation