FITNESS VS. GOLF FITNESS
Bob Forman
Certified Golf Fitness Instructor
Director, The Golf Fitness Academy at High Point Regional
There might be some confusion and/or wrong impression with the term “golf fitness.” Fitness implies a state of health like having a normal blood pressure or not being overweight or even having the endurance to run 3 miles.
Golf fitness, in the context it’s used, doesn’t really pertain to any of these, although some are often by-products from a well planned golf fitness training program. The term golf fitness refers more to the golfer’s physical ability to swing an efficient golf club so as to produce good swing mechanics, effective outcomes, and a decreased potential for injury.
It also relates to the golfers ability to produce an efficient golf swing for 18 holes, including the driving range prior to the round and any practice swings taken during. Four plus hours of activity can take its toll, regardless if you walk or ride, and that fatigue you might be experiencing on the back nine will only increase the potential for bad shots and physical harm.
Most golfers, unfortunately, are not physically prepared to swing a golf club. Factors such as inactivity, lifestyle, and heredity predispose many golfers to anatomical deficiencies in their bodies that rob them of peak performance. These factors often influence swing efficiency, which impacts ball contact and flight, distance, and the development and persistence of those nagging aches and pains so many golfers experience.
Oh sure, there are low handicap golfers that never exercised a day in their lives and who happen to get the clubhead on the ball square at impact to hit good shots. However, that doesn’t mean that their physical make-up and/or swing mechanics are sound. Chances are that one or both of these factors will eventually catch up to the lower scoring golfer and result in inconsistent play and/or a nagging injury that may affect the quality of play or, far worse, the ability to play at all.
Playing golf may actually add to this quandary. Think about it, golf is a one-sided activity that’s repeated over and over again throughout the course of play and practice. Because the golfer uses a particular set of muscles in a repetitive nature and in a certain movement pattern, muscle imbalance is likely.
Compensation, too, can wreak havoc to the body. The unseemingly constant changes, though minor, golfers make in grip, stance, and/or swing may result in better ball striking, but those subtle adjustments may also place unwanted stress to the musculoskeletal system, leading to injury. If golfers focused instead on the muscle deficiencies that impact poor swing mechanics and ball striking, they’d play better golf with less risk of injury.
The responsibility of a golf fitness program is to identify the muscle deficiencies and imbalances and to correct them so as to bring balance back into the anatomical system. Only then will the body be able to do what it needs to do to swing an efficient golf club and only then will the body be in proper alignment so as reduce the potential for both acute and chronic injury.
You don’t have to run a half-marathon or bench your weight to be in shape to play golf well. Take a look at some of the tour players. Most, if not all, are doing some form of golf fitness training to better their bodies in order to better their swings and improve their games. Find a certified golf fitness instructor in your area and go through a physical assessment to identify your weaker areas. You'll be pleasantly surprised what a little bit of golf-specific stretching and strength training will do for your game. . . and your overall health.
