REWIRE THE BAD SWING HABITS
REWIRE THE BAD GOLF SWING HABITS
Bob Forman
Director, The Golf Fitness Academy
Certified Golf Fitness Instructor
As you improve the physical deficiencies that diminish your ability to swing an efficient golf club, you’ll also need to focus on re-wiring the brain-body connection, especially if faulty swing techniques are evident.
Swing habits are general formed by repetition. Perform the same habits, whether good or bad, over and over again and the movement pattern eventually becomes engrained into your brain so that you don’t have to think about what it is you’re doing, you just do it (rote memory).
The key for better outcomes is to improve the movement patterns by enhancing the communication pathway between the brain and our bodies, often identified as “muscle memory” or “motor learning.” This is accomplished through our central nervous systems. Practice and repetition are the drivers that augment and solidify that neuromuscular pathway.
Neither the brain nor the body, however, can discern whether the movement patterns are the best movement patterns for a particular activity. So if you routinely perform an activity or skill poorly, that’s how it will be programmed into the memory banks.
In order to modify a movement pattern, you would need to re-program the communication pathway between your brain and body. In other words, change the movement pattern to mimic the way the textbook, your PGA professional, or someone knowledgeable about swing technique says it should be done, and then go practice that new movement pattern over and over and over again until the neuromuscular connection is reset. 
Having that trained eye is crucial when it comes to positioning the body so as to produce better swing outcomes. Somebody who is familiar with sequencing and proper mechanics is an invaluable resource to your game. Listening and practicing the cues given will enhance motor learning and fixate the neuromuscular pathway, thereby increasing the probability for repeatedly producing effective golf shots.
Engaging in a golf fitness program and correcting the muscle deficiencies will undoubtedly improve swing efficiency by increasing range of motion, strength, and speed, but this may not necessarily transfer over and re-program the neuromuscular pathway for a particular swing fault. This needs to be emphasized along with the realization that together, fitness and swing mechanincs, are essential for better playing performance and a reduction and/or elimination of golf-related injuries.
One of the more common of these swing faults occurs at the transformation from backswing into downswing. Many golfers have difficulty initiating the downswing in the proper sequence, that being with a lateral acceleration of the hips as the arms are distally decelerating at the top of the backswing. Instead, they allow the upper body and arms to control the downswing, often resulting in a casting of the club and an over-the-top swing path. This inevitably frustrates golfers as distance and accuracy is impacted.
Another negative swing trait often seen is the leaning of the upper body back toward the target during the backswing. Commonly known as reverse spine, this fault places the golfer in a hitting position that’s not very conducive to a good hitting sequence in the downswing, similar to what was mentioned above. It also sets the golfer up for lower back discomfort.
A good, effective drill to better the swing sequence and to help re-program the movement pattern of both these swing faults is the Sequence Drill (video right). Repetition of this relatively simple movement will, over time, engrain the proper motor learning blueprint and enhance technique and outcomes out on the course.
More than likely there are anatomical issues that factor in to bad swing habits which surely need to be identified and addressed. At the same time, an action plan to rewire the neuromuscular pathway that has the golfer performing these movement patterns must be considered. This learning component would best be implemented soon after the corrective exercise phase of the golf fitness program has been implemented. Your golf fitness instructor will know best when you’re ready.
