When I scheduled my final session of a series of golf lessons I’d purchased, I caught my PGA professional fresh upon his return from a fitness conference. Oh, lucky me. He had me squatting and twisting like a contortionist for over an hour, all in the name of improving my flexibility and thus increasing my distance. The fact of the matter is that on the golf course, distance has never really been my problem. Finding the green from 100 yards out – now, that is a problem. Then again, ten or twenty extra yards can’t really hurt.
We all know the face and form of the PGA and LPGA tours have changed dramatically. While fitness was long overlooked as a factor of a great golf game, it has more than come into vogue. The only one who might deny fitness as a game improvement technique at this juncture would be John Daley – and look where his game has gone.
All the complex physical maneuvering my golf professional put me through that day did prove a point; I am out of shape. I’m not looking to get down and do one arm push-ups to get the read of the green, but I do value core strength and suspect – O.K., admit – that I have neglected my Pilates this past year which has taken the edge off my golf game as a result.
I hadn’t been so sore after a golf lesson since my very first day on the range. My initiation to golf was a crash course at a three day golf school. It felt more like boot camp. By the time I left the driving range each afternoon, I had dug a trench deep enough for the grounds crew to install a new irrigation system. Every muscle in my arms, sides and back where screaming. I loved every minute of it.
Sometime between then and now, I went from being a weightlifting gym rat to a bit of a slug. While I still prefer to walk and carry my clubs - so I do get a little exercise in that respect - I too often use the excuse that “golf is exercise,” and neglect an actual, disciplined workout. My year end lesson has spurred my enthusiasm to get back in shape, if for no other reason than it will improve my golf game. I plan to get back into the swing of things, so to speak.
In an effort to stave off workout boredom, I surfed a few websites for the latest in golf training aids and fitness programs. If I thought my last lesson was tough, I truly trembled when I realized the issues that lay ahead of me in my quest for golf fitness.
Fitness and flexibility are of only general concern. When one looks deep into honing one’s body for the prefect golf swing the subject matter is endless. My foray into the subject of physical fitness catapulted me into a world beyond simple strength and conditioning into a parallel universe of golf physics.
Consider the following: Swing Plane, Stance & Alignment, Swing Speed & Tempo, Impact, Face Angle, Spine Angle, Grip and the Line of Putt. There are a mind boggling amount of variables in a golf swing and apparently even more ways to perfect all that might be wrong with them. There are at least as many devices available as there are the 206 bones and 600 muscles in the human body, and each individually designed for the improvement and refinement of the golf swing.
Much of this golf fitness training is accomplished with smoke and mirrors – oh, sorry, that’s nets and mirrors. With such an assortment of training straps and appliances, along with a display of lasers and light shows and video tape analysis, I’m not sure if any of it actually improves your golf swing. All the available equipment might be better suited to the filming of some sort of nasty B movie. It all starts to sound a bit kinky, if you ask me.
Eventually, I abandoned my search for the perfect golf training aid and golf fitness performance method. My fingers cramped from all the web surfing and texting to various 1-800 numbers for all those infomercial products. I’m going back to some basic calisthenics and fundamental Pilates. Oh, and I can’t forget my finger strengthening exercises. After all, there are 27 bones in the human hand and, come spring, I’ll need them all tuned up and aligned properly for the perfect grip. Now that I think of it, I’m sure I saw some sort of gadget out there that is just what I need to help me with that.
Golf is exercise! At least that was what my grandpa use to say also. I thought it was interesting that you said the same. Nice golf post. I really like the layout of the page. Nice, clean and white!
First of all, thanks for your interesting comments. I like your insight into golf.
Here’s something that may help for winter training. I happened upon a store call golfTEC. As the name implies, they use all kinds of technology to measure lots of different parts of your swing. Alignment angles, setup position, and lots of other stuff. And they take videos of your swings. They have pros that show you what you are doing wrong based on the data, and you can try to correct the fault and see how you did on video. You can get some practice sessions in one package and check your videos again at any time. Anyway it’s worth a look.
Thanks again from Medicus Driver
I turn 50 next year and am finally planning to make fitness a priority in 2009. I’ve never even been to the gym!