Improve your physical profile

I had the pleasure of spending a couple of days with Australian physiotherapist Michael Dalgleish in Surrey last week. He has been supporting golfers for 30 years and looks after a couple of very succesful PGA tour pros. It was great to see him work and how he profiles his clients. The main reflection from the time I spent with him is how different athletes have different training requirements. Golf requires many physical assets the main ones being strength, stability, flexibility, power and elasticity. Over the last few months I have come to realise how important elasticity is to club head speed. An obvious example of this is what golf biomechanists call the X-factor stretch.

http://www.mytpi.com/articles/biomechanics/the_difference_between_x-factor_and_x-factor_stretch

Training needs to be very specific and an imbalance in your program can have a negative effect on your performance. For example if you invest too much time doing slow strength work this can have a negative affect on your ability to move quickly. It can also make your muscles more bulky and stiff which will reduce the elastic qualities in your body. This can result in you losing club head speed despite you heavily investing time in the gym. The type of program you require depends very much on your training background and your body type.

Club head speed appears to be becoming more neccesary in order to compete at the highest level. PGA tour average is 113mph. This is measured during play therefore their maximal speeds are more likely to be up around 120mph. There has also been lots of research suggesting that there is a strong link between club head speed and handicap. Swinging at that speed is a fine balance between technique, co-ordination, stability, strength, power and flexibility. I feel most people who are physically fit can achieve this with work and a co-ordinated approach from their coach and physiotherapist. At Paul Lawrie Golf Centre this a service we specialise in.