You can’t go wrong with A protein-based diet for Golf Fitness is the subject of today’s Fitness Friday. A Golf Video Blog with Mel Sole, Director of Instruction and Master Professional at the Mel Sole Golf School, located at Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club in Pawleys Island, SC.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
On Fridays, we present tips to help your game and curate articles from well-known fitness instructors in the golfing industry. Nutrition and fitness go hand in glove, so don’t try and get your body in shape without a healthy diet as well. Rob Labritz for PGA.com gives you some correct steps to go about this!
“Pay attention to what you put in your body.” Surely you’ve heard that from your doctor countless times. Well, now you’re going to hear it from PGA Professional Rob Labritz.
Emphasis on a protein-based diet for Golf Fitness.
In this week’s installment of our “Become a complete golfer” series, Labritz is putting a major emphasis on nutrition. “Make smart choices,” he said. “You can’t go wrong with a protein-based diet. However, it must also include fruits and vegetables without a lot of sugary carbohydrates. You do need some carbohydrates for brain function, but you don’t need the kinds that are slathered in sugar.”
Over the course of this series, Labritz has stressed the importance of keeping everything “in balance.” It isn’t just your mind and your swing. It extends to what you’re eating, too. For instance, Labritz said, if you’re the kind of person who thinks fueling up on the course means a hot dog and a soft drink at the turn, you may want to reevaluate — particularly if you’re serious about improving all aspects of your game. “Basically, you’re messing yourself up pretty bad if you opt for a hot dog and Coke,” he said. “You’ll probably have a sugar high for 45 minutes and then a crash. When your body does that, your mind does the same thing. So it’s hard to stay balanced.”
Labritz is a self-described “strict eater” when it comes to life in general and believes a protein-based diet is something everyone should buy into and make a part of their lifestyle. So how do you apply nutrition to the course? Like everything else, it has to do with preparation.
The Goal.
The goal on the course is to keep your energy high and your focus throughout. You don’t want to be full out there, but you certainly don’t want to be starving either. Labritz recommends eating a good meal 3-4 hours before your tee time. If it’s an early morning tee time and you don’t have time to get that solid meal in, here’s what Labritz suggests.
The Lazy Man’s Guide to more Distance and Better Golf!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
PGA players that don’t work out!
Several PGA Tour players don’t work out in a gym to get peak performance. John Daly comes to mind immediately. But there are others. So if you are not a gym rat but want to play better golf, what do you do? Ron Kaspriske of Golf Digest has all the answers for you. Some are logical, and some do take some range time, but all in all, this is the lazy man’s guide to more distance and better golf!
In a drive-thru burger world, we’ll concede that there are some people who aren’t interested in spending any real time in the gym but still want to perform their best when they play golf. They want to be able to make a bigger backswing without training their obliques; to be able to hit a green from three-inch rough without strengthening their forearms; and knock it on a par 5 in two without working on those fast-twitch muscles.
Sound good? Then this Fitness Friday is for you. Here are five “cheats” you can do when you play that don’t require one second of gym time. Ideally, you’ll only use them temporarily, and eventually accept that exercise will help you play the game longer, better, and injury free. Until then, here are your shortcuts.
1.) BIGGER BACKSWING
To really get wound up without improving core stability or mobility in the mid-back, you can do something at address and something when you swing. So this is two cheats in one. At address, drop your trail foot (right for right-handed players) two inches away from the ball and flare that foot away from the target. Then, when you swing, let your left heel come off the ground and your left knee dive in toward the ball. It’s a move many great golfers have made including Jack Nicklaus and Bubba Watson. Just remember that you have to plant that heel again as you start the downswing. Both are designed to improve mobility in the torso and counter its lack of independent movement from the lower body
2.) HITTING IT FLUSH OUT OF THE ROUGH
A green in regulation from tall grass requires some decent hand-and-arm strength, but you can forego hammer curls and extensor exercises if you remember to “pull the chain” like Sergio Garcia. You need to steepen your swing, and also gather enough clubhead speed at impact to rip through the grass without too much loss of momentum. Feel like you’re pulling the butt end of the club directly into the golf ball. Keep that butt end moving down and through the grass and then toward the target as the clubhead eventually catches up and rips the ball out. Instead of generating power with raw strength, you’re using gravity and centrifugal force to do the job.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
No matter what your level of golf, good body rotation will make you play better!
Almost every Tour player (well, maybe not John Daly) works diligently on rotational exercises because of the benefit they derive from these workouts. Brandon Harris of Premier Fitness Systems specializes in helping golfers improve their strength, flexibility, and mobility. These are 5 exercises you definitely need to add to your routine and see your golf game improve!
Having great hip and torso speed is key to hitting the golf ball. But, the ability to separate the trunk from the torso is extremely important for this skill.
In this video, Brandon Harris CO-Founder of Premier Fitness Systems a Scottsdale Arizona gym that specializes in golf fitness and golf performance teaches you 5 exercises that will help you increase your ability to separate your lower and upper body.
Flexibility and Mobility!
Firstly, the main reason that a golfer’s swing speed is not up to par is a lack of flexibility and mobility.
Secondly, with a lack of flexibility comes a decrease in the ability to separate the hips and upper body at the begging of the downswing.
Because a golfer that doesn’t have good separation, they will begin to compensate with other aspects of their body.
Most noticeable compensation will be with the low back! This potentially will lead to injury and definitely a lack of consistency.
The goal of this video is to teach 5 exercises that will help you with separation of the upper and lower body.
And decrease the tendency of rotating the upper body before the hips. This tendency is one of the main causes of the over the top move.
All of the 5 exercises demonstrated will help you sequence your swing correctly and immediately positively impact your swing.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Dave Phillips and Dr. Greg Rose from the Titleist Performance Center give you a great 20-minute golf stretch routine that you can do daily to make a huge difference in your golf game. This routine encompasses all parts of the body that are involved with the golf swing. I think I have found the workout that I have been looking for. Not a lot of time, but really effective! Thanks to Briarwood Golf Club & Banquet Center for sharing this video!
Golf workout showed on the Golf Channel. Perfect for golfers looking to stay in shape during the winter months.
Who are the “Fitness Fanatics” on the PGA and LPGA Tour?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Fitness in any professional sport is critical. I do not know of any professional athlete who does not work out, hire a trainer or spend hours in the gym! This is part and parcel of being great in your particular field. But who are the fanatics, the people who take it to the extreme? Golfing World brings us the Top 10 fitness fanatics on both the PGA and LPGA Tours. I love who they have at #1! Check it out!
We count down 10 pro golfers who are among the most dedicated in the game to fitness, strength and conditioning.
We’ve all heard of Rotation Power – but anti-rotation drills?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
I must admit I had never heard of Anti-Rotational drills to increase power. However, I was familiar with rotational power, and this new concept of anti-rotational power intrigued me. As a progressive instructor, I always like to keep my mind open to new ideas and concepts. Adam Stevenson for Golf Wrx describes how this can benefit your golf swing and increase power. This article is a video with some great drills to do once you understand how anti-rotation works.
Golf is a rotational sport.
This means that for us to make an efficient golf swing, our bodies need to rotate. By rotating our body in our golf swing, we are able to utilize our body’s energy so that we can generate more club head speed. That will translate to increased distance.
Even though it is our arms that are swinging our golf club, it is in fact our body’s rotation that is generating the power. And the speed to swing our arms and the club. So I suppose it would be somewhat logical to think that if we just turned our bodies faster, then we would be able to generate more speed and hit the ball further, right?
Well, even though that presumption is not entirely inaccurate, it is unfortunately not entirely that simple either.
I need to go into more depth and give you some basic understandings of how the human body moves biomechanically in the golf swing, so bear with me.
Release the Safety Brakes!
In order for our brains to release the safety brakes — so that we can make a faster golf swing — we have to convince it that we have sufficient stopping power so that we won’t self-destruct. How?
We simply have to build a chasis strong enough to control our horsepower. One of the most efficient ways to do that is by strengthening our body to resist rotation first. This is where anti-rotation exercises are an excellent way to build strength in the appropriate muscles that stabilize your body in your golf swing.
Anti-Rotation with Single Arm Plank.
We’ve all heard of Rotation Power – but anti-rotation drills?
In an efficient golf swing, our body doesn’t make just one movement turning back and through. But rather it is divided up into different segments that turn at separate moments in the swing.
When done efficiently, our body will work in a pattern where one segment of our body reaches peak speed then slows down abruptly. Tis is so that it can transfer energy to the next segment of the body. And as that part reaches peak speed then it too has to slow down abruptly so that it too can transfer its energy on to the next segment. And so on and so on.
When the motion fires correctly, this amazing ability to leap frog energy from one segment to the next is what’s called the kinematic sequence in the sports science world.
Transition Exercises – Let’s do it correctly with Joey D!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Joey Diovisalvi, or “Joey D,” and he is known, is Justin Johnston’s fitness coach. We all know how far Dustin hits the ball, and it does not come by sitting on his butt! Hard workouts with a skilled fitness coach will go a long way to helping you get more distance and play injury-free! In this video, Joey is talking about “transition” or weight shift on the downswing.
Why is a Dynamic Warm-up better than a normal warm-up?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Adam Stevenson is a TPI Certified PGA Professional. So, he knows what he is talking about when it comes to stretching and warm-up exercises before you head to the first tee! Using a Dynamic warm-up is far more efficient in getting the muscles firing in the correct sequence. Watch the video, and then try this out before your next round. Then, you won’t be sorry!
Dynamic Warm-Up is the Key!
I know that most of you don’t have access to a PGA Tour fitness trailer, however, you still need to warm up… and not just any run-of-the-mill warm up. You need a dynamic warm up.
A good dynamic warm up will help jump-start your body and your performance, and it is
perhaps the simplest way to prepare your body for a day of high performance at the golf course. By doing a good dynamic warm up, you are actually loosening up any stiff joints, gaining stability and at the same time preparing your nervous system to fire those ever so crucial signals out to your muscles to help them work in an efficient pattern that will lead to a golf swing that can deliver performance!
Below is a dynamic warm up that will help you loosen up your joints and muscles, as well as fine tune your nervous system so that you can move more efficiently to help prevent injury’s and improve your performance.
Even though a dynamic warm up will help loosen up those tight muscles and joints, it is by NO means a substitute for correctional exercises that will remove physical limitations. Therefore, I highly recommend you visit a TPI expert in your area. You can find a local expert that can help you locate and remove any limitations on this link www.mytpi.com. Don’t have an expert in your area? Then I strongly recommend you ordering a copy of my book, the Golfers Handbook.
Dr. Greg Rose of TPI responds to Johnny Millers Comments!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
I was interested in Dr. Greg Rose’s take on the criticism Johnny Miller churned out about Rory’s training regimen and that he worked out for vanity reasons! Johnny, you should educate yourself before making statements that make you look foolish! Dr. Rose is one of the highest experts in his field and is respected by the entire golf community. I read some of the comments on Dr. Rose’s video on FaceBook and am appalled by the lack of knowledge apparent in many PGA professionals who presume to know more than Dr. Rose. What this video and make your own decisions! Thanks, Dr. Rose of MyTPI, for this enlightening video and for explaining the facts as even I can understand!
Dr. Greg Rose responds to critics of Rory’s workout regimen.
6 Rules for Core Training – What we think to be true is now a myth.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Core training has always been a staple in all sport exercises. But as sport and science merge closer and closer, rules change as discoveries are made. What we think to be true is now proven not to be so. And core training exercises are no exception. Nick Buchan of Golfwrx brings us the new rules of core workouts!
Core training is a somewhat contentious and confusing subject!
6 Rules for Core Training – What we think to be true is now a myth.
Power lives in the transverse plane. If you want to unleash strength, power and force, you must harness control of rotation. The keyword here is control. Concentric and eccentric control. To put it another way, rotational stability ensures rotational forces are transferred effectively. Thereby reducing energy leaks that slow down your swing.
As research from the aforementioned Stuart Mcgill shows, no core muscle has a primary vector for trunk rotation. Trunk rotation, and resisting it, happens by blending all core muscles. The abdominal obliques are primary drivers of torso rotation and anti-rotation. Along with deep stabilizer muscles in the back. When you want to rotate to the right, you engage the left external oblique and the right internal oblique. Rotation to the left uses the right external oblique and the left internal oblique. They work as functional pairs.
As you know, the torso connects to the rest of the body. So you have cross-body connections from the gluteus maximus to the opposite side latissimus to generate force transmission on the posterior chain. This force transmission system is known as the posterior oblique subsystem. And is a primary reason you can move your arms and legs together. This movement pattern sling is crucial to stabilization. Stability always precedes force production. When it doesn’t, you have decreased performance and become more vulnerable to injury.
Variations like Pallof presses and chops are obviously great for this. However, single-arm presses and pulls are hugely underrated in this regard.
Utilizing half- and tall-kneeling positions are also great for dialing in that neutral pelvic and spine position so important for efficient power transfer. One of my favorites to tap into anti-rotation and the posterior chain connection is the tall-kneeling, single-arm cable pull.
There’s a myriad of different core exercises, a wealth of opinion on how to train the core and body of knowledge that has increased dramatically during the past decade or so and continues to grow, so it’s no wonder core training is a somewhat contentious and confused subject.
The problem with a lot of golfers’ core training stems from not understanding the anatomy and function of the core, and not utilizing proper progression strategies to actually improve core function over time. Static exercises like planks and side planks are great, but doing them for ever-increasing lengths of time in the name of progression invites fatigue and loses many of the benefits of the exercise with regard to muscle activation and spinal control. Hyper specific “core” exercises that mimic the golf swing may have a place, but if you don’t posses the segmental stabilization to execute them in the first place they aren’t going to do anything for you, and may even leave you worse off.
With that in mind, this article will be presenting the rules of core training I have developed and used with all the golfers I train. Live by these when training your core and you will move better (we need proximal stability to demonstrate distal mobility, so yes training your core can make you more flexible!), keep your spine healthier and generate more club head speed.
New Rule No. 1: Train the function of the core, not the anatomy, for back health and performance.
The muscles of the core and lumbopelvic hip complex work in tandem to protect the spine, particularly your lumbar spine, which isn’t actually designed to move all that much. Most notably, these areas protect your spine during movements in the form of anti-rotation, anti-flexion and anti-extension.
Of course, we don’t want to avoid moving into rotation, flexion and extension at all costs during our daily lives or the golf swing. That’s not my point. However, spinal injury has been linked to the number of these moments we do so it make sense to:
Not increase that number in the gym (particularly by doing sit-ups or crunches).
Train to be strong in resisting these movements, which will reduce injury potential.
The work done by Dr. Stuart McGill proves this. By performing core training exercises that force your trunk and spine into excessive flexion (i.e., crunches and sit-ups), the facet joints and vertebral discs within your vertebral column take a beating. The same can be said for excessive extension.
The standard front plank is a great anti-extension exercise, but you have to do it right. The aim of a plank should be to teach the core musculature to hold the spine in neutral posture where the spine, hips, and legs are linear, not arched or drooping. Common compensations are shrugging the ribs up, shrugging the hips up, rolling the shoulders or hips forward, or pretty much anything that’s not neutral.
A good front plank should make your glutes incredibly tired from forcibly making them contract so that your hip flexors stretch and the abs bite down harder. For most, this will also encourage a slightly posteriorly tilted pelvis to prevent them from setting up with hips low and anterior pelvic tilt.
New Rule No. 2: Earn the right to rotate
Power lives in the transverse plane. If you want to unleash strength, power and force, you must harness control of rotation. The keyword here is control: concentric and eccentric control. To put it another way, rotational stability ensures rotational forces can transfer effectively, which reduces energy leaks that slow down your swing.
As research from the aforementioned Stuart Mcgill shows, no core muscle has a primary vector for trunk rotation. Trunk rotation, and resisting it, make use of a blend of all core muscles. The abdominal obliques are primary drivers of torso rotation and anti-rotation, along with deep stabilizer muscles in the back. When you want to rotate to the right, you engage the left external oblique and the right internal oblique. Rotation to the left uses the right external oblique and the left internal oblique. They work as functional pairs.
As you know, the torso connects to the rest of the body (arms and legs), so you have cross-body connections from the gluteus maximus to the opposite side latissimus to generate force transmission on the posterior chain. This force transmission system is known as the posterior oblique subsystem and is a primary reason you can move your arms and legs together. This movement pattern sling is crucial to stabilization. Stability always precedes force production. When it doesn’t, you have decreased performance and become more vulnerable to injury.
Variations like Pallof presses and chops are obviously great for this, however, single-arm presses and pulls do not rate highly in this regard. Utilizing half- and tall-kneeling positions are also great for dialing in that neutral pelvic and spine position so important for efficient power transfer. One of my favorites to tap into anti-rotation and the posterior chain connection is the tall-kneeling, single-arm cable pull.
New Rule No. 3: Master your breathing
Credit to Dean Somerset for putting me on to the importance of breathing techniques in both core work and performance.
A go-to response for many when doing core exercise is to hold their breath. While this isn’t a bad response per se, especially if they’re trying to use a valsalva to increase spinal stability during a movement like a deadlift, not being able to inhale and exhale in pace with an exercise can actually reduce the effectiveness of a core intensive exercise.
Additionally, the speed of breathing can dictate whether a movement is more of a relaxation or mobility movement, or whether the goal is speed and reactive capability development. For core control and stability exercises (planks, side planks, dead-bugs, etc.), you must do the exercises 5 times with 3-5 second inhalations and 3-5 second exhalations rather than simply holding the position for 20 or 30 seconds. Try it. The difference will amaze you.
For speed and power work (see Rule 4), inhales are best with more of a sniffing action. When we inhale in quickly and with some development of negative pressure through the ribs and abdomen, we need to exhale forcefully and quickly. This short, sharp exhale causes the abdominal muscles to brace very hard and very quickly. This improves stiffness and therefore the efficiency of power transfer through the core.
6 Rules for Core Training – What we think to be true is now a myth.
Try this while you’re reading this article:
Place a hand on your stomach and sniff in quickly through your nose and feel what the abdominal muscles do. Then exhale sharply through pursed lips, like you would if you were throwing a very crisp jab. Did you feel how hard the abs became for the second you inhaled and exhaled? That’s your power center.
