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Golf on Cape Cod - Fitness
STRENGTHENING YOUR GAME AT ITS CORE
I met Mike Wilson about two years ago. He is the swing coach for 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir. Mike Wilson and I have developed a system of training golfers, not giving lessons. We are looking at the golf swing from the athletic perspective. Simply put, the more fit you are the better golf you will play. The traditional approach to improving one’s game includes instructors, lessons, equipment upgrades, and practice. Our system of improving your game is for the serious golfer, and not the recreational player. It takes work on and off the course. Our system involves training like an athlete to play golf. This is for the golfer who will do the necessary work to lower the handicap and explode their game to the next level. Have you ever heard the phrase, “It is not the arrow, it is the Indian?” To clarify, this means your clubs are not the problem, it is your body and the way your body moves that are the problems. Is it coincidental that the No. 1 player in the world, a guy named Tiger, pioneered strength and conditioning in the world of golf? Is it coincidental that Gary Player, who just turned 70, is as fit as any 40-year-old? He told me he used to do sit-ups on his 40-hour flights from South Africa. The point here is, fitness is the reason that these players are getting better. Fitness will give you the edge. A fit player will improve faster than a non-fit player. Let’s talk a bit about true golf mechanics. Golf is a rotational, power sport. The rotation aspect is segmented, meaning that your body parts are moving rotationally at different speeds and at different times with incredible force. Your takeaway begins with your feet stable and balanced, then your arms, then your torso, then hips and finally back to your feet by holding the ground more firmly. These movements are sequential but a body that is not strong, flexible and stable will have an “out-of-sequence takeaway,” therefore creating an improper “loading phase.” What happens next is the “power” phase, where the feet press into the ground to begin the movement because all power comes from the ground and moves up. It is at this critical point where the weak and unstable golfer loses a great deal of potential energy. We are talking about balance, stability and power. These very things can be greatly enhanced through strength training. As I mentioned before, golf is sequential, after the feet dig in as you begin your downswing, the hips begin to explode rotationally. The torso has yet to finish the takeaway, so in essence your hips and your trunk and arms are moving in opposite directions. This is called the X-Factor or lag. The greater the lag, the greater power at impact. It is like cracking a whip: there needs to be a slight lag between the handle and the tail of the whip for the best effect. A golfer that has limited physical capacity in one or more areas (balance, stability, flexibility and strength) will never achieve the power position of the X-factor.
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Golf is now a sport of power. New equipment, new golf balls and new technology have given the player an advantage over many golf courses. These changes have turned many golf holes at courses at the PGA tournament level obsolete and just plain too short. For example, when I was at the Masters this year, I was informed that one hole at Augusta National needed trees planted in an area that players of years gone by would have never reached. Changes in technology are not the only reason for 350-plus-yard drives: players are now hitting the gym with very specific golf conditioning programs. 
