Hydration

Hydration for golfers is an important issue that is often under-estimated.  Dehydration of 1 to 2 percent can produce a decrease in athletic performance by 5%.  This can make the difference between winning and losing.  This is a simple checklist to help you determine if you are hydrating enough. Continue Reading→

GOLF SNACKS – WHAT TO EAT AND WHEN

Ever had that feeling where you are having a great round and then get to the 14th or 15th hole and start to make silly mistakes? Wrong club, misjudge the wind, 3 putt from nowhere??

Always score better on the front 9 than the back 9?

Feel like you throw away too many good rounds by coming home on the bogey (or double bogey) train?

Playing consistent golf all the way through a round has a lot to do with being able to maintain concentration. Maintaing concentration has a lot do with keeping energy levels up. Keeping energy levels up is all about FOOD!!

So what should we eat? And when should we eat it? Continue Reading→

I am extremely pleased to announce the Golf Queensland Junior State team were undefeated in the Interstate series and claimed the Burtta Cheney Cup for the 3rd year in a row. It was a terrific final days play at the Western Australian Golf Club. With all 4 teams still in contention it was anyone’s title to win. The final match against Western Australia was a hard contest with the Queensland team winning 4 out of the 5 matches. All of the players were totally committed 100% of the time.

I am very proud to be the coach of the Golf Queensland Junior team and a proud of the achievements of the team. The girls performed exceptionally well throughout the tournament. They focused, stayed in the present and played for each other.

They worked hard and thoroughly deserved the win.

You don’t need to take Lee Westwood’s word for it when he says he has made a real commitment to fitness and living healthier.

For nearly seven years, he says he has been eating better and exercising more often under the guidance of British fitness expert Stephen McGregor, a Ph.D., in exercise physiology. Here’s more of what Lee had to say:

WHAT WAS THE CATALYST FOR YOUR TRANSFORMATION?
When I hit 30 [he’s 39 now] I thought maybe I should start doing something. I saw some of the guys getting stronger, hitting it farther. So I wanted to hit it farther, too. Plus I wanted to play this game for a while. It helps when you’re fit.

WHAT’S THE MOST YOU’VE EVER WEIGHED?
I’ve changed my body–replacing fat with muscle. I probably dropped about 12 to 15 percent of my body fat. The heaviest I ever was was about 110 kilos (243 pounds) and I got down to 89 kilos (196). I weigh 93 kilos (205) now.

HOW OFTEN DO YOU WORK OUT?
On an off week, I’ll work out five times. On a tournament week, two or three. When I do work out, it’s usually for about two hours a session.

WHAT IS YOUR FOCUS?
Shoulders and legs. You get lots of shoulder problems in golf and I’ve also had a leg injury in the past. I think it’s important to strengthen as much as possible in the areas you use the most. We work on everything, though.

DO YOU DO CARDIO?
I do a lot. I do seven miles, five times a week … on the golf course. I don’t tend to do any cardio other than that. I mainly stick to weights, although I might do a 10-minute warm-up of cardio.

DO YOU USE SUPPLEMENTS?
My trainer tries to keep me on a pretty good diet so I get all I need from food. I have a milk shake or smoothie after I work out to try and get some protein in my body–mainly fruit, ice cream or milk, but low fat.

WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND TO BE THE BIGGEST BENEFIT OF WORKING OUT IN TERMS OF YOUR GOLF GAME?
I can change my swing a little easier if I need to. My swing also is a little tighter through working out in the gym. I also use my legs to power my swing and strengthening them has helped a lot. I feel I’m very strong in the shoulders, legs and core and that helps provide stability when I swing.

ANY INJURIES OR ISSUES RIGHT NOW?
Nothing.

WHAT DO YOU EAT/DRINK ON THE GOLF COURSE?
I eat nutrition bars, drink water and Gatorade.

Source Golf Digest-Fitness

It is my observation that there are three specific areas that must be addressed on 95% of the ladies I train – see what they are.

One of the hardest things to do in fitness is generalize your workouts.  In other words, each of us is so different form the next that it makes group fitness classes very difficult to design.  How do you target the specific needs of each individual in the class and not make the session three hours long.   For this reason, I always recommend a detailed evaluation of your specific limitations before designing any program, to see if it addresses all of your needs.  And when ever possible, take one-on-one training so that the workout is customized towards meeting your specific needs and not the person next to you.

With that said, if I had to bite the bullet and create a workout to address the needs of one specific group, I think ladies would be the easiest to design.  I say that because in my experience, women tend to have three specific areas that must be addressed on 95% of the ladies I train.  Unfortunately, the reasons some of these areas need to be addressed is genetics.

First of all, Continue Reading→

When is the last time you saw a tour pro fall over after a routine swing? Not very often.

Now try to remember last time you played a round with your buddies without seeing someone fall out of a shot at least once?

Balance and it’s probably one of the most misunderstood parts of the swing. You’re feet, and poor balance, can contribute to lots of swing problems.

A sway, a reverse spine angle, a reverse pivot, or hanging back on your right side can all potential be traced back to the feet. So we might as well eliminate that possibility.

So how do I know if I have bad balance?

Its not easy to “feel” if you have good balance or not, so get a stopwatch and lets find out for sure. Continue Reading→

Realize your potential to be an exceptional coach.

The key to achieving this is all about developing self-awareness, and understanding your athletes as individuals.

Self-awareness is the recognition of one’s behaviors, strengths, weaknesses, beliefs and values and how these help create your experiences in life. Coaches who are more self-aware can control and exhibit the types of behaviors that create great and consistent performances.

Exceptional coaching is about much more than technical knowledge. Did you know that.

Anyone who plays golf whether professionally, competitively through club leagues and even the casual golfer understand the physical demands of golf. The load placed on the body in the full swing is tremendous and even practising long and short games can wreak havoc on a player’s back. How can one alleviate pain or mitigate the impact on the body?

Sport specific fitness can help all levels of golfers with their game, reducing their handicap but more importantly will help extend their golf playing abilities.

So how does being fit for golf translate to improving your game and what exactly is golf fitness? Continue Reading→

Some of your body’s joints are designed to be super mobile. And some aren’t. One of the most-common areas where golfers feel pain and succumb to injury is at the elbow joint. Why? There are many reasons, including the repetitive stress placed on your elbows from striking the ground over and over. But another big reason is that you lack mobility in the joints that surround–and protect–your less-mobile elbow joint. And when those joints don’t do their job, the elbow has to take an added amount of punishment. Your cartilage wears out. Tendons get inflamed. You feel pain. Sound familiar?

If you’re looking for help to prevent this pain from recurring, you need to improve your shoulder mobility, particularly before you play. Increasing the shoulder’s range of motion and also getting the blood flowing through the joint will allow you to swing the golf club without adding stress to your already banged-up elbows. And, as an added bonus, you’ll also be protecting the rotator-cuff muscles of your shoulder from tearing. That’s a less-common injury for golfers, but it can happen.

Your shoulders are extremely mobile, as evidenced by the amount of flexibility a pitcher, swimmer, or gymnast has in performing their sports. So before you tee it up, get those muscles nice and warm.

Source Roger Schifferman

What is the biggest mistake that seniors make in relation to their body and golf?

Most senior golfers try to get fit through golf and very few for golf. Many senior golfers will play more golf per week then when they were in their thirties and forties however they do not invest in physically preparing their body for the increase in golf that they play. A good anecdote, is imagine driving your car 4 times further every week without giving it service or an oil change. The difference is that you can replace your car not your body.

Am I too old for this?

No, you are the right age for this program.

Our bodies get weaker and stiffer with reduced balance and posture as we get older. This means reduction in our overall function which reduces our overall ability to perform on the golf course.This aging dysfunction process may result in reduced participation in golf as you get older which can result in you being incapable of playing golf.Most senior golfers are highly successful and have worked hard throughout their lives to play good golf but are unaware of golf specific training. Many senior golfers will spend thousands of dollars on new clubs and equipment but have spent no time in, investing in the actual machine that is behind the clubs and that is your body.

Why should I do this golf fitness package when I am already working out in the gym?

A Golf specific program is unique in that it customises your golf specific exercises with your body and your swing to maximise function.Most gym programs are generic and not golf specific. Some of the general exercises are detrimental and may even harm your swing. Eg. bicep curls / sit-ups etc.

Source Ramsay McMaster