Josh’s Tips & Tricks: What Have I Been Up To?

Welcome

Hello golfers, welcome back to this weeks tips & tricks. This week I would like to share with you what I’ve been up to and give you an insight into my personal development. My coaching development is going to help me understand more clearly how the body moves in the golf swing and ultimately is going to lead to better performance for you guys.

Dr Golf

So lets get into it. I have started my certification for strength and conditioning in golf with Dr Zach Gould. If you read this blog or the newsletter content weekly you will know this from a few weeks ago when I first mentioned my partnership. In this certificate I will be learning lots of new exercises and stretches that are golf specific which is going to lead to better performance not only for myself but you as my clients.

I would like to share with you a few exercises that I have been undertaking a few times a week for the last few weeks. They can be done at home with very little equipment and will really help you understand the body’s movement patterns in the golf swing. They can also highlight possible limitations which are crucial to understand for you as a player and myself as a coach.

Something that has really stuck with me and will continue to do so for the rest of my coaching career is the relationship between a players body and their technical understanding. A player could be in fantastic condition with all of the requirements for a powerful and consistent swing but if they don’t have the technical knowledge or correct guidance their potential is limited. In contrast, a player could have fantastic technical knowledge and understanding with a world class coach but if they have physical limitations their progress will be restricted.

Exercises

Now lets have a look at the exercises you’re going to try. One requires just a golf club and the other a tubular resistance band. If you don’t have a band you can use a golf club also.

Rotation over fixed foot

The objective is to increase the range of movement around the hips. Obviously we need good hip mobility in the golf swing to allow use to turn correctly into the backswing and through the downswing.

Grab a golf club and hold it against your hips then tilt forward into neutral posture. From there imagine hitting a shot and follow through to face the target. Try to get both hips facing towards the target keeping a balanced lead foot. Do this in both directions to help improve the mobility in both hips.

Stalk rotations

The objective is to understand and improve the technical movements of the body in relation to the golf swing. This is again targeting rotation through the hips and also helps balance which is crucial in the golf swing.

Ideally for this drill you will have a piece of exercise tubing (can be bought online very cheap) however if you don’t you could use a golf club for now. I have wrapped the tube under my elbows and around my ribcage. Rest your left leg against a wall behind you with a slight bend of the right knee. Take neutral posture and tilt into golf set-up. From there make some backswings trying to stay controlled and in good posture whilst rotating around the spine.

Finally

There’s light at the end of the tunnel. I’m counting down the days now until we can hopefully get back playing some golf. Just practicing these exercises a few days a week will help you get ready for the return to golf. I’m seeing improvements in my range of movement already and I’m sure you will too. I’m really looking forward to completing this certificate and passing on my knowledge to you guys in my coaching soon!

Stay safe,

Josh