Role of physical preparation in golf
When analyzing any sporting gesture you need to always keep in mind that numerous factors are involved, including
- Genetic potential
- Sports technique
- Physical condition (Strength, Resistance, Speed, Flexibility, Coordination Capabilities)
- Psychological factors
All these factors together are crucial for achieving maximum performance, whatever the sport practiced.
Few also train the other factors that come into play to improve maximum performance.
If little or nothing can be done to change the genetic baggage, there is always room to improve one's physical and psychological condition, and I assure you that increasing these factors means improving a lot!
What I'm interested in highlighting is how even in golf, muscle strength plays a role that is too important to be neglected.
Golfers are among the best customers for athletic trainers, because few train to improve their muscular component, so it takes very little to make significant improvements.
In fact, in golfers, a program of about 8-12 weeks, carried out under the watchful eye of a professional, can lead to increases in strength of over 100%. Higher levels of strength translate into more power and precision and less fatigue at the end of the game.
Do you think you don't need to be stronger? Yet all top-level golfers have their own personal trainer and spend time on physical preparation.
Strength is that muscular quality that will allow you to excel in any sport! Strength is that basic quality that cannot be neglected.
Think of a swing ... higher strength levels will allow you greater acceleration to the bat and make your swing successful, without running out over the course of the 18 holes.
This is just an example, but a better physical condition will allow you to improve yourself in all shots, not only those that require strength and power, but also precision ones. Not to mention that a good muscle training will also be used to prevent injuries and protect your back from possible trauma.
How to train?
Although wellness centers and fitness centers will advise you differently, training with free weights and tools that create instability are the ones that are right for you.
Nothing will serve you to train with the guided cars, they are not for golfers!
Machines tend to reduce movement to be guided and to unfold on a single plane, which means not being able to transfer the developed force to an activity such as golf, which requires mastery and coordination of gestures and movements on different planes in space.
Training must be customized to your real needs.
Barbells, dumbbells, rubber bands, medicine balls and swiss balls will allow you to create your ideal training to do in any place (in the field, in an equipped area of the club, at home, in your office, in the gym etc.).
Much importance must be given to the improvement of intermuscular coordination, the ability to make the various muscles involved in the gesture interact optimally, and to strengthen the stabilizing muscles, those muscles that stabilize a part of the body, allowing another part of the body (generally the limbs) to exert force. The stabilizers that play an important role in the practice of golf are the abdominals and the back muscles. It is therefore important to train these muscles which will allow you to express greater strength and security in your movements.
The advice I can give you is:
- Consult a professional of physical preparation, with whom to draw up the training program that best suits your needs, nothing can serve you improvise.
- Dedicated to strength training 1 or 2 hours per week. Concentrate on the muscles involved in golf and to improve the looseness of the gestures.
- Allow a few weeks to elapse so that your body adapts to the training loads and thus gives better performance.
Getting better physically also means having more concentration, better punch accuracy and knowing how to minimize mental fatigue.
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