Fitness and Golf
Sometimes my lessons include this advice: Get to the gym! Biomechanics and conditioning have everything to do with your swing motion. Changing your swing without addressing physiological influences is a key reason for struggling with the same problems repeatedly.
Physical conditioning plays a significant role even in the putting stroke. Consider:
- Flexibility/strength in hams, quads, and core influence posture
- Posture will influence position relative to the ball
- Position influences motion
- Motion determines path
- Path ranges from “arc” to “pendulum”
- Path affects the type of putter you should buy
One can easily deduce that as we progress to the tee shot, the effect of conditioning upon technique is multiplied.
Your body naturally seeks to perform in the most efficient way it can, and will work around physical influences to do so. Influences include:
- comfort
- strength
- flexibility
- coordination
As your body strives toward an efficient swing motion, it works around your strengths and weaknesses. These adaptations result in an efficient swing for your body, one that is fairly easy to repeat. This is good, but does not guarantee an effective swing. In the pursuit of a more effective swing, it is necessary to address biomechanical factors in order to reduce the barriers separating "efficient" from "effective". Unless you are going to hit tens of thousands of practice balls under the watchful eye of an instructor, you will not become stronger in the necessary areas without targeted physical training.
Remember, an efficient swing is determined by what your body will do most readily, not by a prototype swing model, and if that leads to an unsatisfactory skill level, then a fitness-based approach should be utilized to facilitate improvement.
