Whenever I play golf (outside or simulators) and I see people driving 300+ yards but their swing still looks effortless and smooth, I wonder how they do it. I know it requires a club head speed, but a lot of this power is not in the arms, but in the back, the waist/stomach, and most importantly the legs. I can try to swing as hard as I can at the ball using my arms and be completely off target and inconsistent but hit like 280 yards once in a while on the fairway, but its not really what I’m looking for. Plus, when I play it back in the simulator cams, I look out of whack! I am aiming for consistency and a smooth flow that has substantial power without it showing.
So in order to get more distance while maintaining control, I believe my fitness level needs to go up. If you ever seen the Tour players in real life (not on TV).. and I’ve seen VJ Singh, his back muscles are like just massive and crazy, but you don’t realize that from TV.
So my conclusion is that I’m going to need to find a trainer to get me on a program to improve certain elements that will help me excel my game. This is why, I will be enrolling one of my clients, and good friend Clance Laylor from Laylor Performance Systems. He pretty much trains many high level executives in Toronto and competitive athletics. When I first approached him, he was pretty excited about this entire ‘Becoming Par’ project and would love to be part of my success, and here is his first e-mail to briefly explain what I will be working on in the next several months. Which I’ll share below:
Improving you Golf Game in the Weight room
Let me be as clear as possible, NOTHING will replace the time spent on the golf course practicing and honing your craft! However, that is not to say a well-designed lifting program will not help your golf game. My clients average a 20 yard increase in driving distance under my program.
The areas golfers need to focus on in the gym include:
“Core” – Improving one’s “core” strength is vitally important for all athletes, including golfers, but is often misunderstood. At Laylor Performance Systems, we train the core muscles in a manner that is truly functional and will transfer to improved athletic performance.
Back – Get off the lat pull down machine and start pulling your own body up to a bar and watch your driving power soar.
Upper back – The Powell raise and Trap 3 lift are extremely effective for training important postural muscles that are usually poorly developed. Never heard of these lifts? Let us show you!
“Rotator Cuff” – Performing a variety of special exercises designed to improve your external rotation strength at least twice per week will ensure this key area for shoulder health and stability is not neglected.
Forearms – If you don’t train with fat implements, train your forearms three times per week. At Laylor Performance Systems, all of our dumbbells are 1 ¼ inches thick, which makes extra forearm and grip training unnecessary.
Do I really have to mention flexibility? If you want to improve your flexibility you must commit to stretching for at least three hours a week! The typical ten minutes of stretching after a workout is important, but it is not going to significantly improve your flexibility.
Hope this helps.
Clance Laylor
So there it is. It’s a teaser I know! But I will try my best to post some videos of my workout or at least explain of these programs when I start training with Clance.
