Scottie said it best paraphrased-
“most people do not have the body mechanics to get them into the correct position to hit a golf ball properly.”
It’s been raining like hell where I live. Because of this I’ve spent the last month doing golf-related balance, weight shift and flexibility drills and the realization was astounding- the thousand of hours I’ve spent playing golf have been useless because I haven’t been training.
Literally every position I was putting myself into that felt “correct” needed a physical compensation that was antithetical to a golf swing. I’m a decent athlete, I played sports in HS, but my biomechanics were not conducive to making a turn and doing the movement required. When one looked at my swing not from a golf POV- but from a sheerly physical therapy biomechanics way there were so many flaws just for my health that were also impacting my game.
I wasn’t using my core. I wasn’t flexible enough. I’d have to bend and arch. It rendered me off balance and unathletic. Because of that it would take a series of events all going perfectly to hit those good shots. And even worse I was getting back pain. Elbow pain. Everything a compensation to try and get in the positions I see in insta videos and on tv.
Just wanted to say this to all of you- don’t spend all your time on craft and forget about your actual body. Movement. Flexibility. Core. Stability. Balance. Strength. Agility. It’s a sport and the rest of these guys actually train to be able to do these golf techniques that look so effortless on the course. Stretch. Do drills. Check out videos without a club. They train!
Time at the range doesn’t matter if you’re not taking care of yourself. And no video will make you be able to give you flexibility in your pelvis and hips. If your core muscles can’t support a proper rotation or hold your posture, or generate power.
I played today first time in a month. and the power felt effortless. Best consistent contact in years and hadn’t touched a club. And best of all my back feels fine because I wasn’t wrenching it all day to generate.
So PSA: Listen to Scheffler. Don’t forget to train your body. Biomechanics matter. We forget it’s a sport!
ETA: I’m not saying don’t work on your craft- I’m saying also work on your body and make sure that your body can actually support what your craft is asking of it. Not everyone is built the same- find the drills and biomechanics that suit you, your swing, your body whatever that may be.
ETA: A few are requesting vids, there are great training vids and regiments avail as well as what each drill will do for your game. But to anybody curious here are a few vids of what the pros are doing off the course-
SCOTTIE
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTGCO0Ej1ok/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
SPIETH
https://youtu.be/l-MqjSFT0qI?si=wcNqbD4eoRD8PFLr
JT
https://youtu.be/fEks6AeiWFo?si=X96mnri95xcV-sPa
RICKY
https://fb.watch/FrG_kqFZ2w/?mibextid=wwXIfr&fs=e
TONY FINAU
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLdBKOhPwmN/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
MAX
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGK24O0zgEb/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== I
RORY
by just-a-simple-song
16 Comments
You’re not Scottie
Anything else?
The best way to learn how far things should go is simply go off your driver club head speed then scale back from there.
Efficiency in the golf swing is the technique.
If you hit driver 260, your 5 iron should go 190-200. If you aren’t hitting it that far. It’s your swing. It’s really simple.
Could share the exercise and video links?
I’m a Mo’ Norman kinda guy!
John Daly would beg to differ
fr man, biomechanics are everything in golf. it’s crazy how much your body mechanics can impact your swing and game
ngl man, the struggle is real. one good swing and five bad ones later, i’m out here questioning my life choices lol
I swapped out running / cycling for hot yoga w/ weights and hot Pilates with weights. More fun, way better workout, and doesn’t let you ignore / overcompensate for stuff or you’ll lose your balance / feel the pain immediately. Helped regain a bit of flexibility with some weight loss. Still have a jacked up back, but it does help.
Don’t tell me what to do
Not saying that focused gym time isn’t helpful but the old timers never really did any gym time. That was only a thing that happened after Tiger.
The golf swing should always feel effortless. What changes with conditioning is the power that is created relative to the effort expended. And obviously the more you play the more you should focus on conditioning to avoid injury and performance fall off from fatigue.
I have shitty conditioning. I lack flexibility. It means that I can’t create the stereotypical position at the top of my swing. But I don’t try to. I swing within my body’s limits. My swing is ugly and I subscribe to Tiger’s adage that you save max swing effort for special cases only. Most of your swings should feel like 80%.
I sacrifice yardage but have developed very good consistency because I can focus on impact position and face control instead of trying to force every last ounce of power into the club. My driver carry is only 220 (240-250 total depending on the conditions). My 7 iron carry is only 150. Any approach longer than 200 and I just accept I’m going to have to scramble
But you know what? I’ve played to single digit indexes and can still more than hold my own on most any course unless it’s stupidly long.
I agree that conditioning is beneficial. But what’s more important is to swing within the limits of your body. The golf swing should not hurt or feel uncomfortable. Technique is more important than power.
The only time conditioning is mandatory is if you’re trying to build club speed. Working on speed without conditioning your body is an inevitable injury.
I am ~40 years old, and relatively speaking I hit the ball pretty far for my age.
For me it seems like the two biggest upgrades for my swing speed were increasing grip strength and doing a ton of squats.
The most effective golf related workout I have found is just hanging from a pullup bar for as long as possible. This is a fantastic way to strengthen the hands and forearms, and it also decompresses and stretches your back.
Thanks for sharing all of that, especially the videos! It all makes so much sense to me now!
I feel a lot of it too is that the guys in the videos made it their jobs and pay a lot of money for the resources. Yes, you can too but the weekend hacker (me) doesn’t have time to hit balls every day, or play a round, be coached, get lessons. I just don’t. My daughters and wife are my priority so I’ll take my rounds whenever I can.
> balance, weight Movement. Flexibility. Core. Stability. Balance. Strength. Agility.
Don’t sleep on yoga, it covers most of those.
Not hating on the advice as all of this is generally good for you and can’t hurt. That being said, if you are having back pain it’s most likely a swing technique issue. I would get some lessons with an instructor who will listen to that because it’s extremely important to longevity to have efficient and sustainable swing mechanics.
>“most people do not have the body mechanics to get them into the correct position to hit a golf ball properly.”
I don’t even think this is true! One of the things Athletic Motion Golf likes to emphasize with their motion tracking is that the average amateur is doing *too much* movement and trying to move in more extreme ways than the average PGA Tour pro. I can’t remember the exact numbers they quote, but the average amateur in their data was rotating their hips *more* than the average tour player.
I don’t think you’re wrong about the importance of being flexible and being able to move comfortably, but the average golfer thinks the tour pros are making these insane movements that require incredible flexibility, and that’s largely just not true. A lot of what you see in still images of videos when it comes to swing positions are optical illusions.