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Scott's Golf Blog: January 2009

Saturday, January 31, 2009

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE YOUR GOLF POWER

Let’s face it, nearly every golfer wants to add distance to their tee shots, and there is a whole host of marketers who want to sell you the latest driver, the newest training aid, or the newest exercise to help you gain that extra 20 yards you so desire. Here are the best ways to gain extra distance off the tee.

1. Improve your golf swing! I developed my golf fitness website because I noticed the need to debunk some of the information being put out there by so-called golf fitness gurus and even the golf profession overall. You can NOT gain distance off the tee just by lifting weights or doing any “golf-specific” exercises if you have a significantly flawed swing! Sure, you may increase your swing speed, but that will only make the ball curve further off-line!

For instance, if you have the classic over-the-top golf swing that results in a slice, right there you are limiting your ability to hit the ball further. And, learning a new stretch or exercise will NOT solve this problem!

A slice will not go as far as a hook. Learn how to hook the ball by correcting this major swing flaw, and I guarantee you will add yards right away. That is just one example, but the point is to look at ways to improve your golf swing first. Striking the ball more solidly will result in immediate gains in distance!

2. Ok, let’s say you do actually have a decent golf swing, but you want to add some yards. What should you do now? Join a gym with the goal of being able to bench press 300 pounds? No, absolutely not. The best way to increase your distance off the tee, if you have a decent swing already, is to improve your flexibility, especially with your shoulders and your trunk. This will allow you to make a fuller shoulder turn. A fuller shoulder turn will help you to widen the arc of your swing, a key component to hitting it long.

This is especially true with older players. As we watch our golf heroes age, they tend to lose flexibility and their swings get shorter and shorter. Arnold Palmer is a clear example of this. If he had focused a bit more on his fitness and flexibility at a younger age, he could have a longer swing than he has now. We can’t eliminate all of the issues that come with aging, but we can sure hold them off as long as we can.

With that in mind, get yourself on a stretching program. You can learn a few key stretching exercises that you can do from home in 15 to 20 minutes. Stretching should be done every other day. The hamstrings, back and shoulders are what require the most attention.

3. If you’ve significantly improved your flexibility, now you can consider ways to increase the power of your golf swing through strength training. Although I believe in developing a balanced, strength training program which will exercise all of the major body parts, you should evaluate your body and identify the weaknesses first.

First and foremost, the most important muscle group for generating power is your legs. The legs are the foundation for the golf swing, and if they are weak, you will not be able to maximize your power. Now, this does not mean you need to be able to squat 500 pounds! I suggest you learn some classic martial arts stances that are meant to increase strength while improving balance. These can be done in the comfort of your own home with no equipment necessary.

After the legs, probably the next most important muscle group is the upper back and shoulders. I have probably benefited significantly from having strong shoulders as a result of my 10 years as a competitive swimmer when I was a kid. Over the years, I have continued to be sure to maintain strength in these areas. Simple pull ups and a set of dumbbells are all you need to work on these areas. Want to increase their strength and work on some cardio at the same time, a rowing machine might be a good investment.

Finally, work on your core strength as well as your arms. Keep this in mind though, you do not need huge arms to add greater distance, and increasing your core strength will not do much either. However, conditioning these areas is important mainly to help avoid injury.

4. Alright, you’ve got a pretty good golf swing, you’ve increased your flexibility, and improved on the strength of your body. What else is there!? Well, this where some more advanced golf swing techniques come into play.

You can have a picture perfect golf swing, but there is a swing sequence that will allow you to increase your golf swing speed significantly at impact. This technique is what some refer to as “cracking the whip” or “lagging the hands.” If you watch any of the big power hitters on tour, they all have one thing in common….they start the downswing with their lower body BEFORE their backswing is completed. This causes the arms to lag the lower body, causing that whiplash effect that dramatically increases swing speed right at impact.

Many amateur golfers are so concerned with being in the right position at the top of the backswing that they wait too long to get the downswing started with the lower body, and they lose all the stored up power that results from the coiling of the back swing. If you can get this timing down, you will see a dramatic increase in your driving distance.

One other minor flaw in the golf swing of many amateurs is the lack of wrist action in their golf swings. Most are concerned with hitting the ball straight so they try very hard to limit the action in their hands. This actually defeats that purpose and can result in a greater slice, if that is their typical ball flight. What they really need to do is let the natural rotation of the forearms occur at the bottom of the golf swing when impact occurs.

Keep this example in mind. Remember Kirk Gibson’s home run to win the game for the Dodgers in their World Series against the A’s? He had no power in his legs due to bad knees. Yet, just by using his hands, he was able to generate enough bat speed to hit that ball out of the park. Wade Boggs, renowned for being a line drive hitter, was said to be able to hit balls out of the park at will during batting practice since he had such great hands.

Among golfers, Chi Chi Rodriguez is an example of a player with a wristy golf swing that allowed him to hit the ball pretty far for a guy who weighed under 150 pounds.

Learn to incorporate the hands properly in the golf swing, and you will be able to generate substantial power.


Conclusion

The bottom line is that there are a variety of ways to improve the power of your golf swing through golf strength training and fitness. However, you must first improve your golf swing in order to generate more power. If you are able to develop a sound golf swing, the possibilities become endless.

Scott Cole

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

More Power Golf Swing Tips

This is a follow up to a recent post discussing the keys to generating more power in your golf swing. In the first installment, I discussed the importance of a good set up with balance. In this post, the focus is on the shoulder turn.

What I have noticed in most average players is the lack of a good shoulder turn. This may be the result of a physical issue, but in most cases, it is due to a swing flaw, such as a reverse pivot. Most golfers that learn the game as adults have difficulty developing a big shoulder turn since they are primarily focused on trying to either just make contact with the ball, or keep it in play. Junior golfers and those that learn the game at an early age rarely have this problem.

However, generating a powerful golf swing requires that full shoulder turn, since when you combine that with a smaller hip turn, you generate significant torque. When this torque is unwound, significant clubhead speed is generated.

If flexibility is your issue in trying to generate a full shoulder turn, I suggest you learn some basic stretching exercises that will help to loosen up your upper body. My ebook, "How to Improve Your Golf Swing Power" provides a number of such exercises along with strength training routines you can perform at home with no equipment.

If you have a swing flaw such as a reverse pivot, you are losing significant power in that regard. Seek a qualified golf instructor to help you deal with that issue.

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Monday, January 26, 2009

Perez wins Hope as Stricker falters

You really got to hate watching a golfer have a meltdown like Steve Stricker did on Sunday. A sure case of a pro getting out of his comfort level with a chance to win a tournament. He's won a few times before, but is clearly not comfortable when he has a chance.

Perez didn't have his A game, but he came through with a clutch shot on 18 when he had the chance to win. I am surprised it took him this long, since he had some good success on the Nationwide Tour. This may be the shot in the arm his career needs.

I continue to be amazed by the fact that most players still have not learned how to go for the jugular on Sunday afternoon the way Tiger does. Padraig Harrington and Anthony Kim seem to be the only other players capable of running away with, or taking a tournament when it is within reach. Yeah, Mickelson can when Tiger is not lurking, and Kenny Perry can when playing in a relatively weak field (The Memorial notwithstanding). Most of the time though, the leader after Saturday falters on Sunday. When will these other players adopt Tiger's attitude of trying to expand the lead?

Just a thought!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Power Golf Training Fitness Tip

I did a little bit of research, as usual, in recent weeks, and came to the realization that there is one muscle group that most golfers do not work on much, but it is definitely a key to achieving distance potential. This group is the lats, the muscles of the upper and middle back. Women in particular tend to have much smaller lat muscles than men.

The reason this muscle group is important is that it is very involved in the winding and unwinding of the golf swing. The stronger these muscles are, the more torque you can put into the golf swing.

The best way to work out these muscles without much in the way of equipment, is the pull up. Unfortunately, pull-ups can be quite difficult, and most people, especially people who are a bit over weight, find it difficult to perform just one repetition. However, by simply using a chair to support some of your weight, you can still do pull-ups and increase your strength.

We do this by setting one foot on the chair. This takes away some of the body weight, which makes it a little easier to do a pull up. Doing our best not to push up with that foot, we pull ourselves up until our chin as even or slightly above the bar. If you lower yourself back down slowly, you will continue to work the muscles.

You can try a variety of grips on the pull up bar. First, try an overlapping grip with the hands shoulder width apart. A more difficult version would be to place the hands outside of shoulder width apart. Or you can also try a very narrow grip, with the hands just a few inches apart. You can also do a chin up, which is done by grabbing the bar so that palms face toward you.

Since the pull up hits the back and arms, and the shoulders to an extent, it is a great exercise for the golfer seeking to add some distance without spending hours in the gym.

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Monday, January 19, 2009

Keys to Hitting it Long!

Over the next few weeks I will be discussing the key components to increasing your distance off the tee. In the first few segments I will discuss the basic swing keys that must be present in your swing to maximize distance. These tips will be followed later by fitness tips, since many golfers may have limitations that make it difficult to maximize distance through golf tips alone.

First and foremost is the set up. I can not emphasize this enough. If you have a poor set up, you are immediately losing yardage potential. You've probably read plenty about the importance of a good set up in other places. Here is how I describe the proper set up for hitting a drive to my students...

1. First, place your feet about shoulders width apart, or slightly wider.

2. Now, if your club is in your hand, lean it on your leg. Let your hands hang down by your sides. Now, bend your legs slightly, and turn them in toward each other very slightly. Your weight should be evenly distributed, or 55-45 favoring the right side.

3. Focus your balance on the point between the two big pads on the bottom of your feet.

4. With your back straight, bend at the waist just a few inches, and keep your chin up a bit, and let your arms hang.

5. Now pick up your club, and retrace the steps described above if you did not have the club leaning on your leg. Once in that position, grip the club as you normally would, and let the arms drop down from that natural position described above, and let the clubhead extend to the ground. Move the clubhead so that it rests in line with your left heel, or up to one inch to the left of your heel.

This stance now should have you in a position where the arms are extended and relaxed. The shoulders will naturally be tilted slightly with the lead shoulder above the rear shoulder, since the lead hand is held higher on the grip. There will also be a few inches between the grip of your club and your body, which allows you room for proper extension on the take away. In fact, for the driver, there should be more than one fist length of space between the top end of the club and your body at the set up, and probably at least 1.5 fist lengths. This space will be narrower for shorter clubs.

Finally, your feet, knees, hips and shoulders should all be parallel to the target line. Now you are in the right position to make a powerful golf swing. Although most amateur golfers do not set up properly to the ball, this is the easiest part of the golf swing to get right!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Saturday, January 17, 2009

To Improve Your Golf Game, Learn Some Kung Fu!

I’ve been a golfer for over 30 years, and a student of Pai Lum Kung Fu for the past eight years, achieving the rank of 1st Degree Blackbelt. Although these are obviously radically different activities, to excel in either one, you must develop similar characteristics. Both golf and Kung Fu are total body activities that also engage the mind.

First we will focus on flexibility. The more flexible you are, the more potential your golf swing will have, as you will be able to generate a longer golf swing with a wider arc, one of the major keys to increased power. Obviously, flexibility is very important to the martial artist. Again, the greater the flexibility in your technique, the greater the range of motion you may have, and thus, the greater potential for power. Also, greater flexibility helps prevent injury.

Next is strength. In both golf and the martial arts, you do NOT need to be super strong to have significant power. Huge muscles typically are not important to either activity. However, a decent amount of strength is clearly important. Traditional martial artists tend to work out the body in more traditional ways, without the use of heavy weights. This results in a lean and hard body, rather than a big and bulky body. A less bulky body allows the martial artist to maintain greater flexibility. This is also important to the golfer. We don’t often see 250 pound linebackers who have a good golf game, but it is not uncommon to see a quarterback play golf well, not to mention a hockey player.

It is also important for the golfer and martial artist to be strong mentally. When in a fight, the martial artist must maintain his cool and composure at all times. By doing so, he will make few mistakes that his opponent may capitalize upon.

I am reminded of the early days of the UFC when Royce Gracie dominated that sport. He was often matched against opponents much larger than he (he usually weighed in at about 170 pounds). Typically, he would wait until his opponent would charge in and try to kick him to the head or body. This type of technique often results in less balance for a martial artist and Gracie would capitalize on this by moving in quickly to take his opponent down, then work into a position where he could choke out his opponent, or put him in a joint lock, forcing a tap out or a broken limb.

There is no other sport that requires you to be more mentally tough than in golf. That is why Tiger Woods is the best. He is simply much stronger mentally than any of his competitors, and that is why he often wins even when he is off his game.

In Kung Fu, we generate power by maintaining proper balance and being rooted to the ground. In the movies, you will see fighters leaving the ground and performing those fancy, jumping, spinning kicks. But, once you leave the ground, you lose power. If you watch any of the old Bruce Lee movies, you did not often see him leaving the ground when he finished off a kick or a punch. Occasionally, but not often.

In golf, the best players will keep their balance. This is the most important factor to having a powerful golf swing and consistent ball striking ability. That is why even when they swing hard, they maintain good balance.

Finally, both activities require you to remain relaxed to perform at the best of your ability. If there is any excess tension, you lose power, flexibility and touch. That is why breathing and relaxation techniques play a crucial role in the mastery of both.

So, if you have the opportunity, go learn a little Kung Fu! I guarantee it will help your golf game!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Monday, January 12, 2009

Ogilvy Back On Form as PGA Season Begins

Geoff Ogilvy showed the world he is back on top of his game and ready to be among the challengers when Tiger Woods returns to the tour in a couple months. Ogilvy has a solid all around game as demonstrated by his U.S. Open victory a couple years ago. He also has a classic, effortless golf swing, and can be described as sneaky long. For the tall golfer, Ogilvy has a great swing to emulate. He has great balance and flexibility, which translates into a nice full back swing and strong follow through. However, he always seems to swing within himself and under control. This week, these characteristics translated into 75% of fairways hit and 86% greens in regulation. He was tied for third in putting this week, and that is how you win a golf tournament!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Thursday, January 8, 2009

New PGA Tour Season Has Begun!

The pros are playing in Hawaii today, marking the start of the 2009 PGA Tour season. That has my juices flowing as I anticipate a new year of golf for myself, a year in which I take the game seriously again. I've begun my new conditioning program as I hope to have myself in the best shape of my life before the season begins. Then I will be able to focus more attention on my game and my teaching.

This will be my first year as a professional instructor, although I have worked with plenty of friends in the past. In February, I head to Texas to attend a teaching seminar taught by Hank Haney, the present coach of Tiger Woods. Haney has some interesting ideas regarding addressing major issues faced by many golfers, including the shanks and yips. It will be interesting to learn more about his teaching approach and his work with Tiger.

Now that the new season is under way, many of us across the country are faced with some pretty bad weather which will prohibit us from getting out on the course. Some of us will head south at some point for a vacation just to get a few rounds in before our own season begins. For those of you that don't have that option, check out the possibility of heading to an indoor driving range, or a golf simulator facility. Just getting a few swings in between now and Spring will help get your game started quickly when the new season arrives. You may even want to get a lesson or two at one of these facilities.

Don't forget your conditioning between now and then! This is a great time of year to work on your fitness, especially in regard to the legs and back. And of course, remember your stretching! If you can increase your flexibility a bit, it will pay big dividends during the golf season!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Monday, January 5, 2009

New Year, Time to Get Back In Shape

As is my custom, I started my New Year workout routine on the first Monday of the New Year. Now, keep in mind, I worked out more consistently in 2008 than any year in the last 15. But, as the holidays approached, and I tried to get a lot of my other work completed so I could relax for a couple weeks, I slacked off.

Today, I started my new routine. As someone who is experienced with working out, I knew I needed to not go all out today, or I would be in serious pain on Tuesday, since I had not worked out for three weeks. I warmed up as I always do by jumping rope for a few minutes along with some light stretching. Unfortunately, my "gym" is in my garage, although these days I do not do heavy lifting. So, since I live in Pennsylvania, it is a little cold in there in the mornings in January.

I went through my entire 45 minute workout consisting of a variety of pushups and pullups, but may not have been loose enough. Near the end, I felt the familiar twinge in my upper back, under my shoulder blade, that indicates the onset of a muscle spasm. As the day wore on, the spasm became more painful, and now it will be difficult to get through all of my routines the rest of the week.

Although I don't believe I over did it, as the rest of my upper body is a little sore, but not too sore, I probably should have eased into the routine a bit more.

The moral to this story is...if you have not worked out for a couple weeks or more, don't over do it the first few workouts, especially if you are starting a routine once the golf season is underway. Sore muscles on the golf course tend to inhibit good scoring!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Sunday, January 4, 2009

To Increase The Power In Your Golf Swing, Be A Tree!

One of the most overlooked keys to a powerful golf swing is proper balance in your golf swing. Quite often, most students are told that one of the keys to a good golf swing is to maintain good balance, and to try and keep your balance somewhere near the balls of your feet. Unfortunately, that is where the discussion ends.

I trained for eight years in the martial art of Pai Lum Kung Fu, and proper balance was stressed throughout my training, from my days as a beginner student, and even beyond when I attained 1st Degree Black Belt. However, in our training, we focused on every possible detail regarding balance, from the feet, to proper stance width, posture and center of gravity. These are all important keys to developing power in our Kung Fu techniques, and they are important keys to helping golfers develop more power in their golf swings as well.

In describing the swing of J.B. Holmes, noted golf instructor David Leadbetter has this to say…” Starting down, his legs get into a squat position, which lets him use the ground as resistance and create an unbelievable energy flow from his legs, up through his shoulders and down into his arms and the club.”

Using the ground as resistance and the creation of energy flow from the legs are two important components we focused on for generating power in our techniques at the kung fu school.

One of the things my teacher stressed often was to focus on getting our feet rooted into the ground to help generate power, particularly in our punching techniques. We devote an entire breathing exercise that lasts about five minutes to this concept of rooting. Later in our training, we were taught to focus on a specific spot on the bottom of our foot where our balance will be rooted into the ground. This spot will also draw energy from the earth into our body, and then we learn how to transfer this energy into our technique. When you develop this ability, you become capable of generating incredible bower with minimal movement.

To locate this specific spot on the bottom of your foot, take a moment to sit down, and take off your shoes and socks. On the bottom of your feet you will notice thick pads, that are often described as the balls of the feet. The biggest of these pads is under the area beneath the big toe. Next to this large pad is an area that looks like a small hollow. Take your thumb and push into this hollow firmly. If you feel a nice jolt of pain, you have found the right spot! If not, keep searching until you feel that bit of pain. In Chinese medicine, this spot is known as Kidney Point 1, and it is viewed as a very significant healing point, even for a heart attack victim.

Now that we have identified this point, we want to take this information and transfer it into our golf swing. So, with your shoes off, find a spot on a hard floor and get into your golf stance (without a club of course). When you set up into your stance to hit a golf ball, focus very hard on these points in the bottom of your feet. These are the points where you should focus your balance.

Now I want you to feel a sort of corkscrewing motion, starting with that spot in the bottom of your feet, then feel it up into your knees, then into your hips. You should feel as if you are trying to screw the bottom of your foot into the ground, and then the hips tuck under your torso, and maybe move forward a little bit (we also refer to this as a curling of the hips). Practice a few times at home with your shoes off, then try getting that same feeling with your golf shoes on (preferably not indoors or you will have some damaged floors!). You see, it is absolutely critical that you engage the hips in your golf swing, particularly at the start of your downswing. Engaging the hips in this manner will help them clear out the path for the golf club more quickly, generating more power.

Posture also plays a significant role in developing proper balance. Although we want to feel as if we are rooted into the ground like a tree, we certainly do not want to stand straight up in our golf stance, nor do we want to be bent over too far in our stance. Generally speaking, if we draw a straight line up from the ground to the sky at the back our hips, we then want to be bent at the hips so that our spine is angled about 30 degrees from that straight line. Find a photo of Tiger Woods’ stance and you have a perfect picture of what I describe. This stance allows the arms plenty of room to swing freely in the golf swing.

Finally, it is important to maintain a low center of gravity throughout your golf swing. You will often hear football announcers describe how a running back is difficult to tackle because he has a low center of gravity. The martial artist looks to develop that low center of gravity as well, in order to generate power in his punches. The golfer will lose power by rising up in his/her golf swing.

To make sure you keep your center of gravity as low as possible, it is important to learn how to relax your abdomen during the golf swing. In other words, let your gut sag instead of sucking it in! This will require you to learn how to breathe so that you fill up all three levels of your lungs (lower, middle, upper), rather than just the upper level of your lungs. By learning how to breathe in this manner, you will learn how to maintain a low center of gravity even while holding your breath at the beginning of the swing (you should learn how to exhale during the downswing).

If you can learn how to develop proper posture and balance in this manner, you will have success in improving the power of your golf swing.

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Time to Set New Goals for Your Golf Game

Well, 2008 is finally behind us, and the new PGA Tour golf season starts anew next week. Time for all golfers to set new goals for the new year! This will take a little self-evaluation first, so I came up with a list to help you get started.

1. Did you meet your goals for 2008? If not, how close did you come to achieving them?

2. What do you consider to be the strength of your golf game?

3. What do you consider to be the weakness in your golf game?

4. Are you as fit as you want/need to be? Where are you strongest? Where are you weakest? Do you need to work on flexibility?

This is a obvious a very short list of items to consider heading into the new season. The first order of business is to address the area of your game that needs the most improvement. However, you also must not to forget to work on the other areas of your game. With that in mind, probably the best way to start is to figure out a way to find a little more time to work on your game.

Remember, working on your golf game is not limited to the golf course and driving range. Working on your physical and mental fitness are other ways to improve your golf game.

In the coming days and weeks, I will continue to address ways to help you improve your golf game, so stay tuned!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net