Upload
others
View
0
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Dr. D. Ryan York, PT, DPT, CGS Doctorate in Physical Therapy Certified Golf Performance Specialist, GOLO Golf University
Dr. Chad Edwards, PT, DPT, CGFI Doctorate in Physical Therapy Certified Golf Fitness Instructor, Titleist Performance Institute
© 2013 by Age Defying Golf, Boise, ID. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Age Defying Golf.
2
Chapter 1. Swing and Body Self-Evaluation
One of the reasons that Age Defying Golf Rx has been so successful is that we begin
with the basic knowledge that the body of the 50-75 year old golfer is physically different
than golfers in other age ranges. You know this. But when you take a golf lesson, you
will probably be evaluated with the same tool and given the same advice as that “20
something” trying to bomb it past his young buddies.
Our swing evaluation is different and is the first swing evaluation to be based on the
known physical science of the body for your specific age range. I know, and you know,
that you will probably never have the flexibility that you did when you where a teenager.
Instead of winding you up in knots and asking your body to do the impossible, let us first
evaluate YOUR BODY. Let us determine what you can do and take a fresh approach to
discover how Age Defying Golf Rx can not only improve your game, but protect you from
injury so you can play the game you love and love the game you play.
**Using a mirror or a partner will help you make an accurate assessment in this chapter. **
In fact, some of the “golf tips” that you may be working on right
now may not even be physically possible for you!!! Be careful! You
may be ruining your swing, or worse, setting yourself up for injury.
3
I. Phase One: Setup
Hitting the golf ball is a minor miracle in and of itself and it is even harder if you do
not start in the correct position. How can you expect to be in the correct position as you
hit the ball if you do not start in the correct position! So what do we look for in a correct
address position? Certainly grip is a major factor, however, in my practice I focus on more
physical factors and I would refer you to your PGA teaching professional with these type
of technical issues. As a physical therapist and golf performance specialist, I want to know
what your spine angle is (how far you bend forward at the waist) and how straight or flat
your spine is.
POSTURE AND SPINE ANGLE.
Generally speaking, when I look at a
golfer from the “down the line view,”
men have a “C” posture or a hunched
over posture. Women can also have a
“C” posture OR and “S” posture
(excessive spinal curves that gives the
appearance of an “S”). Due to the
anatomy of the bones in your spine, the
more bent over you are, the less the spine can rotate = limited backswing and loss of
power. Unfortunately, posture changes are not a matter of just trying to standing up
4
straight. Poor posture over many years results in muscles changing lengths so that they are
now “gluing” your spine in that poor posture. Thus, to stand up straight you have to fight
your muscles adapted and now preferred position. The only way to really change posture
is to change the length of muscles and this takes time. Refer to the Cervical and Upper
Back Rx section in the Guide to Pain-Free Golf (http://www.agedefyinggolf.com/guide-to-
pain-free-golf) to improve your posture. Here is a sample exercise you can work on to
improve posture: http://youtu.be/RGfvbIWRJqQ.
In addition, how do you know how far forward to bend? Or how much should you
bend your knees? Instead of getting too technical here and giving you the perfect degree
of knee bend, the best answer is the “athletic position.” The athletic position is the bodies
position of absolute power in which the muscles around the ankles, knees, hips, back and
shoulders are at their optimum length and angle for optimum power.
Each muscle has a certain position in which it will produce the most power. Take
your biceps for example (the muscle kids flex to show you how strong they are). The
biceps muscle is the most powerful and can lift the most weight when the elbow is around
a 1000 angle. If your arm is fully straight or if your elbow is fully bent, your bicep cannot
produce nearly as much power.
Luckily for us, the body instinctively knows these positions. If you are getting
ready to lift a heavy object, you don’t stand up straight with arms straight out in front of
you. You get into the “athletic position.” You can get into the athletic position for golf by
first standing with your feet shoulder width apart. Now, keeping your back flat, bend or
5
hinge forward at the waist to a comfortable and powerful feeling position. Lastly, bend
your knees slightly. You should “feel” ready for action, ready to dodge a speeding car.
That is all there is to it. A general clue to keep in mind is that most golfers tend to bend
too far forward at the waist. So if in doubt, stand a little taller and make sure that your
back is flat.
Other body parts to keep track of include your head, arms and legs. First, most
amateur golfers make the mistake of keeping their head tilted too far down because they
are trying to keep their “eye on the ball.” The problem here is that when the golfer takes
their backswing, their shoulders run
into her chin and move her head
backwards. It is very difficult to hit a
stationary ball when your head is
moving all over because your shoulders
are running into your chin. Instead,
with your head in a relaxed position, your shoulders should have
enough room to rotate underneath the chin and not affect the
head.
Second, once you have achieved your athletic position, the
arms should hang down naturally. You should not feel that you
are reaching for the ball. In fact, your arms and the shaft of
Incorrect Head Position Correct Chin Up Position
Incorrect – Arms reaching forward instead of hanging down naturally.
6
the club should NOT be aligned, but should be at different angles. This is absolutely true
with irons. You can move your hands a little further forward for your fairway woods and
your driver to create more of a sweeping motion, however, the shaft and your arms should
still be at different angles.
Finally, the legs. We have already mentioned the athletic
bend in the knees, but we are now talking about their rotational
position. For the average golfer, the front foot should be rotated
outwards about 200 to 300. This outward turn allows the hips to
fully clear on the downswing and follow through.
However, if you have tight hips or arthritis in the hips, it is
ok if you also rotate your back foot outward. This reduces the
strain on the hip and can also help you avoid some harmful compensatory moves that can
ruin a good swing. Click this link to an article that addresses golf swing tips for golfers
with physical limitations like hip restrictions: http://agedefyinggolf.com/senior-golf-
golf-instruction-for-old-guys-that-rule/
WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION AT ADDRESS. Weight distribution is important during all
phases of the swing. At address, your weight should be evenly dispersed from side to side
and from heel to toe.
Correct - L foot flared out 25 degrees at address
7
Golf Position
Correct Incorrect YOUR SCORE Correct = 1 point Incorrect=0 points
Degree of Importance
Why It Is Important
Spine Angle Back Flat “C” or “S” Curve
Very Important
Power, pure contact, swing plane
Head Position Head relaxed, tilted high enough for shoulders to rotate underneath.
Head down. Very Important
Pure contact
Arm position Hanging down in relaxed position
Reaching too far forward
Important Power, pure contact, swing plane.
Left Foot Position
Turned towards target slightly: 200 – 300
Facing directly forward
Moderately Important
Power, injury prevention
Weight Distribution
Equal weight on both feet from heel to toe.
Weight too far on your heels or toes.
Moderately Important
Pure contact
Your Total Score:______
Weight on Heels – incorrect setup Weight Balanced - correct setup
8
II. Phase II: Transition Phase
THE RIGHT LEG.
One position that we do address is the position of your right foot and right knee as you
move into your backswing. In your backswing, your weight should stay on the INSIDE of
your right foot. All too often, we see golfers shift their weight onto the outside of their
right foot, called supination of the foot. This is a major flaw that leads to loss of power and
poor contact.
To test your self, take a full backswing and hold that position. Feel if your weight is on
the inside of your back foot or if it has rolled to the outside. If it has rolled to the outside,
try the “Ball under back foot drill” in the ADG Drills Book or you can follow this link to a
brief article written to address this position: http://agedefyinggolf.com/1-tip-for-major-
golf-consistency-and-golf-power/
Supination ~ Rolled Foot R knee rotated - Reverse Pivot Correct Knee/Foot Position
9
In addition, your right knee should be allowed to straighten and rotate a little bit but
the knee should not sway laterally. It should NOT fully straighten or go into full
extension. Ideally, we don’t want your
knee to rotate too much in your backswing either. If your knee extends and rotates too
much you have likely lost the power of your hips. This is troublesome because the hips
should be the most powerful muscles contributing to your swing.
To narrow down the culprit, have a friend or spouse assist you. Get into your
normal address position and have your partner kneel down behind your right leg. In this
position, they should hold your knee in position, not allowing it to straighten or rotate too
much. Now take your backswing and feel the difference. If you feel significant tightness
on the outside of your right hip, poor hip flexibility is to blame and this is addressed
throughout the Age Defying Golf Rx program.
If not, it is likely one of the other two causes. There are a lot of gadgets on the
market that can help train your knee to maintain the proper position. In our practice, we
have found the easiest way to train this position is to knock in your knee slightly at
address.
The importance of the right leg being stable has its roots in the “X-Factor” which is
the difference between how much your shoulders rotate and how much your hips rotate.
This swing fault has several possible origins: 1)habit, 2)reverse pivot shift, 3) poor hip flexibility.
10
For maximum power, you want there to be a large difference between the two with
shoulder rotation maximized and hip rotation slightly minimized. If your weight shifts to
the outside of your right foot and your knee cap rotates to far to the right, this means your
hips will be allowed to rotate too much, limiting the X-Factor and losing the advantage of
great shoulder rotation. It is like a coil; to tighten the coil you want to rotate the ends
opposite directions, not the same direction. In your swing, you rotate your shoulders to the
right and limit your hips from rotating too far to the right.
(If you are a golfer over 65 who has not been working on your flexibility, you may
not be physically able to limit your hip rotation for a big X-Factor. If this is the case, you
can review this article for swing alternatives: http://agedefyinggolf.com/senior-golf-golf-
instruction-for-old-guys-that-rule/).
WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION AT TOP OF BACKSWING.
At the top of your backswing, we really begin to find weight distribution faults that are
more prevalent in golfers over 50 years old. Generally speaking, you should have
approximately 70% of your weight on your back foot and 30% still on your front foot.
You have probably heard these or similar numbers before. However, that is not the whole
story.
In order for the golfer to properly and completely load the right side, you should
have more weight on the heel of your right foot than the toe, an approximately 35% to
11
65% split respectively. We have found that golfers over 50 years old, predominately have
too much weight on their toes.
Too much weight on the toes can lead to a major loss of power coming from the
right leg and a casting/slicing swing path. So why do we find this in golfers over 50? It
is probably not the reason that you might expect. The answer again is hip flexibility.
That’s right, a weight distribution swing fault is typically caused by a physical limitation.
In order to correctly load the back leg, you need to have approximately 550 of right
hip internal rotation (leg rotating in) range of motion. If you don’t have it (and you
won’t have it unless you are stretching consistently), your body will shift weight forward
(toward the ball) in order to get a full backswing…. that is bad news for your golf game.
To check your position, take a full back swing and hold the position. Feel where your
body weight is centered. Front to back and heel to toe.
ELBOW POSITIONING.
Your left and right elbow positions are key ingredients to creating more swing width.
Most golfers over 50 that are striving for more power, often allow the elbows to break
down in an effort to lengthen their swing…kind of a John Daly attempt. However, John
Daly can make that swing and still keep his left elbow straight, the rest of us mortals can’t
come close. As a result, the more powerful swing is almost always a shorter backswing
that maintains width, one with a straight left elbow.
12
No less important is the position of the right elbow. Many golfers know that they should
keep their left elbow straight, but rarely do golfers understand the right elbow and how to
position it for power. At the top of your backswing, the right elbow should maintain a 900
angle for optimum power production.
Collapsed Left Elbow Correct Left Elbow Position
Collapsed R Elbow - Incorrect Correct R Elbow Position
13
In addition, your right forearm should be in line with your torso, or primary spine angle,
instead of an elbow up or chicken wing position. We see this most often in golfers who
grew up playing a lot of baseball…”keep your elbow up” as my dad used to tell me. If hit
is a significant issue for you, check out the Impact Ball Training Aid on this page:
http://agedefyinggolf.com/affiliates
The position of your left arm is also important as it relates to the head. It is much
easier to consistently hit a golf ball if your head remains relatively still as opposed to a
head that is moving.
Many golfers move their head to the side as they take their backswing. This has
several potential causes: 1) poor neck flexibility (the head needs to be able to rotate at least
700 in order to be still in the backswing) 2) the head is tilted too far downwards and your
shoulder is running into your chin on the backswing (as discussed earlier in this section) or
3) you are raising your shoulders and they are running into your chin.
R Elbow “chicken winged” - incorrect R Elbow In-Line - correct
14
More often than not, the cause of the problem is that the head is tilted too far down
which is usually the result of everyone telling to “keep your head down” or “keep your
head on the ball.”
You need to raise your chin up just enough to allow your shoulders to rotate cleanly
underneath your chin. If you lack the range of motion to rotate your head properly, you
can view a different article that I wrote for a popular golf instructional site:
http://www.sirshanksalot.com/golf-drills/top-5-issues-killing-golfers-over-50-neck-
rotation/
Golf Position Correct Incorrect YOUR SCORE Correct = 1 point Incorrect=0 points
Degree of Importance
Why It Is Important
Right Foot Weight over the inside of the right foot
Weight rolled to the outside of the right foot
Extremely Important
Pure contact, power
Right Knee Knee cap facing forward
Knee rotated towards the right.
Extremely Important
Power, pure contact
Weight Distribution (Left to Right)
70% of your weight is on your back leg
Too much weight is still on your front leg.
Extremely Important
Power, pure contact
Weight Distribution (heel to toe).
65% of your weight is over your heel of your right foot compared to
Weight is more over your toes.
Important Power, pure contact
A more correct instruction would be to keep your head still.
15
the toe. Left Elbow Position
Mostly straight
Too much elbow bend
Very Important
Power, pure contact
Right Elbow Position
900 bend Greater than 900 bend
Important Power
Right Forearm/Elbow
In line with your body
Chicken winged
Important Power, swing plane
Head Movement
Minimal movement
Excess movement
Very Important
Pure contact
Your Total Score_______