What I Learned at Perform Better about Golf Training

What I Learned at Perform Better

By Ethan Swiatlowski

One of the highlights from the Perform Better Summit 2023 was having the pleasure of listening to Dr. Greg Rose. He also did an assessment for one of our clients at TrainSMART and our team had the pleasure of observing this.

Golf is a sport that has been overlooked in terms of physical fitness. Some people may think that it is unusual for golfers to be working out. “All they do is stand there and swing a club,” some might say when comparing golf to more standardized sports such as football. However, this is completely false. Golfers can benefit from learning how their body connects with the golf swing. Learning which joints need to be mobile and how mobile. Learning where power is being lost during the golf swing. Taking action to increase range of motion and strengthen certain areas of the body. These are all huge takeaways from how impactful physical assessment and functional fitness is for golfers. 

Dr. Rose is a Doctor of Chiropractic and has also received an engineering degree. Through the use of 3D motion capture and his knowledge of biomechanics and engineering, he has done cutting edge research to better understand body and swing connection. His research combines functional training and golf specific drills to help some of the top golfers in the world. Dr. Greg Rose co-founded the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) with Dave Phillips which studies and educates people on how the human body functions in relation to the golf swing. The primary goal of TPI is to help golfers enhance their performance and reduce the risk of injury by assessing and optimizing their physical abilities in relation to the golf swing. They believe that a golfer's physical fitness and movement patterns play a crucial role in achieving an efficient and effective golf swing. TPI uses a comprehensive assessment process to evaluate a golfer's strength, flexibility, mobility, stability, balance, and overall movement patterns. Based on the assessment results, personalized exercise programs and golf-specific training plans are developed to address any limitations or deficiencies detected. Greg Rose has played a prominent role in carving the path of approaching golf with a physical fitness point of view. This has always been looked over in the past. 

The body swing connection can be broken down into different parts that are all interconnected. All of these can be optimized and enhanced to increase performance and decrease risk for injury and pain. First, biomechanics and movement patterns must be efficient in order to achieve a good golf swing. Next, mobility and range of motion need to be adequate through the hips, shoulders, and spine to create a fluid golf swing. Strength and power need to be enhanced in the core and upper/lower body to generate clubhead speed to drive the ball further. This comes with balance and stability in creating a stable and strong base to rotate around. Posture and alignment are wildly important in maintaining proper club head path and angle of attack during the swing. Posture may need to be trained given that most people may be unaware of this. Another important key factor to understand about the golf swing is the kinematic sequence. Meaning, the golf swing follows a specific sequence of motion, involving the coordinated movement of body segments (hips, torso, arms) during the downswing. Understanding and optimizing this sequence maximizes power and efficiency. This goes hand in hand with muscle activation and timing. The core and lower body must activate together to create proper rotational force to transfer energy from the body to the club. Overall, understanding the body-to-golf swing connection helps in identifying potential areas of physical limitation or injury risk. Addressing these limitations through proper training can help prevent injuries and maintain longevity. 

Dr. Greg Rose was nice enough to do a 45 minute assessment for one of our clients. Our team at TrainSMART was lucky enough to observe this master class work. This client is an avid golfer and does a lot of bending over for work. He reports back pain during and after a round of golf. Dr. Rose began with the TPI 16-point physical screening to analyze motor control, upper and lower body dissociation, mobility, balance, stiffness, rotation, and glute strength/activation. All of this has been researched and used on some of the best golfers on the tour. With his assessment, he found that this client lacked hip mobility and motor control. He had a hip replacement in the past and has not properly gained that motor control back. The brain may still be cautious and unaware that the hip is now out of pain from the replacement. Dr. Rose stated that the lack of hip range of motion during the golf swing causes the lumbar spine to compensate for the rotational movement. Therefore, causing pain. Based on the joint-by joint approach, the hips must be mobile while the lumbar spine provides stability. Ultimately, this client can now begin to do hip mobility exercises and stretching to gain hip range of motion and motor control back from the replacement. This will in turn allow the client to move and rotate through the hips during the golf swing and play pain free. 

Overall, coaches and fitness professionals work together to analyze and optimize this body-to-golf swing connection through personalized training programs, exercises, drills, and swing modifications. By enhancing physical fitness, addressing movement limitations, and refining swing mechanics, golfers can improve their overall performance and enjoyment of the game. All while eliminating pain.