Golf Performance Physical Therapy
By Clint Choquette DPT, Habits Physical Therapy, Nampa, ID
There are many different ways to go about improving your golf performance. To me, the easiest and lowest hanging fruit for most people is through physical conditioning. Think about it, how many times have you tried to change your swing only for it not to work or to actually get worse. Golf is a hard sport. Changing your swing is challenging, and when you do find something that works often times that success is transient and you're on to the next tip. Improving our strength, power, and mobility is much more predictable. If you are consistent with a properly programmed strength and mobility routine, I can almost guarantee you that you can swing the club faster and hit the ball further. There is a direct correlation between how far you hit the ball and lower scores.
Now this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work on your swing mechanics. Just like strength and conditioning, working with a good swing coach can make a world of difference, but I think it is less predictable than changing your physical characteristics. Now, getting stronger and more mobile doesn’t automatically get rid of your swing faults. But having the pre-requisite strength and mobility, can make swing changes easier. It can be difficult to address a position at the top of your backswing, when you do not have the mobility required to get into the position you want in the first place.
When it comes to improving your strength, power, and mobility there has to be intent and structure to optimize your program. If your goal is to hit the ball further (who doesn’t want that) each can play a role. Having better mobility can allow you to have greater width in your swing and store more potential energy at the top of your swing allowing you to produce more speed on the way down. I do think the biggest gains when it comes to swing speed comes from strength and power. Look at John Rahm for example… He produces 180+ mph ball speed with what most people would call a short backswing. I often hear people when golfing with a younger population that hits the ball far comment “if I was that young and flexible”. Now I already stated I do think this plays a role, but chances are that youth can also out sprint you, jump you, and throw you. They are likely used to moving faster than you through their everyday life activities and that leads to the ability to produce power. As we age we rarely move fast and our ability to produce power is one of the first things that starts to fade.
Strength is a big pre-requisite for power. Power is the ability to produce force quickly. Strength is the first part of that equation (the force part). In order to build strength we need to challenge our system to get adaptations. I often see people lifting well below that threshold or doing body weight exercises that aren’t providing enough stimulus to get a real change past a certain point. To produce power, there has to be real intent. You have to purposely move fast in order to get faster. They need to be all out movements to optimize your gains. Just because strength is pre-requisite to power doesn’t mean you can’t work on both at the same time. Now I do think if you are not accustomed to these activities, there is an injury risk. Go back to the previous post (how injuries occur). This is where working with someone who is trained can help you know where to start and how to progress safely. When done right, I think these actually reduce your injury risk rather than increase it and hopefully lead you to outdriving your friends and having more fun on golf course. Plus, there are tons of other health benefits along the way. If you are curious about this but don’t know where to start, I would love to hear from you!
📞 Contact:
Habits Physical Therapy LLC
8 6th St N, Suite 102
Nampa, ID 83687
406-560-1048
habitspt.com