In this installment of the Golf Progress video show, I elaborate on why Golf Training for those who have hit a plateau is like going to war:

I made it quite clear for the past two years that I was intent on getting to a seven index by the end of 2011.  So the inevitable question must be asked: Did I reach my goal?  The answer, in short, is no.  I got as low as 11.3 and I’m currently an 11.6.  Find out what happened and what I learned:

In 2012, there will be lots more golf biomechanics, golf fitness, product reviews, book reviews, profiles of instructors, practice drills, and deep thoughts.

Hi Nick,

The Golf Improvement Pyramid

In my next post I will answer John’s last question about my own experiences during 2011, and the answer will be framed in relation to the golf progress pyramid.

The quote that I would counter comes from a guy who knows a thing or two about effort:

“You must work very hard to become a natural golfer.”
- Gary Player

I provide my answer to the question in the video below, please leave a comment if you agree and especially if you disagree.  In essence my belief is that while the mind is in charge of the body, it is limited by the extent of the player’s ability on any given day, which is shaped by innate athleticism and most important, by training and experiences.

Anyone who has read my blog or met me will know that I’m a big supporter of those who treat golf as a motor skill.  Yes the mind plays a major role but every golfer is limited by what their body is capable of, just as a racecar driver is limited by the car they take to the track.  It’s my firm belief that the frustrated midhandicap golfer (my target audience) is most likely wasting their time with their golf improvement efforts if they haven’t been physically screened.  For instance, the inability to hinge at the hip joints is rampant for middle aged executives, partially due to sitting at a desk staring at a computer monitor all day, with other causes that I’ll save for future posts.

The 2010 World Golf Fitness Summit presented by TPI

In November 2010 dozens of the top minds in golf fitness and biomechanics gathered in Orlando for the semi-annual World Golf Fitness Summit as put together by TPI.  This is my tribute to the presenters that week.

Here are the golf fitness professionals mentioned, in the order they appear in the video

Dr. Greg Rose
Dave Phillips
Jamie Sadlowski
Ben Shear
Jeff Banaszak
Mark Verstegen
Lance Gill
Jason Glass
Ryan Crysler
Milo Bryant
Sean Cochran
Sean Foley
Gray Cook
Janet Alexander
Mike Bennett
Andy Plummer
Craig Davies
Dr. Harry Sese
Dr. Mike Voight
Granger Beaton
Tyler Ferrell
Dee Tidwell
Mike Dixey
James Sieckmann
Robert Yang
Don Parsons
Mark Blackburn
Thomas Plummer
My Red Foam Roller
My 16kg Kettlebell
Gray Cook & Brett Jones: Kettlebells From the Ground Up

Why we play golf

In my mind the fundamental reason we play this game is to become one with the universe for however brief a moment on the golf course. When you strike a golf ball exactly as intended using the leverage of the shaft, finding the sweetest spot on the clubface, and harnessing all the momentum available between your own human body and the earth’s gravity, you can briefly create a work of art in the air that defies that very gravity and then uses it to drop the ball back to earth where you imagined it should land.  We are both creating art and exercising the brute force that we’re capable of when given the right tool.

There’s the feeling of compressing a ball with an iron that provides inarguable confirmation of our mastery of the tool in hand.  The walk from the tee to a drive in the middle of the fairway allows time to reflect on how far we’ve come, and to enjoy having made our path easier to the green.  The crafty escape from a difficult mess in the woods reminds us that we can respond to adversity because of our acquired skill.  Draining a 15 foot putt and watching it follow our intended line exactly as imagined allows us to develop a vision and watch it come to life.  Golf provides businessmen the chance to be artists and for someone slight of build to generate explosive power.  The game can be played from birth to death and each round is a journey with a known start and finish but with outcomes that cannot be predicted.  No two courses or golf shots are identical, and a controlled shot is the reward for being able to let go of control–of the clubface, body, and mind.

Watch the Golf Fitness Academy Shows as they Premier on The Golf Channel

I just finished watching Episode 4 of the TPI show “Golf Fitness Academy: Season 7” on the Golf Channel.  This season is far better than previous seasons in the level of information provided.  Dr. Greg Rose and Dave Phillips have really taken the industry to a new level with these episodes.  I’m noticing that the degree of sophistication has increased, that more detailed explanations are being provided of swing flaws and their causes, and that solutions are more unique and varied.  Then I imagine the viewer.  They are not like me watching with a notepad writing down quotes and exercises and taking excess joy in the programming.  They are sitting back on their couch and in one of a number of camps:

1. The skeptics: People who think golf fitness is “bullshit” because they’ve never worried about it before.  This could be the attitude of a player ignorant of their own body’s limitations or a teaching pro who doesn’t want to learn about functional anatomy and the root cause of their students’ injuries or inability to make the changes they’re working on.  It could be from someone who considers themselves old fashioned when it comes to golf, or who treats the game as purely leisure so doesn’t want to mix in anything resembling work.

2. The gym rats: People who confuse golf fitness with aesthetics.  It could even be someone who enjoys exercise but just isn’t convinced that issues like posture, balance, alignment, mobility, and proprioception are that important compared to a typical modern approach of using cardio and weight machines to try to look better.  It could even be someone who likes to work out with their own bodyweight or with free weights and other implements but doesn’t like to stretch or stray from lifting as heavy as they can, with goals like increased muscle size or strength in an exercise.  The workouts that Dave and Greg are doing are very different than what you would see in a commercial gym, so it’s difficult for this viewer to make the leap from their current workout to this very different approach, which would still end up making them look a lot better through improved posture with improved power through the core, legs and upper back.

3. The undecided: People who have barely been exposed to this information and are just trying to figure out whether this affects them, but as of yet they’re not ready to do anything about it.  They would probably never choose to watch people exercising on TV unless they happened to wake up midway through the P90X commercial.

4. The overwhelmed: People who believe in the message, and have recognized that their golf game and overall health would be much improved if they embarked on a golf fitness program.  These are the motivated golfers who need to be working with a TPI pro or another golf fitness expert who is highly trained in these concepts.  They are excited to watch the videos and may even get off the couch to try some of the exercises, if they can be done without equipment.  Unless they buy the DVDs when they’re made available in a few months or years, or unless they buy the videos from iTunes, chances are the information as it is being provided right now will be forgotten.  They will in all likelihood not take it upon themselves to come to the website and connect with a TPI pro.  Why?  Inertia.

This is someone who is watching TV.  Inertia tells us that a body at rest tends to stay at rest.  It’s difficult to get the television viewer to make that transition to going online and finding a real life expert who needs to be paid well.  They are being asked to jump from receiving information for free as they sit back on their couch, to making their way to a computer to do some research, and then taking the huge step of moving toward a real life connection with a trainer that would involve the viewer spending perhaps a few hundred dollars or maybe thousands over a longer period.  There are some who have made this leap but the vast majority of those who are now in the state of mind where they are ready to take action will not actually take action because they need the process to be easier.  They need to spend some time watching someone else progress through this kind of training and then be led to a local pro that can be specifically recommended to them or to someone who will be able to possibly coach them online through the use of video and skype or telephone.  There need to be more examples of ordinary people who have used golf fitness programs to improve their golf game and their lives, and who can give testimonials like what the TV viewer is used to seeing when they do wake up in the middle of that P90X commercial.

My pledge to promote golf fitness

Anyone whose watched a few of my videos or spent much time reading this blog knows I’m the biggest cheerleader ever for TPI who is not an actual certified trainer. I believe there is a huge future for golf fitness trainers to work both with clients in person as well as online. I’m dedicating to sharing my experiences as I work on my own game with viewers so that they can gradually be exposed to all of the great exercises and concepts preached by TPI as well as ideas coming from other sources who have their own unique input into improving performance through increasing the physical capacity of the player.  I promise that if any visitor of this blog or viewer of my videos needs help finding a local trainer or someone who will work with them online, I will help them.  Please feel free to contact me in any of these ways:

By E-mail: nick@golfprogress.net

Follow @GolfProgress on Twitter:

@GolfProgress on Twitter

Below is a classic episode with 10 exercise suggestions:

Casio’s latest model, the EX-ZR100 is an inferior camera for the golf professional or enthusiast who wants high quality slow motion video of the golf swing.

Buy the Casio EX-FH100 here:

Casio EX-FH100
Casio FH100
Casio Ex FH100

Click Here to Buy the Camera on Amazon.com

The Casio EX-FH100

Announcement in April 2011 from Golf Video Expert Dave Phillips

Dave Phillips of TPI is the foremost expert on using the Casio line of high speed cameras for filming the golf swing.  I take my cues from him in this area, and today he put up a video on the myTPI Facebook Page that advised anyone thinking about buying a Casio high speed video camera to consider immediately buying the Casio EX-FH100 for approximately $225 (as of mid April 2011), a model that is being discontinued, rather than the newer Casio EX-ZR100 model which costs closer to $300 and more important, does not have an adjustable shutter speed.

I’ve been using the outdated and inferior FC100 which was discontinued well over a year ago and does a pretty good job but will be blown away by the FH100 that I just ordered about five minutes ago from Amazon.com

Here are some examples of slow motion video from the Casio FC100.  The FH100 will have superior low light performance to the FC100, and because of the adjustable shutter speed I will be able to see the clubhead make impact with the golf ball, something that is not possible with either the Casio EX-FC100 or the Casio EX-ZR100 because their shutter speeds are not adjustable.

Here is a link to the video where Dave Phillips warns that the price is going to be rising very soon on these cameras:

View the Facebook Video from Dave Phillips

They will become collector’s items like the Casio EX-F-1 which originally sold for $999 but I’ve seen it as high as $2,999 in recent weeks and Amazon.com has no stock of it.

UPDATE: Dave Phillips recorded a full review of the ZR100 which I’ve embedded below:

Guide to Casio High Speed Video Cameras Available as of April 2011:

Casio EX-FH100: The one to buy right now, because it is still affordable at well under $300 at the moment, and it is being discontinued.

Casio EX-ZR100: If you arrive at the above page and the EX-FH100 is no longer available, the alternative would be to buy the new ZR100, however without the adjustable shutter speed you may want to wait until Casio discovers that the golf pros who use their Cameras are not pleased with the fact that this key feature was stripped out of the new model.

The Casio EX-ZR100 High Speed Camera

The Casio EX-F1:This is a legendary camera that has been a blessing to golf instructors around the world and anyone interested in super high quality slow motion golf video.  There has never been a camera of this quality anywhere near the original retail price of $999.  This camera has been discontinued but can still be found Used on Amazon.com HERE

The Casio EX-F1 High Speed Camera

Develop Core Stability, Then add Speed

Jason Glass is back and in full effect.  This episode from TPI features another perfectly demonstrated placement of the labcoat on the hanger along with some solid training suggestions for progressing through core stabilization with movement added, first slow and under control and then explosive (and still under control).

Throughout the episode my boy Jason (@JasonGlassLab on Twitter) correctly points out that adding speed is not what you want to be doing when you haven’t mastered the basic techniques involved in creating stability.  If the movement is sloppy then there isn’t going to be a training benefit.

Jason starts off by explaining that when speed is added to core stabilization, one segment is stabilized while the other is moving.  In his example of a plank with leg drive added, he made it clear that good alignment is not to be sacrificed just to be able to perform the movement with more speed.  He states:

“The emphasis is to keep the core stable.  You can see my legs were driving, but my core didn’t break.  You don’t want the lumbar to lose form”. 

Here Jason is using language aimed toward the typical viewer who is not trained in functional anatomy, so it makes sense to keep the explanation simple.  The more technical message that I believe he is giving is to maintain a “neutral spine”, meaning that the pelvic tilt should not be changing during the leg drive, there should be lumbar stability on display if you are going to train for speed.  Otherwise if you are someone in my situation with very poor core stability (right now) you will likely compensate by generating unwanted movement in the low back, which leads to injury or at minimum you can expect low back pain.

Upper Body

He then demonstrates an example for the upper body, performing a one armed row using bands. I like that he talks about maintaining scapular stability because this is absolutely critical for golfers. If there’s anything I notice when I observe tour pros and their posture, it’s the fact that their shoulder blades are always nice and flat against their rib cage and this is also a function of good mobility in the upper spine (thoracic mobility). The shoulders get a lot of the attention when it comes to upper body training for golf, but there must be a stable base for the shoulder joints to rest in, which means that it’s critical to first develop upper spine extension and rotation, then be able to have a stable shoulder blade that can sit on the ribcage, and only then should shoulder internal and external rotation become a focus. If the rotater cuff is worked on without these underlying issues of t-spine and scap being addressed, you’re likely heading toward shoulder injury just from the training itself. There will be future posts concerning how to test for thoracic mobility and scapular stability, these are two of the most critical physical qualities need to play good golf, whether the player is aware of them or not.

Thoracic mobility is key

The language of exercise and movement

Some of you reading this blog are trainers and therapists, while others are golf pros or players who have not been exposed to the language of functional anatomy and biomechanics. My aim is to convey the information that’s being put out by great minds in golf fitness in a way that is both easy to understand but never dumbed down. If technical terms are used that would confuse someone who doesn’t have a background in exercise science, the definition will be included or if not a link will be added to a glossary page at a later time. Explanations will be as simple as possible, but not more.

The boys will be bringing it this season of the Golf Fitness Academy. I just saw this preview today and I felt compelled to post because of the impact I predict this season will have. Dr. Greg Rose and Dave Phillips have teamed up to bring ten episodes of what I consider the most valuable video footage a certain type of golfer could possibly spend their time watching. That certain type of golfer would be one who has ever experienced back pain after golf, who sits at a desk looking at a computer all day, who would like to hit the ball farther with the driver and compress the ball much better with irons, or who wants to be able to play all 18 holes without fatigue. If your golf specific fitness is on point but you just want to play better golf, these videos are still required viewing. If you’re 30 pounds overweight and don’t have an interest in ever doing the workouts, watch it anyway. You may change your mind.

Here’s the video, and scoll down below to see what’s in it.  Click HERE to buy them.  I’m not affiliated with TPI in any way and don’t benefit financially, I just think these videos are a great value and I’ll be buying them myself shortly:

Here are some of what’s in this 10 minute preview:

Then it starts really heating up, and you’re only now about three minutes into this preview video.

I imagine that there’ll be millions of golfers who watch these episodes sitting on a couch or in a very soft recliner and think to themselves “I should do some of that”. If you’re interested in golf fitness and don’t know where to start, just keep following this blog and I’ll be addressing that issue.

All ten of these shows can be purchased via iTunes to be watched on your Smart Phone by clicking the link below:

Buy the entire season of the Golf Fitness Academy: Season 6