Fitness versus golf Fitness
There may be some confusion and / or misrepresentation with the term “golf fitness”. Fitness involves a state of health such as having normal blood pressure or not being overweight or even having the stamina to run 3 miles.
Golf fitness, in the context in which it is used, does not actually belong to either of these, although some are often by-products of a well-planned golf fitness training program. The term golf fitness refers more to the physical ability of the golfer to swing an efficient golf club in order to produce good swing mechanics, effective results, and a decreased potential for injury.
It is also related to the ability of golfers to produce an efficient golf swing over 18 holes, including the driving range before the round and any practice swings made during. More than four hours of activity can take a toll, regardless of whether you walk or bike, and that fatigue you might be experiencing in the last nine years will only increase the chance of bad shots and physical damage.
Most golfers, unfortunately, are not physically ready to swing a golf club. Factors such as inactivity, lifestyle, and heredity predispose many golfers to anatomical deficiencies in their bodies that deprive them of peak performance. These factors often influence swing efficiency, affecting ball contact and flight, distance, and the development and persistence of those pesky aches and pains many golfers experience.
Oh sure, there are low handicap golfers who never exercised a day in their lives and who happen to place their clubhead in the square of the ball on impact to make good shots. However, that does not mean that your physical composition and / or swing mechanics are correct. Most likely, one or both of these factors will hit the lowest scoring golfer and result in inconsistent play and / or a persistent injury that can affect the quality of the game or, even worse, the ability to play.
Playing golf can add to this dilemma. Think about it, golf is a one-sided activity that is repeated over and over again throughout play and practice. Because the golfer uses a particular set of muscles repetitively and in a certain movement pattern, a muscle imbalance is likely to occur.
Compensation can also wreak havoc on the body. The seemingly constant, albeit minor, changes golfers make in grip, posture, and / or swing can result in better ball hitting, but those subtle adjustments can also put unwanted strain on the musculoskeletal system and lead to injuries. If golfers focused instead on muscle deficiencies that affect poor swing mechanics and hitting the ball, they would play better with less risk of injury.
The responsibility of a golf fitness program is to identify muscle deficiencies and imbalances and correct them to restore balance to the anatomical system. Only then will the body be able to do what it needs to swing an efficient golf club and only then will the body be in proper alignment to reduce the potential for both acute and chronic injury.
You don’t need to run a marathon or bench to get fit and play golf well. Take a look at some of the players on the tour. Most, if not all, are doing some form of golf fitness training to improve their bodies in order to improve their swings and improve their games. It may not always show up on the outside, but internally it is having a huge impact.