So far in my career as a strength and conditioning coach i have came across a lot of patterns while screening golfers that i train. The majority of the players have a strength training age of zero. Every single one of them has some kind of stability and mobility issue. Almost every one of them have insufficient strength in their glutes with some even struggling to activate them. Core strength is therefore non existent and the ability to store and release power in the golf swing is diminished. As one of the coaches in the darren clarke golf school said last week the inside controls the outside in the golf swing. What he meant by that was that the swing is controlled by your core muscles not by your hands and arms. Having a strong core should be the number one strength goal for a golfer.
Another pattern i noticed was the lack of flexibility in the lat muscles of the back. 85% of my players fail the lat test on their first screening. With a daily stretching program and foam rolling there can be huge improvements made with range of motion in this area. Stretching and foam rolling can sometimes be boring and monotonous but it is of the utmost importance of any conditioning programme for an athlete. You cannot add strength to an athlete if they dont have the mobility as this could lead to further imbalances and possible injuries.
Getting on to the main subject of my post is the importance of sports science but this is of a more advanced level. Yesterday i took a test to measure my elastic index which is a way of directing the content of my training. Basically it is derived from the CMJ (counter movement jump) – SJ (squat jump) ratio and will indicate whether strength or explosive power development is required for improved performance. My elastic index was 40% which told me that my elastic capacity was well developed and max strength should be the focus of my programme for the next few weeks. The importance of this test is so helpful in planning the next few weeks of my training. So todays session consisted of heavy one legged squats and heavy concentric squat jumps.
