Two things I learned from working with golfers

This past winter, I was fortunate enough to attend the TPI level 1 certification, as I worked with a number of golfers, both professionally and recreationally.

I learned a lot while I worked with this group, and not just because I never learned to play anything more than some very poor mini golf. Whether you work directly with golfers, another rotational population (like baseball), or not, these two tips ring true for any client.

A quick note: the points I discuss here are things many clients I worked with misunderstood from the TPI teachings and are actually contradictory to what TPI talks about with their philosophies. 

More corrective exercises are not the answer. Pick the most important, and move along with your lift.

I had more than a few clients who wanted to do nothing more than add corrective exercises to their routines, sticking to bands, tiny weights, and stretching. 

But it was the one who bought into a strength training program that saw the biggest difference in his game, his physique, and his quality of movement.

While I included a handful of correctives in his workouts to address glaring movement issues (predominantly in his shoulder stability and hip mobility), my main concern was hammering home glute strength, core strength, and power development. He stuck to a planned out program, working on very fundamental movements (he learned to deadlift, plank, and throw a medball correctly, for instance), and managed to both hit the ball further and do more activities pain free for the first time in a long time.

Correctives are great for addressing a movement issue here or there. In all honesty, I hate calling them correctives–they’re exercises, whether mobility or stability based–in large part because people think that’s all they need to do to move and feel better. While they’re a component of getting the body to move well, getting the body strong is just as important to maintaining health and performance. A strong body can withstand wear and tear better, and I don’t know many people (not a single one, actually) who feels WORSE for getting stronger. Yes, address mobility and stability issues, but don’t neglect the strength part.

More rotation is not always the key.

Most golfers I saw were obstinately focused on rotation, rotation, rotation. They wanted more thoracic separation, more rotational core exercises, more, more, more.

And we wonder why we see so much back pain in golf.

While rotation is a huge part of the sport, and a lack of it can hinder the ability to stay in the path of the swing, there is such a thing as too much rotation. The core is designed to provide you stability, resisting and transferring movement from the lower extremities to the upper extremities. We see it in golf, we see it in baseball, we see it in lacrosse. It’s your hips and thoracic spine/shoulders that need mobility; your core should be able to resist movement.

Therefore, including ANTI rotational exercises, along with anti-extension exercises (take a peek at any rotational athlete–with very, very few exceptions I am willing to bet they are hyperextended) is a key element to ironing out faulty mechanics, transferring power more efficiently, and preventing back pain.

If you don’t believe me, you can read more about it here in this article by the man/myth/legend Dr. Stuart McGill, who has literally written the book (or three) on back health.