There are three areas that any golfer can increase their length in all aspects of their golf games.
1. Removal of muscle and joint restrictions.
2. Increase the strength of the hip muscles.
3. Maintaining a proper spine angle throughout the golf swing.
Whether you want to believe it or not but golf is an athletic sport and all golfers need to improve their strength in order to break free from the routine over par games they've developed. If most golfers would take the time to do a little work "off the golf course" on the off season they could lower their handicap by leaps and bounds.
First lets do a quick test.
Stand up and raise your arm straight out in front of you. Next slowly take it across your body and note when you first feel a restriction in you shoulder, upper back or chest. Your arm should be able to come right across your body without your elbow bending.
Second, standing with your arms by your side, raise one of them at a time up towards your head. It should be able to go up smoothly within an inch or two to your head without pain, tension, restriction or bending your elbow.
As may see you may have muscle or fascial restrictions in you joints or muscles that is causing you not to be able to use your body properly.
This is just a quick test you can do just to see how your mobility and flexibility of your shoulders and upper body are. Restrictions of muscles and joints can be causing you to:
a. lose yardage
b. compensate to avoid pain
c. lose endurance as the match continues
d. not having the endurance to compete over three days
The next area of loss of yardage is a weakening of the hip and pelvic muscles. What most people don't understand is that your power comes from your hip and legs not just your upper body. Most golfer that I test have major weakness of their hips/pelvis and have no idea these muscles even exist.
Hip - The "Key" To Power In The Golf Swing (...and baseball, pitching, tennis etc.)
Hip rotation is the main source of power in golf, tennis, swimming,
pitching, batting and soccer. The strength of the hip rotation muscles
are critical for stabilizing the hips while running and cycling. You can add up to 25 miles an hour and more to your golf swing speed
by taking advantage of your hidden, built-in swing speed multiplier. The top pros have always taken advantage of their hidden swing speed multiplier. It's why they drive the ball 280-300 yards. The average golfer does not know he has a swing speed multiplier built into his own body-and drives the ball 210-220.
Again, research at a major university found that scratch golfers had the
strongest hips of all golfers tested. Increasing the strength of your
hips will not only increase your swing speed, it will also lower your
handicap.
Clinical studies have shown that this program has increased pitching speed a much as 10 mph for little league pitchers. But more importantly, it has been documented that golfers have increased their driver by over 30 yards on a short period of time.
And finally, I have been barking about the spine angle for ever when it comes to the accuracy and length of most golfers. The problem is that most club pro's don't fully understand the physics behind a proper spine angle.
The spine angle is the angle measured between the flex at the hip and the angle of the upper body upon address of the golf swing. To better understand this angle the next time you are watching golf on TV look at the set up of most of the pro's. If you looking at the golfer from behind notice that their back is just about completely flat upon address to the ball. If you notice closely the flatter the back the higher on the leader board the golfer will be.
The spine angle is compared to the axis of the earth in rotation. The axis of the earth is the imaginary center were the earth revolves around. Think of the spine angle as a dow rod put through your skull and come out your back side that will be directly in the center of your body. The golf swing will rotate around this rod so that there is little movement in the upper body and the face of your golf club upon impact. It is known that just a millimeter the club surface is off center upon impact is equal to a foot when the ball is in the air.
New Program To Strengthen Your Golf Game
We have developed a very unique hip strengthening program that targets your hips and pelvis that can immediately have you swinging the club with more power and accuracy. We have different levels of programs that can help the golfer who just wants to increase his yardage or for someone who is dead serious about building a better golf game.
The first way to start is to call us and tell us what you are looking for. Dr. Conway has programs for every type of golfer but he has to find out from you what type of program is best for you. As a part of the program every golfer will be examined for muscle and joint restrictions. To be the best golfer you can be you have to free yourself of these restrictions to allow you body to perform at this maximum. This part of the program will most likely be covered by your insurance and there will be little or no cost to you depending on your insurance coverage.
If you are interested in becoming a better golfer and just have a few questions email Dr. Conway directly at drc@conwayclinic.com. Dr. Conway will answer all of your questions or if you are ready to start your way to lower golf scores call Dr. Conway at 570-287-7070.
