Better Golf With Fitness

Swing Faults- Over the Top, Part 4

In Swing Faults- Over the Top, Part 1, I went over what Over the Top is and what the possible physical limitations can be.  They are:

• Inability to separate lower body from upper body.

• Instability of the core

• Poor balance on each leg.

In Swing Faults- Over the Top, Part 2, I went over some things you can do to help your ability to separate the lower body from the upper body.

In Swing Faults- Over the Top, Part 3, I went over some things you can do to develop good core stability.

Today, I want to go over what you can do to develop Better Balance on each leg.

If you don't have good balance, particularly on the lead side, you might not have a proper weight shift.  According to TPI, "limited weight shift toward the lead leg can reduce the lower body's contribution to power generation in the swing.  Therefore, player's will try to produce excessive power in their upper body by chopping down or throwing the club over the top." 

The test that TPI does to determine balance on each leg is to stand on 1 leg with your arms at your sides, close your eyes and see how long you can stay on 1 foot without excessive movement.  According to TPI, "Average human single leg balance time is approximately 10 seconds, while the average on our tour players (male and female) is roughly 26 seconds." Do this test and see where you stand (no pun intended).
 

If you didn't do so well, you might need to work on it. Here are a few things you can do to help with your balance:

I learned this sequence from Craig Friedman at Athletes' Performance.  It accomplishes a couple of things; 1) works on balance and proprioception (your ability to sense the position, location, orientation and movement of the body and its parts), 2) Turns on the all important glute medius, an important stabilizer of the pelvis that will help you control your lateral movement.

Position 1
Stand on 1 leg, with your femur (thigh bone) parallel to the ground.

Move your femur laterally while keeping your torso in its original position

Come back to starting position and repeat 10x without touching your foot to the ground.

Position 2
Move your femur down so it is at an 45 degree angle (so your knee is pointing to the ground out in front of you)

Extend your knee without moving at your hip (femur stays at 45 degrees)

Go back to starting position and repeat 10x.

Position 3
Stand with your left leg extended back so your left toe is even with your right heel.

Abduct your left leg, just moving at the hip, do not move your back like your are doing a side bend.  If you try to go to far, you will end up side bending, so go as far as you can without excessive back movement.

Come back to starting position. Repeat for 10 reps.

When you are done with the left side, go back to position 1 and repeat for right side. You should feel a little burn on the planted leg in the side of your glutes.  That's your glute medius.

Single Leg Bridge
This is a great exercise for developing single leg strength and teaching good glute activation.

Lie on your back, feet on the ground, knees bent.

Move your hips to the sky, only using your glutes. You should not feel this in your hamstrings (back of your leg) and there should not be excessive movement in the lumbar spine

Once you are up, extend your knee and hold this position for 10 seconds.

Make sure you keep your hips level, don't let the extended leg side creep down. 

I got this next exercise off of MyTPI.com.  It's called Balance Beam Taps and it is great for proprioception and ankle mobility.

Stand on 1 leg on a 2x4 or a phone book (something about 2-3 inches off the ground.)


Keeping good posture, tap down your heel straight in front of you in the 12:00 position


Comeback up and tap down at the 10:00 position


then at the 2:00 position

Single Leg Squat

This will develop great single leg strength.  It's one of the best exercises you can do.

Standing on 1 foot with your arms out in front of a bench, slowly lower yourself to the bench.  Do not crash down and try not to let the knee move around too much.  If the bench is too low, put something on it to make it easier.

As always, if it hurts, don't do it.  Have a trainer check your form to make sure you are doing it right.

There are other ways to add balance training to your program, without all the fancy tools and gadgets. Take exercises that you are already doing and do them on 1 foot.  For example:

Shoulder Presses

Cable or Resistance Band Rows

Bicep Curls

Conclusion

So I have given you a starting point to help correct some physical limitations that could be causing the Over-the-Top swing fault. Ideally, you would have a golf fitness professional do an assessment on you first to check where the physical limitations are.

Remember, even if you "clean up" some of the imbalances, asymmetries and weaknesses in your body, it doesn't mean the swing fault will disappear.  Please make sure you are working with a teaching pro on your swing mechanics while you are working on your fitness.

Swing Faults- Over the Top, Part 3

In Swing Faults- Over the Top, Part 1, I went over what Over the Top is and what the possible physical limitations can be.  They are:

• Inability to separate lower body from upper body.

• Instability of the core

• Poor balance on each leg.

In Swing Faults- Over the Top, Part 2, I went over some things you can do to help your ability to separate the lower body from the upper body. 

Today, let's go over some things you can do to develop good core stability.

I went over some basic exercises you can do to activate, stabilize and strengthen the core musculature in Early Extension, Part 3- The Core. Those exercises included the pelvic tilts, supine bridges, crunches, quadruped opposites, prone planks and side planks.

Let's review and progress the prone planks and side planks today.

Prone Planks
Lie face down with your forearms on the floor, keep your elbows under your shoulders.  Come up off the ground, support yourself with your forearms and toes, forming a straight line from your ankles to your shoulders. 

Make sure you do not have your butt too high in the air or that it doesn't sag down, keep the straight line.

After you can do the prone plank for 1 minute, you can start to add movement of the arms and legs in a stabilizing position.

Kneeling 3 Point Stance

To start, get on your knees with your hands under your shoulders, similar to a push up position.

While trying to maintain a straight line between the knees, hips and shoulders and not tilting your pelvis to the left side, move your left arm out at a 45 degree angle and pause for 1 second at the top.

Go back to starting position and do the same thing on the right side.

 

Once you are feeling pretty strong with those, progress to a Push Up Position 3 Point Stance and follow the same rules.

You can progress these further by lifting the opposite leg up as well to go into a 2 point stance.  The main objective is to keep the core stable while you move your arms and legs.

Side Planks
Lie on your side with your feet on top of each other and keep you left elbow directly under you shoulder. The top part of your arm (humerus bone) should be perpendicular to the ground.  If it's not you can cause a lot of stress to the shoulder joint. 

Lift your hips off the ground until your make a straight line with your body.  Your calves should be off the ground.  Hold for :30.

If you can't hold for :30, then do reps with them (3 x :10).

To progress this movement we will lift the top leg in the air.

You can try to hold for a couple of seconds or do reps.

Here is another progression (from Maximum Fitness Magazine)

With your left hand behind your head and that elbow pointed up, slowly twist at the waist until your torso makes a 90-degree turn and your left elbow touches the floor.

 

Try to make sure the rotation comes from the upper torso and the thoracic spine, just as it should in the swing.

Keep working on these progressions to develop great core stability.  In Part 4, I will go over some things to develop better single leg strength, stability and balance.

 

Swing Faults, Over the Top, Part 2

In Swing Faults- Over the Top, Part 1, I went over what Over the Top is and what the possible physical limitations can be.  They are:

• Inability to separate lower body from upper body.

• Instability of the core

• Poor balance on each leg.

Let's go over some things you can do to help your ability to separate the lower body from the upper body.  For the most part, we will look at the hip area.

As always, like I have said in many other posts, I start out by using the foam roller.

Foam Roller
The object of the foam roll is to decrease the density of the muscle and prepare it for stretching.  If a muscle has a trigger point in it, it will not respond well to stretch. Use the foam roller to massage the whole hip area. We want to try to cover as many muscles as possible. I always start my sessions with a foam roller.

Sit on the roller and roll back and forth over the low back and butt.

Cross ankle over knee opposite knee and continue to roll.

Move over onto side and continue to roll over the whole hip area.  Take about 3 minutes doing this.

I have already gone over some hip stretches and separation drills in Early Extension, Part 2, so check those out to start with and use the ones below for some variety.

Hip Drops
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet separated wider than shoulder width apart.   

Drop both knees to the right as far as possible, but maintain a stable core and try to keep your back as close to the ground as possible.

Now drop knees to the left.   

Repeat back and forth.

Hip Circles
Start by stabilizing your core in the quadruped (all fours) position to prevent any movement from the spine. 

Move your leg to the side (keep back stable), 

Extend leg back

Bring leg back to starting position

Do it as fluid as possible, making circles with you hip, trying to get the biggest range motion possible without losing your stable spine. Repeat on other side.

Hip Swings
Stand tall holding onto a wall or golf club.

Extend leg back, using the glutes to initiate the movement.  Stay as tall as possible, try not to get the movement from the lower back, only move your leg.

Kick forward, flexing your hip, keeping the knee straight.  Again, try not to move your body at all, just the leg.

Keep swing back and forth, repeat on the other side.

Lateral Hip Swings
Same concept as above, just swing the leg back and forth laterally.

Impact Fix
I'm not a golf pro, but I figured I would throw this one in because it has helped me understand where my hips need to be at impact; with my belt buckle towards the target.  Although I have the ability to separate my lower body from my upper body and I have good hip mobility, I just wasn't doing it in my golf swing.  My swing coach, PGA Pro Kevin Sprecher gave me this drill to do.

Stand at address position.

Move into your impact position by leaning your club shaft more forward and opening your hips and shoulder to the target. That is where your hips should be at impact.

His club shaft should be a little more forward and his shoulders rotated a little more but that's what you get when you use a tennis player for a model.

In part 3, I will go over some tips for core stability.

Swing Faults- Over the Top, Part 1

The Over the Top swing fault is one of the most common swing faults among amateur golfers.  We you come Over the Top, your club head approaches the ball from outside to in or above the swing plane.  Overusing the upper body on the down swing is often the cause of coming Over the Top.

 

If the club face is open at impact the ball will slice.  If it is square at impact, it will pull.  Distance and accuracy are casualties of coming Over the Top (although that can probably be said about every swing fault).

According to the Titleist Performance Institute, causes of Over the Top can be:
•    Weak grip at address
•    Reverse Pivot or Reverse Spine Angle swing fault
•    Too much rotation (open face) of the clubface on the backswing
•    Poor address position with the shoulders too level or even leaning toward target at address
•    Lack of understanding of an inside approach and the correct sequence
•    Clubs that are too stiff and too heavy
•    Physical limitations

Because I am a fitness professional, I will go over the physical limitations and what you can do to try to correct them.

•    Inability to separate lower body from upper body. The lower body needs to be able to lead the downswing in order to develop the proper sequence (pelvis, trunk, arms, club) of motion during the transition and downswing.  Proper hip mobility is essential to this separation
•    Instability of the core- core stability helps to maintain posture and trunk stability.  Once you lose posture, the torso or arms can fire first  in the transition in order to compensate for being out of position.  Remember, we want the pelvis to initiate the transition.
•    Poor balance on each leg.  Poor balance can limit weight shift in the backswing and reduce the amount of power the lower body can contribute, forcing a player to try to generate their power with the upper body.  You want to develop good stability, strength and balance in your legs.

In part 2, I will go over some stretches and exercises that you can do to help you correct your physical limitations.

Early Extension, Part 3, The Core

In two previous posts (Swing Faults-Early Extension, Early Extension-Part 2), I talked about what the Early Extension swing fault is and what the physical limitations that can cause an Early Extension are.  To review, they are:

• General lower body stiffness, joint immobility or muscle imbalances
• Poor Lead Hip Internal Rotation
• Poor segmental separation of upper and lower body
• Inability to control pelvis
• Weak glutes and abs

I went over Lower Body Stiffness, Joint Immobility and Muscle Imbalances in Part 1 and in Part 2 I talked about Poor Lead Hip Internal Rotation and Poor Segmental Separation of Upper and Lower Body.

Today, I will go over what you can do to try to correct an Inability to Control the Pelvis and what you can do about Weak Glutes and Abs.  Basically, we will go over a beginner core workout.

1) Inability to control the pelvis- you need to be able to control the position of your pelvis for optimal power transfer.  If you can't do it properly, there is a good chance your posture is changing throughout the swing.  Inability to do so can be from lack of understanding or poor abdominal and glute strength.  Check first to see if you can  control your pelvis in address position.

Golf Posture Pelvic Tilts

This test is a great indicator of low back mobility and your ability to control the position of your pelvis.  Make sure you don’t move your upper body during the test and only go as far as possible without pain.

A- Stand in address position with arms crossed.  Keep pelvis in neutral position. Alex has a slight anterior tilt in his stance already- see how his low back has a little too much curve in it.  He could be a little more neutral.

B- Tilt your pelvis forward as far as you can without pain and without moving the upper body.

C- Tilt your pelvis back so your lower back is rounded.

Go back and forth, checking for a full range of motion.  It's a hard to to check on your own so try to do it in front of a mirror, video tape it or have someone watching you.

If you are unable to do this without moving your upper body, then you need to work on it.  You can practice them while lying on your back with your knees bent.  I find it's a little easier to do them in quadruped position.

Quadruped Pelvic Tilts-
A- Get on your hands and knees with your hands directly below your shoulders and your knees directly below your hips with your hips in a neutral position.

B- Tilt your pelvis forward as far as you can go without pain and without using your upper body.

C- Tilt your pelvis back so your lower back is rounded.

Once you master the Quadruped Tilts, go back to Standing Tilts. You want to master the Standing Tilts as this will be the position you will be in out on the course.

Weak glute and abs will prevent you from keeping your lower body stable.  Gluteal and abdominal strength will also help control pelvis, which is important in helping the lower body from thrusting toward the ball on the downswing.

Exercises that can help activate and strengthen glutes,  as well as stabilize and strengthen the core.

I usually use this sequence with new clients:

1- Glute Medius Activation (Happy Clams)
2- Supine Bridge Holds
3- Hip to Shoulder Flexion (Crunches)
4- Supine Bridges with Leg Extension
5- Stabilization (Quadruped  Opposites and Prone Bridge/Plank)
6- Lateral Stabilization (Side Planks)

I put this sequence at the beginning of the workout, right after foam roll and dynamic warm up.  For the most part, I stole it from Mike Boyle's writings and lectures (with my own twist on it), specifically his book Designing Strength Programs and Facilities.

Happy Clams
I use this as a glute medius activation exercise for beginners.  Lie on your side with your knees bent and together.   Try to lift your knee up as high as possible.  The trick is to keep your pelvis still (don't let it open up and move back) and your feet together. 

Supine Bridge Holds
These exercises will help teach glute activation as well as strengthen the glutes.

Start out on your back with your knees bent and feet on the ground.  Keep your arms to the side in the beginning and progress to your arms crossed across your chest.

Hold for 5 seconds, then come down slowly.

If you feel a cramp in your hamstring, your are not using your glutes enough.  Also, be careful not to use your lower back (lumbar spine) to lift the pelvis off the ground.

Hip to Shoulder Flexion (Crunches)
I love these crunches as it gives you a point A to point B to work with.  I see so many "styles" of the basic ab crunch and this seems to be the most efficient since it gives you an end point.

Lie on your back holding a stick or golf club, with your arms straight and the club on your thighs.

Tuck your chin towards your chest and perform the crunch one vertebrae at a time.

Bring the club to your knees and come down slowly.

Bridges with Leg Extension
More glute activation and strengthening as well as single leg and core stability.

Start out the same as the Supine Bridge Holds (see above).

Extend one leg out and hold for as long as you can, maintaining the straight line from your shoulder to your ankle.

Quadruped Opposites

Start in the quadruped position (all fours) with arms and thighs perpendicular to the floor and pelvis in neutral position (see above- Quadruped Pelvic Tilts). Put a rolled up towel or water bottle on your lower back to give some feedback as to whether or not you are moving it.  Remember, we don't want this movement to come from the lower back.

Extend your hip, keeping your leg straight while you extend your opposite arm turning your palm to face the sky.  Try to make a straight line from your foot to your hand.  Get as "long" as possible.  Make sure you don't increase the curvature in your lower back at the same time. 

Prone Planks
Lie face down with your forearms on the floor, keep your elbows under your shoulders.  Come up off the ground, support yourself with your forearms and toes, forming a straight line from your ankles to your shoulders. 

Make sure you do not have your butt too high in the air or that it doesn't sag down, keep the straight line.

If this is too hard, you can do a modified prone plank on your forearms and knees.

Lateral Stabilization (Side Planks)
Lie on your side with your feet on top of each other and keep you left elbow directly under you shoulder.  The top part of your arm (humerus bone) should be perpendicular to the ground.  If it's not you can cause a lot of stress to the shoulder joint. 

Lift your hips off the ground until your make a straight line with your body.  Your calves should be off the ground.  Hold for :30.

If you can't hold for :30, then do reps with them (3 x :10).

Conclusion

So I have given you a starting point to help correct some physical limitations that could be causing the Early Extension swing fault.  Ideally, you would have a golf fitness professional doing an assessment on you first to check where the physical limitations are.

Remember, even if you "clean up" some of the imbalances, asymmetries and weaknesses in your body, it doesn't mean the swing fault will disappear.  Please make sure you are working with a teaching pro on your swing mechanics while you are working on your fitness.

Early Extension, Part 2

In yesterday's post, I talked about what Early Extension is and what the physical limitations that can cause an Early Extension are.  They are:

• General lower body stiffness, joint immobility or muscle imbalances
• Poor Lead Hip Internal Rotation
• Poor segmental separation of upper and lower body
• Inability to control pelvis
• Weak glute and abs

I went over Lower Body Stiffness, Joint Immobility and Muscle Imbalances yesterday, so today I will talk about Poor Lead Hip Internal Rotation and Poor Segmental Separation of Upper and Lower Body.

Swing Faults- Early Extension (Hip Thrust)

Swing Faults- Early Extension (Hip Thrust)

When I was at the Titleist Performance Inst in January, I had Dave Philips film my swing. One of the swing faults I had was Early Extension on the downswing.  When the hips and spine go into extension or straighten up too early on the downswing, it is termed Early Extension, and it is part of the Loss of Posture swing fault.  From the down the line view (where the golfer stands between the target and the camera), you can see the hips move towards the ball on the downswing.

Because your body wants to maintain balance at all times, the upper body will lift up as you push forward and stand up.  Early Extension causes a player to feel “stuck” or “trapped” with their arms on the downswing.  I must do this a lot because that is exactly my number one complaint on a lot of my shots.  I feel really uncomfortable as I get closer to impact because my lower body has moved into the space where the arms need to go.   I always figured I was just standing too close to the ball.  Actually, you will Early Extend if you are too far from the ball as your body will move to compensate for the distance.

“The result can be a block or hook as the hands and arms desperately try to deliver the club to the ball,” says Philips. “If you don’t do anything with your hands through impact, you may actually shank some shots because you are closer to the ball then you were at address.”

According to TPI, Early Extension can be caused by:

    * Clubs that are too long
    * Standing too far away from the ball
    * Having too much weight on the heels at address
    * A poor swing path
    * Physical limitations

Because I am a fitness professional, I will go over the physical limitations and what you can do to try to correct them.

Do You Sway?

Do You Sway?

A Sway is when there is too much lower body lateral movement away from the target during your backswing.  So for righty golfers, it means you move too far to the right.  Basically, all your weight shifts to the outside of your right foot, making it hard to get the weight shift you need during the transition and downswing phases.
During the transition phase, the back leg needs to be stable to help create power and swing speed by developing the proper "coil" around the hip.

There are a few possible causes of a Sway:

• A basic lack of understanding of proper technique
• Injuries to the ankle, knee or hip
• Keeping the ball too far back in the stance
• Physical limitations

Since I work on the fitness side of golf, I will go over the physical limitations.

Common Swing Faults

The first thing that I do with my golf clients is a go through a complete physical assessment.  Actually, I make sure their check cleared, then I do an assessment. 

The main reason for the assessment is to identify any physical limitations (weakness, imbalance, immobility, instability) that the client might have.  Once I identify the most glaring limitation, I try to "fix" it with corrective exercise and/or stretching.  By correcting physical limitations, I am hoping to prevent future injuries.  If the golfer plays through these limitations, they will most likely make compensations; compensations will cause microtrauma to muscles, tendons, and joints; microtrauma will lead to injury over time.

Another reason to identify physical limitations with an assessment is that they can cause swing faults.  During the World Golf Fitness Summit this past March, Dr. Greg Rose and Dave Philips of the Titleist Performance Institute identified some common swing faults and their possible physical  limitations that can cause them.  I bolded possible because I don't want anyone to get the idea that I think the only cause of a swing fault is a physical limitation.  That's not what I am saying, it is just a possibility.  I'm sure there will be at least one idiot out there that misinterprets me.  I know there are plenty of uncoordinated, "motor morons" out there that refuse to take a lesson or go near a gym.  They can rot in swing fault hell.

As for the rest of you, I have listed some common swing faults and their possible physical limitations.

In the coming weeks, I will revisit each swing fault and limitation and give some ideas for corrective exercise.

Faults are bolded, Possible Physical Limitations are Italicized

ADDRESS POSITION
C Posture (slumped over)
Weak Upper Back, Tight Chest, Poor Mid-Thoracic Mobility

S Posture (too much curve in lumbar spine)
Tight Hip Flexors, Weak Lower Abs, Weak Glutes

BACKSWING
Sway
Instability in Hip, Poor Internal Rotation of Right Hip

Loss of Spine Angle
Poor Trunk Flexibility, Shoulder Inflexibility, Lower Body Instability

Back Leg Straightens
Poor Hip Internal Rotation, Tight Illiotibial Band, Weakness in Glutes, Quads or Hip Abductors

Arm Collapse
Triceps Weakness, Poor Trunk Rotation, Lack of Shoulder Mobility

Poor Shoulder/Trunk Rotation
Trunk Immobility, Neck restrictions

Over Rotation
Lack of Core Stability/Strength, Instability or Hypermobility of Shoulders

DOWNSWING/FOLLOW THROUGH
Over the Top
Poor Core and Lower Body Stability

Hip Thrust/Early Extension
Poor Ability to Rotate, Lower Body Instability, Calf Inflexibility

Spin
Poor Lower Body Separation

Slide
Lack of Rotation, Lead Hip Instability, Lack of Internal Rotation in Lead Hip

Chicken Wing
Lack of External Rotation of Lead Arm