By Todd Wilkowski, PT, SCS, TPI-M2
The best way to optimize golf performance at any age is to optimize total body performance through an integrated team approach. The first step is completing a golf-specific health and fitness screen, which can identify potential impairments or impairments that may lead to inefficiencies within a player’s swing that leave them prone to a reduction in strength and/or power. These impairments may also leave the golfer in pain when they are left untreated. Once these impairments are identified, a team should be built around the golfer to address not only the impairments, but also to improve general fitness, proper form, hydration, muscle recovery, and mental performance.
The best way to optimize golf performance
If you want to have the best possible performance every time you step onto the golf course, it is important to ensure that all your joints are moving as effectively as possible and that all your muscles are firing efficiently. In short, optimizing your total body performance will optimize your golf performance by default.
The body is an alternating pattern of mobile joints connected by stable segments. The following are parts of the body involved in a golf swing:
• Ankle-mobile
• Knee-stable
• Hip-mobile
• Lumbar spine-stable
• Thoracic spine-mobile
• Scapular-thoracic- stable
• Shoulder-mobile
• Elbow-stable
• Wrist-mobile
When there is dysfunction in one joint, there can be a cascade effect spreading to the other joints in this chain. For example, back pain is a common complaint among golfers. This may be in part due to dysfunction up and down the chain. It is likely not a problem in just the specific spot where the pain is felt, but possibly due to a break-downtown downtown breakdown somewhere else in the chain. If only a screen of only the lower back is conducted, the key contributor to the dysfunction may be missed altogether. That is why a full body screen is imperative to identifying and identifying key contributors to the impairment.
Another benefit of a full body screen is that it can also identify key deficits that lead to an inefficient golf swing. This screen includes strength and power testing, which is vital to finding impairments and building a structured, individualized program.
A study conducted in 2004 showed the positive effects of weight and plyometric training on golf drive performance. The study was conducted with 11 male golfers over an 8-week period; Before and after the 8-week training program, each golfer’s swing was analyzed for club head speed and driving distance. The control group continued with their normal training while the experimental group performed 2 sessions a week of weight training and plyometrics. At the end of the study, no change was found in the control group, but the experimental group’s performance had improved significantly. “The changes in golf drive performance were attributed to an increase in muscular force and an improvement in the sequential acceleration of body parts contributing to a greater final velocity being applied to the ball. It was concluded that specific combined weights and plyometrics training can help increase CS and DD in club golfers.”
The TPI Assessment
The most comprehensive screen available for golfers is the Titleist Performance Institute Golf Assessment (TPI), which is a physical evaluation that addresses a golfer’s physical capabilities as they relate to their golf swing. The assessment screens key mobility and strength requirements within the swing. If pain or significant impairment is noted, the assessment can be taken a step further into a TPI medical screen which is typically done by a physical therapist. There is also a TPI fitness screen which that investigates strength and power imbalances.
Without these screens, treatments are based on best-guesses best guesses about what the impairments are and can therefore lead to inefficient treatments.
How are findings from the TPI Assessment used to optimize movement and performance?
Following the screens, a problem and /or impairment list is put together and an individualized plan is designed to remedy impairments. The impairments can be worked on through manual therapies such as soft tissue mobilization, joint mobilization, or manual stretching, or through neuromuscular re-education which involves re-learning movement patterns or proper muscle activation.
TPI Utilization Stats
• 18 of the last 20 Major Championships were won by a player advised by a TPI certified TPI-certified expert
• 25 of the top 30 players in the works are advised by a TPI certified TPI-certified expert
Why is a team approach necessary for optimal performance?
The team approach is vital to the success of any golfer. Every individual has a different role in making the golfer more efficient. As an example, let’s look at the following scenario: If a golf professional notices that the golfer is not going far enough into his/her back swing, the pro would instruct the golfer to rotate more to that side. If the golfer physically can’t rotate around his thoracic spine or has reduced hip mobility, it is his body that is holding him back from an efficient back swing. In this case, a medical professional would identify the key contributor to the limitation and work with a fitness professional to remedy the impairment and build the body up. Working with a nutritionist to ensure proper hydration is equally important. As well as improved muscle recovery through cryotherapy, and the impact of mental performance consulting on golfers.
There are a million ways to swing a golf club, but based on an individual’s body, there is only one true and tested way to improve golf performance: the most efficient way. With the team approach, the golfer can optimize his/her swing for the most efficient swing possible for them. The integrated team approach identifies impairments and put together a comprehensive plan to improve not just performance, but hydration, recovery, and even mental performance.
If you are interested in working with a team of professionals to optimize your golf performance, contact the professionals at Performance Optimal Health in Naples. Call to schedule an appointment at 239.342.1340.
Todd Wilkowski, PT, SCS, TPI-M2, has a life-long commitment to helping his clients live better lives in pursuit of Optimal Health. He founded Performance in 2002 and expanded it from one office in Manhattan to a network of facilities throughout Connecticut, and most recently, Naples, Florida. His visionary perspective on the healthcare marketplace, as well as his tenacious approach to service innovation, continues to expand the boundaries of what is possible with Performance.
Performance Optimal Health
2260 Logan Boulevard N, Suite 302
Naples, FL 34119
239.342.1342
PerformanceOptimalHealth.com