Since everyone is feeling the pinch these days, now more than ever, it is imperitive that people put their money to good use when approaching golf instruction. That means 1) understanding the physical limitations that are holding back any real technical improvement AND 2) being able to see for one’s self the technical problems that are ocurring and recurring.

It is too late in the game for golfers not to take advantage of the sophisticated physical screens and the high-tech diagnostics which have been developed specifically for golf, and specifically for sustained, consistent improvement in one’s game.

Start with the body. A sophisticated physical screen adresses potential limits in range-of-motion and muscular imbalances. The former can make it impossible to actually get into the positions that the game (and the Teaching Pros) require, and the latter can be hampering accuracy and power production (i.e. distance), all while leading a devoted and unsuspecting golfer to eventual injury. Perhaps this strikes a chord with the golfers who have tried like hell to do exactly what their Golf Instructors have been asking. Try as they may, if the body is unable, the golfer will never be able to swing correctly, strike effectively, putt efficiently, score consistently.

Titleist Performance Institute–one of the most revered sources for golf instruction and cutting-edge golf information–has gone so far as to correlate the most common swing faults to underlying physical causes. If a golfer is really serious about getting their game to a better place, they should go through a thorough evaluation by a Titleist-certified trainer, preferably one who is also is certified in the crucially-related field of Biomelchanics. That trainer will not only understand the intricacies of the body undergoing the complex rotary motion of the golf swing, he or she will also be able to interpret some of the technological golf screens and really be in a position to make effective changes to physical training and give intelligent insight to a golfer’s instructor for improvements to their technical game. Which leads to the second aspect of value-added golf lessons: technology.

Golf lessons must provide proof of technical ability, or else instructors are merely philosophizing and students are blindly trying to participate in an exercise of near futility. Golfers need to see what they’re doing, and today’s diagnostics allow for vantage points from every aspect of the game. Ask for the total package:

* See what you’re doing with a video analysis (preferably mult-camera…). Often times, golfers are surprised–what they think they’re doing doesn’t match that they’re actually doing. Looking at Body Positions, Club Face and Plane can all be helpful when used with good instruction, especially since most people are visual learners.
* Address balance and weight shift issues on Force Plates like the Dynamic Balance System. Without knowing for certain what one is actually doing during the phases of the swing, it will be excruciating to try and come close to the proper sequencing that’s required for maximum power output.
* Undergo a 3-D biomechanics analysis to also shed light on precisely when the swing mechanics are breaking down. See your Kinematic Sequence, Body Rotations, Postures and Body Segment Speeds, plus muchmore. These pieces of the puzzle will also be important in informing one’s golf performance trainer about specific types of corrective exercises that will need to be added to a golf-specific program.
* Use a Lauch Monitor to pinpoint what’s occuring at impact. Things such as Club Head Speed, Ball Speed, Launch Anlgle and Spin Rates all should be considered.
* Rely on multiple diagnosed parameters of the putt, like the SAMM Putt Lab offers, to understand your Path, Impact Spot, Loft, and Putter Face Rotation, just to name a few.

Yes, these services are above and beyond what many golfers have allowed themselves. After dues, fees, equipment, and instruction, there isn’t a lot left over. But reconsider for a minute. Without going the extra distance to (finally) understand what one’s doing and WHY, all the money devoted to the beloved sport might actually be considered a waste. Spend the time and money this winter to shed new light on your game. The insight and wisdom will bring more targeted progess than ever before. As we like to say at Golfer’s Edge, “Knowledge is Power.”

Tough times can breed smart strategies. Be smart about improving your game. The times demand it.

On November 24th, Ben Shear, Director of Program Design, and Len Siter, PGA Director of Golf Instruction at Golfer’s Edge, held a three-hour workshop for the NJ PGA on the Body-Swing Connection in Golf. With 25 Teaching Professionals from around the state in attendance, they taught the Pros how a golfer’s physical abilites and limitations will affect technical efficiency. They discussed the basic biomechanics of the golf swing and the many, many muscles involved in the swing, referring to EMG studies done on PGA Tour Players.

Following this basic overview, there was a more in-depth discussion of stability and mobility (range-of-motion) of specific body segments, demonstrating how they directly affect a player’s swing. After discussing how these specific limitations will negatively impact performance–like a how a limitation in internal hip rotation can cause slide or sway, or how a limitation in shoulder external rotation can cause a loss of posture and an over-the-top move–Shear and Siter had the Pros in attendance go through parts of the Titleist Performance Institue’s physical golf screen. Then, after screening, they discussed if, indeed, the issues revealed were manifesting themselves in swing faults. The correlation from physical to technical was extrememly high.

The workshop was a huge success, with many of the Teaching Professions following up and making appointments to have themselves evaluated and put on a golf-specific exercise program. The issue of how the body affects the swing is becoming a more popular topic, and the state PGA and the PGA of America’s involvement in educating Teaching Professionals on this paramount subject is both welcomed and critical to advancing the game. Teaching Professionals came away understanding how they might teach around revealed limitations and how important it was to work with fitness professionals in their area to actually help correct the underlying physical limitations hampering technical performance.

Later this winter, Shear and Siter will be presenting again to the NJ PGA on advanced biomechanics and how to teach around clients’ physical limitations.

With golf participation growing so greatly in the past few years, the need for intelligent golf fitness training has exploded as well. Unfortunately, many sports trainers have not recognized how adding golf training to their repertoire could help them become better sports trainers all together.

Ben Shear, Director of Performance Training at Athletic Edge and Director of Program Design at Golfer’s Edge, put together a basic guide to navigating the golf world for otherwise-engaged sport-specific trainers. The manual incorporates all the critical information needed to approach the new niche with intelligence and confidence and illustrates how proper golf fitness training can help elevate both a golfer’s and a trainer’s game.

The manual, entitled “Top-Flight Performance Training for a Successful Golf Fitness Business” sold out at the 2008 Midwest Strength and Conditioning Symposium in Chicago, where Shear was presenting information on Rotary Power Training for Golf, one of the areas covered in greater detail in the manual.

To secure your copy, contact info@athleticedge.net for ordering information.

At the recent World Golf Fitness Summit in Anaheim, CA, Ben Shear was asked to elaborate on his Rotary Power Training For Golf presentation, given at the Midwest Strength & Conditioning Symposium in Chicago this past September. The interview was then turned into a podcast for BetterGolfWithFitnessPodcast.com.

Listen to Shear’s discussion on the 3 Axes of Power in the golf swing, the ineffectiveness of over-weighted training, and the necessity for position-specific joint stability for crucial insight into your game: Rotary Power Training For Golf Podcast.

Ben Shear, Director of Program Design at Golfer’s Edge, presented scientific Golf Training information at the 2008 Midwest Strength and Conditioning Symposium in Chicago on September 20th and 21st. His topic was Rotary Power Training for Golf, and he illustrated how a rotary sport, such as golf, requires that athletes have mobility and stability in order to sequence better and create powerful shots.

The presentation focused on fundamentals like: three axes of rotation in the golf swing; kinetic linking; the initiation of torque at the pelvis; power production coming from the ground; muscular loading and the whip effect, etc. In conclusion, it emphasized the need to correct limitations in hip and T-spine mobility and rotary stability as the starting points of a rotary training performance program for golf. More ballistic type exercise can follow effectively only after these corrections have been made.

Tiger Woods has proven over and over that he is in a league all his own. His short game continues to amaze even those who have come to expect godlike performances, making him the game’s greatest clutch Putter EVER, and putting to rest the idea that he might have an Achilles knee.

Yes, Tiger does create excessive torque on his knee. With club head speeds exceeding 125 miles per hour, a left foot perpendicular to the target line, and considerable straightening of the lead leg, that front side knee experiences more torque than is advisable for, let’s say, mere mortals.

When striving for effective lead leg mechanics in the downswing, one’s lead foot must stay firmly planted in the ground into impact while simultaneously going into internal hip rotation on the left side (for right-handed golfers). Any restriction in ankle or hip mobility would place extra torque at the knee. While this situation is probably not the case with Tiger Woods, PERHAPS a slight turning out of his left foot at set-up could help to minimize that torque that he creates. This slightly flared-out position is consistent with the set-up position of many of the greatest players in the history of golf. And while this is not intended to be swing advice for the current god of golf, it is offered to the millions of viewers/disciples who noticed his obvious pain through impact time and time again.

For those golfers who are also experiencing any lead leg knee pain in their golf swing, it is strongy recommended that they flare out the front foot and make sure that adequate hip rotation on both sides is present. There is no reason to live with the pain if, mechanically, it can be fixed. There is no million dollar pay day for the rest of us. I have worked with PGA Tour players, professional swing coaches and therapists out on Tour, and the general consensus is that Tiger has the ultimate understanding of his body, his swing, and how the two interact. Many of us believe that he could continue to win without further injury to his knee, however. The US Open showed that, although his body is super-strong, it’s what’s in his mind (and his heart) that elevates him to another stratosphere.

Tiger’s mechanics have helped Tiger win. For the rest of us mere mortals, stick to a more pain-free set-up approach and stay riveted to the best golf in the world.

Ben Shear, Director of Golf Performance at Golfer’s Edge, will be presenting data at the third annual “Better Golf through Technology” Conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (M.I.T.) Center for Sports Innovation on February 24th and 25th. He will be presenting 3-D biomechanical data and demonstrating in case studies: the effect of lower-body mechanics on the overall golf swing; and how improving faulty lower-body mechanics with exercise and proper movement training can create a positive change in overall golf swing dynamics.

Shear will be joining the golf world’s top teaching professionals, technology innovators, researchers, and equipment manufacturers who are all there to discuss what’s currently state-of-the-art and where the future of golf technology, teaching and training are headed. These conference participants, along with researchers from elite academic institutions, will present research on various technologies and learning methods, and panel discussions will highlight technology’s effectiveness in golf learning. This combination of technology, research, and top professionals will make for an unforgettable event that will reveal new insights about the future of golf. For more information, go to www.bgtt.org.

The 2007 recipient of the New Jersey PGA Teacher of the Year award is Len Siter, who co-founded Golfer’s Edge with Ben Shear. The prestigious award process began with nominations by peers and final selection by a committee consisting of past award-winners themselves. This ensures that the Teacher of Year meets the scrutiny of those at the top of the field.

Aside from teaching at Golfer’s Edge, one of the most comprehensive Golf Performance centers in the country, Siter is Head Golf Professional at top-notch Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell, NJ, a position that he has held for the past seven years. Teaching for 14 years, Siter himself studied under PGA and national award-winner Mike Hebron. In Siter’s experience, he has seen that most golfers underachieve, because they don’t understand the relationship between the body and the golf swing and how they are interrelated, interdependent, and tied to success. Though his method of teaching appears simple — the club hits the ball, but the body controls the club — make full use of today’s diagnostic technologies and reliance on golf-specific conditioning.

Students who have benefited from Siter’s instruction are Frank Esposito, a two-time winner of the New Jersey Playing Professional of the Year award, and Jay Blumenfeld and Alan Small, both of whom have won the New Jersey Amateur Player of the Year award.

Golfer’s Edge was created to marry golf instruction with golf fitness.  Since the golf fitness takes place at Athletic Edge, a facility just singled out by the Publisher of Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Runner’s World, Bicycling, and Prevention Magazines as one of the top 6 strength and conditioning centers in the country, Siter’s being named Top PGA Teacher rounds out a serious commitment to improving golf performance.

(as seen in The Jersey Golfer Magazine, July/August issue)

A stable relationship: Last issue, lower body stability was shown to affect power by grounding an energy-loaded coil on the backswing and transitioning that energy toward the ball. Now, rotary stability will be dissected, in an attempt to show how the ability to stabilize rotational forces on the body is also crucial to an efficient transfer of energy up the kinetic chain. In other words, good golf.

The millisecond that transition ends, the downswing begins, starting with a slight lateral shift of the body and an immediate turn of the pelvis, both toward the ball. This all happens while the club is completing its movement toward the top of the backswing. At that point, where the club head and the pelvis are at their furthest points from each other, the X-factor has turned into X-factor stretch, ready to ignite the power behind the downswing. But, as the energy is released from the coiled torso following the shift-and-turn, large amounts of rotational force are put through the body. To thrive on the course, one must be able to stabilize these forces: first by decelerating the pelvis at the right moment to allow the energy to transfer to the shoulders; then by decelerating the shoulders to allow that energy to be summated up the chain to the arms and finally to the club. Exhibiting this sequence is imperative to having an efficient, powerful, repeatable swing. (The efficiency ensures proper swing mechanics and low incidence of injury. The power translates into driving distance. And the reliable repetition is the goal of the improved golfer.) In contrast, not being able to stabilize and transfer effectively results in a swing which can never brace for impact — it’s all arms and no power.

It is no mystery why rotary instability exists. One underlying cause is improper training (or a lack of strength), and the other is over-stretching. Contrary to some schools of thought, more flexibility is not always better, as motion is only valuable if it can be controlled. Unfortunate for the already-weak and -unstable, stretching the hips and back rotators usually leads to hyper-mobility and injury.

Turning things around: The effort to improve rotary stability should be a two-pronged attack, since there are two main areas of the body which are vulnerable to instability and inefficiency during the downswing. First, exercises should attempt to stabilize the pelvis/hips, so that energy can be transferred to the shoulders properly. They should also focus on eliminating over-rotation of the hips, a symptom of unstable hyper-mobility which leads to back pain. In addition, exercises should increase rotary stability in the thoracic spine/shoulders. With this new-found stability, a golfer’s arms can be released away from the torso, effectively creating more club head speed, i.e. power.

Decelerating body parts in the midst of a complex motion might be hard to comprehend, but luckily, it shouldn’t be a conscious effort. It should happen naturally, when the body is properly prepared. The results of these rotary stability exercises will be felt relatively soon. What to look for? Balls that are hit farther, for one, and a back that’s never felt as good.

(as seen in The Jersey Golfer Magazine–June issue)

“Transition” is the phase of the golf swing wherein the lower body initiates the downswing, making it a critical piece to becoming a consistent, high-level golfer.  And its complexity does not belie its importance: The body must be in proper position; the club must be on plane; and the change-of-direction must be efficient.  One of the main reasons many golfers struggle at this point is the lack of lower body stability and the consequential inability to “disassociate,” or move the upper and lower body independently of each other.  The ability to turn the upper-body against a stable lower-body creates coil, and the releasing of that stored energy created by coiling generates tremendous club head speed with very little effort.  This is a good thing.

Crack that Whip: A golfer will not be able to sequence correctly if he or she is unable to disassociate.  Ideal kinematic sequence of the body from transition through follow-through would look like this: hips would begin rotating toward the ball, followed by the shoulders, then the arms, and finally the club. This ideal order is crucial because it allows the specific muscles to stretch and shorten in an order that allows speed to transfer out to the club.  This is similar to the cracking of a whip, where the proper initiation of motion at the handle can generate enough speed to actually break the sound barrier.  In essence, the hips are the handle of the golf “whip.”   Done improperly, when the “handle” is too weak and unstable to accomplish proper sequencing, the result is usually over-rotation of the hips, which creates problems like loss of posture, reverse spine angle, reverse weight shift and, ultimately, a sacrifice in power.

On Stable Ground: The flowing Disassociation exercises are designed to increase lower body stability, which will help in promoting proper position for transition, and initiating the lower body movement of the downswing.

Upper-Body Disassociation:  To begin, place a small enough exercise ball between your knees to create a stance similar in width to the golf swing.  Flex forward at the waist, maintaining a neutral pelvis. (This should be a very similar position to set-up.) Now, start rotating your shoulders, as if taking a back swing.  BUT, squeeze the ball between the knees, so that the hips are not allowed to move or rotate at all.  If the hips do turn as the shoulders turn, you need to squeeze the ball harder to activate the lower-body and core stabilizers. (Yes, the lower body will rotate in an actual swing, but the disassociation and lower body stability gained from the exercise will allow for energy to transfer better through the core during the swing as well.)  Now, shorten your range-of-motion to a point where only the shoulders are turning.  Do the same thing in the opposite direction for muscular balance.

Transition Disassociation: This exercise will create x-factor stretch (the widening of the separation of hips and shoulders, as the hips initiate the downswing).  Use the same beginning stance. This time, though, stop short of reaching  the end of your range-of-motion at the top of the backswing.  Now, simultaneously finish turning your shoulders back, as you push the ground to initiate hip turn toward the target.  This will maximize coil in the torso and start proper kinematic sequence.  Again, repeat this drill going the other direction for muscular balance.  Keep the range-of-motion of these exercises within an area where you are stable and can maintain good posture and shoulder plane.

Working on these drills should help create a more dynamic, efficient swing.  If, however, you cannot perform these drills, or have any pain while doing them, see a fitness or medical professional to be properly assessed.