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How to Prevent Your Golf Swing from Breaking Down with Golf Fitness Exercises
It happens to all of us. We loose our golf swing, make some type
of unknown modification in how we swing the club, and everything
falls apart. What can we do to prevent our golf swing from
leaving us?
Remember this saying as you continue to read this article;
"Proper Preparation Precedes Success and Confidence". Think
about this phrase for a moment and then keep reading.
I write about this subject because of an e-mail I received from
a fellow golfer. The e-mail read:
"Sean, while out practicing I appear to have injured a
muscle(s) in my back just below my left shoulder, and also
around the outside of my left side rib cage. I have tried to
continue to play golf through this injury, hoping it would get
better but I had to stop. Hitting down and through the ball
proved to very difficult and I seemed to be pulling out of shots
early and topping the ball on my iron shots a lot.
Do you have any golf fitness exercises in your book which will
heal the injury and prevent a re-occurrence?"
Absolutely! I do have golf fitness exercises to help you with
the prevention of such an injury occurring.
But let's get back onto the topic of this article and that is
the loss of our golf swing.
"Loosing" your golf swing can occur for a number of reasons.
Typically, they fall into one of 3 categories:
1) Mechanical
2) Physical
3) Mental
A loss of your golf swing on the mechanical side of the equation
is pretty simple to understand. Essentially, you have made an
adjustment in the mechanics of your golf swing causing
compensations to occur. These compensations result in poor shots
and possibly a great deal of frustration, if you do not know
what is happening.
Often times the amateur is completely unaware of the changes
they have made wreaking havoc on their golf swing.
How do you go about solving such a situation?
Through proper instruction from a qualified teacher is the first
part of this equation. A qualified teaching pro will be able to
diagnose the problem and provide you guidance on how to fix it.
The ball is then in your court, meaning you must use this
information and go practice (remember, proper preparation
precedes success or confidence).
The second reason for the "loss" of your golf swing is a
publicized matter, and it is your body.
Remember it is your body that swings the golf club. If your body
is unable to swing the golf club properly, the ability to swing
it without compensations will occur.
The e-mail above is an example of such a problem. The amateur
golfer has incurred an injury as a result of the body not being
flexible, strong, or powerful enough to swing the golf club
properly over a period of time.
Keep in mind the golf swing requires certain levels of
flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power to swing
the golf club correctly. If any one of these facets within your
body is not up to par (no pun intended, but it fits real well
doesn't it?), the swing will suffer.
Often times body impairments causing you to "loose" your swing
are not as severe as an injury (they will get that way if
ignored), but rather they are a slight discomfort, muscle pull,
or fatigue. Which cause compensations to occur in your golf
swing.
Again, we can go back to the phrase "proper preparation precedes
success and confidence". You must properly prepare your body for
the golf swing. This is where golf fitness exercises are
beneficial.
Golf fitness exercises develop the levels of flexibility,
balance, endurance, strength, and power within the body to swing
the golf club properly. Golf fitness exercises prepare the body
to swing the golf club just as practice ingrains the mechanics
of the golf swing.
We finally come to the third category, the mental aspect of golf
and fitness. Mental blocks, certain thought processes, or a lack
of confidence can directly affect your golf swing.
I have found through my work over the years with professional
athletes the development of a sound mental approach to golf
begins with the body and progresses from this point to swing
mechanics.
If you develop a strong foundation in your body, it provides you
confidence that you can perform the mechanics of the golf swing
correctly.
Once the physical foundation is developed, you can create the
optimal swing mechanics on top of this foundation. Once these
two "building blocks" are in place. The mental approach towards
the game is confident, relaxed, and focused. Again, let's go
back to the phrase; "proper preparation precedes success and
confidence." Confidence in your golf game can only occur if the
physical foundation and fundamentals of the golf swing are in
place.
To summarize, "loosing" your golf swing can be attributable to
essentially 3 different categories. These categories are your
golf swing mechanics, your body, and your mental approach to the
game. To minimize the possibility of "loosing" your golf swing,
develop a flexible, strong, and powerful body to support your
golf swing mechanics. On top of this body, develop an efficient
golf swing. This will allow your mental approach to be focused,
relaxed, and confident.
If you are confident in your body's' ability to swing the golf
club, the mechanics of your swing to execute the shot, the
ability to mentally focus will be much easier. This is what
separates good golf shots from bad golf shots on the golf
course.
Sean Cochran
About the author:
About the Author Sean Cochran is one of the most recognized golf
fitness instructors in the world today. He travels the PGA Tour
regularly with 2005 PGA & 2004 Masters Champion Phil Mickelson.
He has made many of his golf tips, golf instruction and golf
swing improvement techniques available to amateur golfers on the
website www.bioforcegolf.com. To contact Sean, you can email him
at support@bioforcegolf.com.
Written By: Sean Cochran
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