One Armed Man and Reversed Spine Angle

Out on the course on Sunday, My father and I were playing with a gentleman who loves golf so much that he played for a significant amount of time without the use of one of his arms. He was so trained to play that way he still just uses one arm to putt.
Watching this man play was like amazing. His body was mobile and stabile. It was the almost the picture perfect swing. The only swing fault he consistently had was reverse spine angle. He was so flexible and so used to using one are with his full swing he contorted his body to create power. As you can imagine one would have to do playing with one arm.
So to make a long story short reverse spine angle typically can create a myriad of issues with power, accuracy, and efficient...let alone the added stress to the spine. "A Reverse Spine Angle is defined as any excessive upper body backward bend or excessive left lateral upper body bend during the backswing." (mytpi.com) According to TPI it is the number one cause of back pain in the golfer.
In order to correct this through fitness the golfer must gain strength with in his core and trunk as well as create proper biomechinaillcay mobile swing.
This is done with Exercises such as

1. Chops
2. Lifts
3. Pelvic Tilts
4. Planks
5. Reverse Crunches
6. Dead Bugs
7. Golf Professional drills (talk to your local golf pro)

As your body begin to work in the proper pattern for the golf swing, distance, accuracy, and consistency will improve.

As for the one armed golfer...keep playing my friend and we will play soon!

45 holes!

I am sitting down for the first time today after a glorious weekend of golf. The weather was perfect and the courses were awesome. My best friend from Whitworth University came down and we hit the greens. We started on a public course on Friday, went to a private course on Saturday and back to 9 hole public course on Sunday.
What did I learn about myself...better yet what did I learn about golf to pass on --> Golf is fun and friends are great!
Okay you all know that already or else you would not be attracted to the sport in the first place. As the British Open was unfolding, we were swinging and enjoying each others company. What I did learn or brought to the forefront of my mind is that professional golfers are so good. I spend some time in the rough and struggled to get a clean shot. Pro's hit into the rough and it is a bummer, or so it seems.
My Top Ten Tips from the Weekend at Boundary Oaks, Green Valley, and Diablo Hills:
10) Bring water if it is not on the course
9) Play at your level don't try to match others (better or worse)
8) Smile (no matter what!!!)
7) Know your clubs
6) If there are several people around the same spot let them put first so you can watch how the green moves
5) Don't rush if have to wait at the next tee box (even if the people behind you are getting impatient)
4) If you are going to play several days in a row, you better warm up first (aka have a conditioning program that compliments your golf swing)
3) Utilize the turn to your advantage (rest, food, beverage, restroom)
2) Eat Nutritious meals to let your body recoup from the rounds.
1) HAVE FUN!

With all that being said get out and play!

What's up with your Friend???

The sun is out, the grass is green, the sky is blue. Your friends are in for a weekend of golf, laughter and fun. Last time you played with this group of guys you won and the other pairing had to pay for the first round of food at the Oakland A's game. (Maybe not your situation, but you can imagine a similar scenario right)

As you approach the first tee, you notice some thing different about Tyler. He has more pep in his step and is more excited than usual about the round of golf. Was it the California burrito he just wolfed down before going into the pro shop or the prospect of a new job??? He volunteers to hit first, he takes a swing, picture perfect the ball goes straight and far. That is when you realize, Tyler must have found a new pain killer for his aches and pains, and been taking lessons to get that swing right????

So you approach your shot and hit the ball nicely but not like Tyler did. So you mockingly say "You must have found the magic formula for your back."

Tyler not one to expose his secrets mid competition, simply smiles and nods.

Throughout then next 17 holes Tyler does not miss a stride with this swing (the two puts help your chances though).

Finally as you return the carts you ask again. This time Tyler tells you about a new fitness program that has been working him through each and every component of his swing and picking his body apart and putting him back together. Not only has this program helps his golf swing, but it has helped him to get into better physical health.

Now the moral of this story: Golf is a great game and fun to play with friends...it is even better to win and be pain free!

Do like Tyler did and make a difference in your body!

That Didn't Feel Right

Have you ever Swung your Golf Club and felt as if you were going to be out of bounds, searching for your ball in an awkward location, or 100 yards shorter than you needed to be, but as you watched the ball fly it went 250 yards and landed right in the middle of the fairway????

I haven't but I can imagine what that would feel like. Only Kidding. I send out an tweet and a facebook to get at some information that you guys wanted to read. So thank you.

Back on topic: THAT DIDN'T FEEL RIGHT?

Why? Our bodies often times work in patterns or habits. We have been designed to be able to remember and reproduce movements. The more we do them the more the body recognizes then and the less brain power and extra energy expenditure there is to get a movement accomplished.

This is the miracle of the nervous system! Our brain has several components and various "areas" of expertise. The ones that helps us remember patterns and movements are a combination of the front of the brain, deep in the middle of the brain and the cerebellum.

So why if I have swung the club thousands of times does my body not feel right, yet the ball goes right, or even worse if my body feels right and the ball ends up in La-La land.

This is because there can be a slight break down in communication between the sum of all parts and this confuses your body and it thinks it is beginning a new pattern. It may be something as simples as the wind blowing or a fly landing on your leg. It may be something that the body corrected naturally such as you were about to go over the top "body feels wrong" and it self corrected to make a beautiful shot. It may be you hit the sweet spot on the club, when you are used to hitting a millimeter off. All of these things seem like small bits but to the brain they are HUGE.

The brain is all about feeling right. When new information is sent it, new information must be processed and sent out. And that could ultimately make you "sense" that you had a bad swing, but in reality it was a new out put from a great input.

The nervous system is capable of amazing things, guard it well. Go out, play well and enjoy the courses of the world!

Hanging Back?!?!?

Have you heard you are Hanging Back in your golf swing?
This is a problem seen in many golfers who are trying to lift the ball and not use the club face to their advantage. It is also seen with golfers who have balance issues or rotation problems...It is often a consequence of early extension and slide.

So what exactly is hanging back?

1. Improper weight shift: Your body is staying with the majority of its weight over the back leg.
   
2. Poor Balance: An inability of your joints and ultimately your brain understanding where your body is throughout the swing path.
3. Inexperience: Often when people begin to golf they don't understand that the clubs have different shapes for a reason and not just to frustrate you. Most beginning golfers think they must consciously life the ball off the turf, which can lead to numerous swing faults.

What can you do Functionally to Improve?

1. Balance: Practice standing with your eyes closed. Be somewhere you can have some support if you are unsteady. Once you can stand with your eyes closed both feet on the ground and stay stable for 30 seconds, open you eyes and try standing on one leg. (Note here according to the Titleist Performance Institute the average professional that they have collected data on can stand for 16 seconds on one leg, eyes closed)
2. Utilize Drills to change weight shift. I have heard golf professionals teach you to push of your back foot as opposed to staying on it. Others drill you by having your actually pick up your feet, which is one of my favorites that I have seen by a local golf professional. Set up five balls and get in a rhythm of hitting the grass in both the front and back swing with appropriate weight changes by picking up your feet...then walk forward hit one ball at a time. It is a fun drill and it really helps hone in on weight shift.
3. Now in the bio mechanical functional approach to improving: IT IS SUPREMELY IMPORTANT to strengthen your core. Often times one simple set of seeming simple exercises can reduce swing faults dramatically as well as decrease chance for injury.

CORE:

• Planks, Side Planks, Reverse Planks: strengthen your entire core in a static plane.
• Chops and Lifts: dynamic movements to improving core.
• Pelvic Tilts: If you do not know how to tilt your pelvis properly your core is not going to be as efficient as it can be.

When you learn to properly shift your weight, have great balance and have amassed and perfected tons of drills. There is one final component to making sure your body and swing can stay coordinated. And that is making sure your head is on straight!

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

When you play the game of golf, you can have good days and you can have bad, you can even see that watching the golf channel. So what can you do to have more good than bad?

Albert Einstein put it well with “The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I know that one of the best things that you can do is practice, practice, practice…but have you noticed that many times that can only get you so far. You hit a plateau or level spot and you cannot get any better.

So what do you do? MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

I have had the opportunity to watch golfers train outside of the golf course and the comment to me I hear is how is this going to help my slice or hook. And my response to them is what you have done so far that has worked to correct your ball flight. Has it made a difference?

I have the unique opportunity this upcoming week to combine my knowledge of the biomechanics of the swing and learn to how to efficiently use pilates to improve golf swing and decrease the chance of pain.
HIO Golf Fitness and Hole in One Pilates is combining to put on a spectacular two night event to make the introduce this concept in the bay area. As the week goes on and I learn more and more, I will be blogging and introducing this concept to you!

Directed Blog Post for the day

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Gotta go out and enjoy the sun! :)