Pilates for Golfers…Uh, No Thank You
By Bill Hartman
“Your Golf Fitness Coach”
Let’s see…there’s yoga
for golfers, swiss ball training for golfers, balance training for golfers, and
yes, as the title says…Pilates for golfers.
Are we to believe that every form of exercise that can easily fall into
the “fad” category will improve golf performance?
I don’t.
Now before I get a bunch
of hate mail from the Pilates disciples, let me say that I have nothing against
people performing exercise routines that they enjoy. It increases compliance and may promote some
sort of general training effect, but you must also understand the limitations
of the activities you perform. Pilates
actually has a very limited scope of application to any physical activity, even
for dancers who seem to swear by it.
We’re talking about
improving specific motor qualities for golf.
Here are the Top 10
drawbacks associated with Pilates for golf:
- Any form of exercise named after an individual
should be questioned. Makes for
good marketing though.
- Beware of exercise programs that rely on fancy
gadgets. A basic barbell and
medicine ball will cost you a fraction of the money that Pilates equipment
will cost, and you can do about a thousand more exercise variations than
you can with Pilates equipment.
- While a general training effect may be
possible, Pilates is not demanding enough to stimulate a training effect
in athletes who need to exhibit strength, speed, and power.
- Pilates exercises tend to emphasize neutral
postures and alignments. This can
make someone fairly strong in neutral, but golfers are rarely in a neutral
posture.
- There is no foot agility or speed training in
Pilates. Golfers need to stand and
swing a club a very high speeds.
- The best strength coaches in the world
(Olympic level coaches) see it as inadequate. Otherwise, a great number of Olympic
athletes would use it a primary source of supplementary training.
- You cannot base your training on a single method
and expect maximum results.
- Pilates was never designed for golfers.
- The emphasis of posterior pelvic tilt and
conscious recruitment of transverses abdominis is inappropriate for
optimal function for golfers.
10. A properly structured
weight training program will always improve function and physical structure far
better than just Pilates exercise
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Bill Hartman, "Your Golf Fitness Coach," is a Physical Therapist who has a degrees in Movement and Sports Science. Training golfers since 1990, Bill is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NCSA), USA Weightlifting Sport Performance Coach and a Level 2 Active Release Techniques Practitioner (ART).
Bill also has advanced training in shoulder, knee and spine rehabilitation as well as many methods of strength, power and speed training. "Your Golf Fitness Coach's Video Library, Volume 1" is packed with information that will help your game immediately.
The articles at GolfFitnessProducts.net are for informational purposes only and are not intended to substitute for direct examination and exercise prescription by the appropriate health professional. It is strongly recommended that you do not perform any exercise program without the consent of your personal physician.
