The Future of
Golf
William Healy BA, CSCS, PGFA
The latest
wave of golf courses measure 7500 yards from the championship tees. With
professional golfers still shooting extremely low numbers, I have no doubt that
8000 yards will be the magic number soon. Once the par 4's became five hundred
yards, the prerequisites for playing professionally will start to change. Will
you be ready?
Let's take a closer look at the new requirements..
TIME
Have you
ever played a six hour round? It is pretty excruciating. With the dynamics of
the game changing so quickly, will you be prepared?
Five hours
plus one for warm up means six hours at the course. Nutrition, conditioning,
strength, and recovery rates all change. Should the golfer totally rethink
their preparation? Of course.
STRENGTH
Once John
Daly and more specifically Tiger Woods hit the scene, the need for adding
length and building new courses began. Tiger claimed the length was for the
kids younger than him. Boy was he right. Power has become one of the top
priorities. Not many courses are safe when golfers routinely hit the ball 330
yards. 700 yard par 5's, 500 yard par 4's, and 250 yard par 3's. Whenever power
becomes a priority in a sport, strength & conditioning is sure to follow.
While taller athletes continue to dominate some sports, a higher center of
gravity is not necessarily an advantage in golf. The ability to maintain your
posture, the strength of your core, and even the ability to be on your feet
longer are worth taking into consideration. Golfers will need to maximize all
contributing factors to performance. The days where a few strong points will
hide your weaknesses are over.
NUTRITION
Obviously
a couple of extra hours anywhere means an extra meal or snack. The dynamic of
eating between nines during your round changes. When you plan your nutrition,
you are much more likely to have energy throughout your round. A haphazard
approach to eating on the course to me is like not taking an umbrella to the
course when the forecast calls for rain. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Nutrition
is very individualistic and you have to determine what works for your body.
When you are on the course for that long, your nutritional habits will be
exposed. Golfers will also have to pay closer attention to their diet on a day
to day basis.
The same
principles apply to water intake. Without proper preparation, it will be much
easier to get dehydrated. It never hurt anyone to carry an extra bottle of
water on the course.
RECOVERY
RATES
More time
on the course means less recovery between rounds. Less recovery between rounds
guarantees either you rest more later OR your body takes a break while
competing. While playing rounds are fun, is it really the most efficient way to
improve? Of course not.
To
consistently improve, you must eliminate the weak areas of your game. With a
round of golf taking longer to complete, it becomes much more efficient to
practice or work out with some of that time. The new goal of the golfer will be
to do what it takes to perform your best when you compete.
If your
goal is to be the best, you must put forth intelligent effort. Many golfers
have failed over the years by beating balls all day long. While practicing all
day may be therapeutic and peaceful for some, it honestly will not solve all
your problems. You must start to look at the big picture, and determine what
will help you to improve in the long run.
Today,
the role of an intelligent, progressive, experienced coach has never been
greater. You must have a detailed, specific plan to follow if you want to reach
the pinnacle of golf. The difference between the professional and amateur
players will start to widen.
FLEXIBILITY
When the
rounds become longer, your ability to stay loose becomes more of an issue.
Think about it. You need optimal flexibility in multiple body parts to make
fluid swings. If you are trying to repeat the same swing every time, then you
want the same range of motion every time. Due to the golf cart, most players
will do a lot of sitting during the round when they really need to get out and
move around.
Over the
course of six hours, the majority of golfers will fell some tightness later in
the day. A new goal of yours should be to incorporate stretching throughout
your round. Find some down time during your round, and make good use of it. You
can stretch while waiting on others to hit or when there is a slowdown in play.
Who knows, the stretching may invigorate you during the golf-fitness-products-home.html stretch. If I
could pick the most critical performance factor in golf, it would be
flexibility.
CARDIOVASCULAR
Rarely is
cardiovascular capacity the limiting factor in golf. The only clear cut case is
the extremely overweight golfer. However, with the courses becoming longer, it
is possible that cardiovascular conditioning could play a bigger factor. In a
previous article, I also pointed out how collegiate golfers specifically
perform cardiovascular work because they play multiple rounds a day.
OFF-SEASON
Just like
every other sport, golfers will not have an off-season. Strength &
conditioning will be on the agenda for every competitive player during off
times. You will have to participate just to remain competitive. Golfers in the north,
this is finally your chance to level the playing field. Formerly, the southern
golfer had a huge competitive advantage but I see that as a thing of the past.
Many of the next great teaching discoveries I guarantee will incorporate some
fitness principles. Several very important principles of your improvement will
require effort off the course. The requirements of the body during the golf
swing are just too significant to be denied.
I hope
this gives you an accurate look into the future of golf before it arrives.
Virtually everyone that plays the game wants to shave a few strokes off of
their handicap. Hopefully I am opening your eyes to all the factors that go
into being a great player. The attributes that make golf such a difficult sport
also make it one of the most enjoyable, giving you endless options for
improvement.
William Healy BA, CSCS, PGFA is recognized as one of the world's leading experts of golf fitness. He is the Director of Fitness at the International Junior Golf Academy, and currently trains over 150 golfers each day including PGA, LPGA,Nationwide players, and the US Junior Champion.
William is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, a Professional Golf
Fitness Instructor of the Professional Golf Fitness Association, a Certified
Fitness Trainer through the International Sports Sciences Association, and a
Certified Golf Fitness Trainer with Advantage Golf. William graduated from
Marshall University with a Bachelor Degrees in Sports Management and Marketing.
He played collegiate golf for both Ohio and Marshall Universities.
For more information about William, go to www.golffitnessexpert.com
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