Training the Junior Golfer
By William Healy
William Healy is the premier expert on Youth Golf Fitness in the
country.
I am a firm believer in participating in multiple sports as a
youth. It is not necessary to be a four sport star as a golfer,
but playing another sport during the off season is a good idea.
Clearly defined breaks between seasons are crucial during the
formative years, preventing over-training and maintaining
motivation levels. Golfers take many years to develop as a player.
I know of many more cases of burn out rather than stardom. Most of
the country experience poor, possibly nonexistent playing
conditions during the winter, making it useless to go out to play
or directly work on your game. The time off from golf gives the
athlete a physical and mental break from the sport.
The last sport to include strength & conditioning in the
development process is golf, which makes proven techniques
difficult to find. I started weight training for golf way back in
the 80's before that practice was common. Many of my friends
trained for other sports, so I prepared much like they did. Today,
the information available is considerably better than it has ever
been. Virtually every sport has its own set of programs, making
progress less frustrating and more efficient.
Most juniors need to train movements, not individual muscles
during their workouts. Strength is utilized throughout a complete
range of motion in the golf swing, not from isolating muscles.
Most principles adhered to by the bodybuilding world will not
work. During the golf swing, the mind recruits groups of muscles
to perform in a certain pattern and should be trained accordingly.
The kinetic chain has to be functionally optimally for all power
to be released. When you sedate the nervous system with machine
training, you run the risk of destroying your timing. The goal of
any golfer should enhance and support their development with
training, not break it down. Like it or not, the golf swing is a
very complex motion with lots of moving parts. To isolate muscle
groups during training or even while teaching the golf swing can
actually be counterproductive.
While training golfers, the primary goal is never to lose
flexibility for strength. The golf swing requires optimal
flexibility in the shoulders, hips, lower back, and hamstrings.
Obviously the golfers are getting larger, but sheer bulk will more
than likely hinder the golfer rather than help. As juniors, I like
my students to learn a pre round stretching routine that they will
continue to utilize. Also, body awareness, balance, and stability
will develop in the teenage years.
Obviously the core needs to get attention. I like to do quite a
few rotational movements which involve all three planes of motion.
The majority of exercises are performed standing, which closely
mimics the swing. I am a big fan of dumbbells, which are very
versatile and can be used at home as well. Regardless of the
recent success of Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie, most golfers are
in the development stages of their career during the teen years.
There are many things to learn on the golf course, making patience
and a sound training a priority. With the courses getting longer,
genetics are going to play a larger role. Just hitting balls will
not get you to the tour anymore. It just does not make sense
anymore to expend all of your effort at the course.
If you look at the history of tennis, there are many similarities.
Much of the previous focus was on the court, with kids hitting
thousands of balls. The repetitive nature of the motions lead to
injuries, premature plateaus, and burnout. Without having fitness
in the picture, there are very clear limits. A much better
alternative is to either play other sports competitively, or
workout or cross train for your sport. I already see a huge shift
in the competitive tennis arena, and golf is soon to follow. Many
television announcers will pick on the fitness level or agility of
a tennis player just as quickly as dissecting the strokes.
The blueprint for a teenage golfer includes participation in
multiple sports, conditioning, competition, and periodization. Be
patient and focus on the learning process. If you take lessons and
correct your mistakes, each year you will improve. If you do
improve each year, eventually you will beat everyone. Too many
juniors and parents focus on score, when the overall development
of the player is more important. Every time you play an event you
gain valuable experience that should be to your benefit the next
time you tee it up. The same blueprint is used for conditioning.
Golf is a difficult sport to condition for, because sheer power is
not the answer. Perform functional exercises, use a wise coach,
and learn from your workouts. Take your flexibility routine and
apply it out on the course. Determine when to exercise, play, and
practice for synergistic results. Golf may be the toughest sport
to integrate multiple factors, allowing the golfer who understands
fitness, golf, and rest periods to be at the head of the class.
The only thing stopping younger golfers from breaking through
earlier is experience, whether it is scoring or just how to
manipulate all of the variables of being a professional golfer.
The athleticism of golfers will change dramatically in the next
few years, making conditioning imperative to an aspiring player's
success. As you see the successes of Tiger Woods and Annika
Sorenstam, there is a clear advantage to being a fit golfer. The
future of golf contains much longer courses, making it much more
of an athletic event. Recovery rates will also change, again
making it vital to train for golf.
The maturation process of a golfer includes learning when, where,
and how often to workout. Physical and mental preparation for your
rounds are also steps to becoming a stronger, more complete
golfer. Believe me, when you compete the golf course and the
situation will expose your weaknesses. The person who has the
ability to change the outcome of the match is you. Focus on
bringing up your weakest areas to be on par with the rest of your
game. Create goals to work for during each season, and strive to
do your best to attain them. Many factors are being applied to
golf performance currently, which makes improvement more
interesting and applicable to everyday life.
Once a golfer becomes an elite athlete, every form of training,
preparation, and recovery gets magnified. At this level, over-
training and injuries become more common. I highly advocate using
a logbook or journal to continually keep track of the hours
practicing, exercising, what you eat, and how you feel. I think
you will be surprised at the conclusions you come to. Everyone
responds different to conditioning, competition, pressure, etc. It
is important to discover what works for you and what does not.
Sometimes the difference between winning and losing may be a day
of rest.
I hope these observations will help guide the junior golfer
through a maze of fitness information currently available. Lots of
changes are taking place in the performance industry, making it
very exciting to be a developing golfer.
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