Most golfers I come across have no idea what they should be doing for workouts to help their game. Whether that means weight training, cardio, stretching, or focusing on mobility, they don’t have a clue. Not only do most not know what to do in the gym, but those who do go don’t tend to get the results they’re looking for. They’re guilty of doing golfish looking exercises and a lot of times the weight training they do is counter productive to their performance. Building strength without correcting imbalances can lead to major problems down the road. Our goal is to change this! We have been perfecting our golf training program for almost 15 years and our favorite thing is when we get a player that can finally play pain-free and shoot their personal best! Remember it is not the exercise that makes the athlete. It is how the exercise is performed! It’s all about sequence and correct patterns!
One of the reasons our athletes have seen significant gains in performance is the emphasis we place on mobility training in our programs. It is an amazing preventative component for every golfer looking to stay at the top of their game and is a game changer for golfers unable to move their bodies the way they’re capable of. But what is mobility? Mobility is not passive stretching. Many Golfers still use old school stretching techniques and never see any changes. This in turn keeps players from making this type of training a staple of their program. The problem is that passive stretching doesn’t create sustainable improvements the way people think it does because the nervous system isn’t actively using the new range and therefore can’t use it when necessary. However mobility training does and with a better understanding of implementing these techniques, golfers can increase their quality of movement.
So what is mobility vs flexibility, and why should athletes be incorporating more of this training in their workouts? Mobility is where strength/control meet flexibility or mobility = flexibility + strength. As an example, if a person pulls their fingers back toward their elbow using their other hand as far as they can, this is their passive range of motion (aka flexibility). Now if they release their hand and see how far they can bring their fingers back toward their elbow without the use of the other hand, this is what we call their active range of control (aka mobility). When it comes to performance you can only use what you can activate!
Most golfers are guilty of doing passive stretches like pulling back on their fingers in their workouts thinking they are increasing their ability to move better, but I’m here to tell you this will never change. Stretching might feel good, but athletically we’re only as good as the muscles we can activate and control. This means that how we train needs to change to incorporate more training principles that will actually lead to increases in performance.
Premier Fitness System’s uses Dr. Andreo Spina’s Functional Range Conditioning (https://www.functionalanatomyseminars.com/functional-range-conditioning/)principles to enhance our client’s movement capabilities specifically as it relates to mobility. Our programs for golfers are designed to improve resilience and increase active ranges of motion that ensure all of the joints in the body work to their maximum ability. We use techniques such as PALs/RALs, eccentric neural grooving, passive range holds, and kinetic stretching to name a few. These methods are used to expand pre-existing ranges of motion and offer sustainable improvements in performance as it relates to joint function. For athletes with aberrant joint function, we use Functional Range techniques from the physical therapy side of things until a golfer can return to regular training. This all encompassing system ensures athletes at any place on the spectrum have direction and there is protocol to ensure we get our athletes to the top of their game with precision.
Check out some of our athletes’ training at premier fitness systems utilizing these techniques.
Olympic Gold Medalist and UFC Flyweight Henry Cejudo enhancing his mobility and movement skills at premier fitness systems.
UFC Lightweight Scott “Hot Sauce” Holtzman working on enhancing his mobility and movement at premier fitness systems.
Blair O’Neal using a mobility drill to increase her mobility.
One of our online training clients who increased his club head speed using our training techniques.
PGA Pro Scott Stallings training to enhance his mobility and movement skill.
