New Year New Start

Hi guys i hope you are all keeping fit and well. Sorry i havent been updating this of late but i will try and update it on a more regular basis going forward. I have been training really hard this winter on a few different goals and im happy to report ive  never been stronger or mobile than i am now. Ive had a lot of fun with the olympic lifts but ive really paid attention to my mobility and corrective exercise work and have been spending a lot of time working on my rotation to help me with my golf swing.

Havent played a lot of golf but have been practicing hard. Will start getting out on to the links a lot more in the coming weeks as the evenings get brighter. Will be posting up a few videos in the coming weeks of exercises that will really help your golf fitness as we come in to the golf season.

 

South 2011

Eventful is the best possible word to describe my week in Lahinch 2011! The first round was played in lovely conditions and after having an eight on the 7th i was delighted to shoot 71 (-1)  This was helped by a run of birdie, eagle, eagle, birdie from 11-14. Ive never had back to back eagles before so this was a bit of a thrill! Qualifying was reduced to 27 holes due to a deep mist over the course that suspended play for a few hours.

Played really well all week and was disappointed not to come home with the trophy again although getting to the semi finals was a decent performance. Could not have played much better in the semi final but it wasnt to be. Two good weeks in a row with a quarter final and a semi final. Looking forward to the rest of the season. Onwards and upwards!

 

 

East and North

EAST @ Baltray

You would think 100% holing out from  inside 7 feet and zero three putts for 4 rounds that you may have a little trophy at the end of the week??? Sadly no trophy at baltray for me this year,  that went to richie o donavan with a splendid final round to win. Much deserved. Even though i putted so well i struggled with my ball flight all week and had two solid 72s but two poor rounds to finish 25th or something. Not really what i was looking for but on the positive side, putting was pleasing.

NORTH @ Royal Portrush

After bad starts to both qualifying rounds i was pretty proud to stay patient and shoot 71(valley) 70(dunluce). It really is great advise that you should never give up and always stay patient on the course. Played really well all week including both practice rounds so i knew a decent tournament was on the cards. Was under par in my first three matches including -5 for 13 with 5,5 start in 2nd round match. Unfortunately having been so good mentally all week i wasnt so good mentally in the quarter final and got beaten. Im blaming this on tiredness and my housemates for waking me up and costing me a couple of hours sleep! Always pass the buck Beaten by the winner but definitely feel this was one that slipped away considering how well i hit the ball. Apart from one round i putted awful. What we need is a week where i can hit the ball likei did in portrush and putt like i did in baltray! Then we might be on to something!

Its been great to see Rory and Darren do the business. Was at rorys party and it was a great night. Everybody genuinely so delighted for him. He hasnt changed a bit and is a top lad. So pleased for his folks too his dad is one of the nicest guys ive ever met.

DC was awesome all week and never looked like losing. Huge result for him truly fantastic! Apparently emails where coming in from all over the world today enquiring about the DC golf school. Could very well be training kids from far away next year!

Willow was 4 this month. where have the years gone!

Busy time of year

Hi guys. Entering a busy period of the season as the irish close championship starts this weekend in shannon GC, co.clare. Normally a matchplay event the format has been changed to strokeplay this season. Having won a matchplay championship in co.clare it would be nice to win a strokeplay event in the county! Game is in good shape and improvements have been made in all areas of my game as my stats man has pointed out.

After this week there is carlow scratch cup and then the east of ireland in baltray. Looking forward to the next three weeks and hopefully some low rounds. Would also be nice to play a game of golf without a hurricane blowing. It was nice at the start but three weeks later its getting boring now! Variety is the spice of life and all that! Playing too much in the wind is not good for your swing either.

Still training hard in the gym working on olympic lifts such as cleans and snatches. Body is in good shape and no serious ailments to report. Neck is much better thanks to exercises given to me by Dr.Hennessy.

speed and strength

Golf is a game of many skills and SPEED is without question one of the main skills needed. In fact one of the biggest problems I see in many golfers is their inability to produce enough clubhead speed in their golf swing to be able to hit the golf ball a reasonable distance. It can be argued that the modern game of golf is all about power and distance. The further you are able to hit the ball, the easier the game is without question.

The greatest players of the last two generations Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods had both these ingredients in their game. They had the ability to produce great clubhead speed and hit the ball a long way. Some people said they were “overpowering” golf courses. In fact many clubs recently have been spending huge funds redeveloping their courses to add extra yardage to make them more modern. So its crucial for an up and coming top class player to be able to produce high clubhead speed and power to be able to play these courses to the best of their ability.

To achieve maximum clubhead speed the golfer requires exceptional linear and agility movements. In addition to these requirements there will be several factors within the swing such as resistance to provide the coil at the top of the swing and then the uncoiling of the body on the downswing. The lower body initiates this first with the upper body following. In fact the faster you can separate the lower body from the upper body on the downswing it can create more clubhead speed. This phenomenon is called “the x factor” by our friends in the TPI(Titleist Performance Institute). The more clubhead speed you can produce, the further the golf ball will travel. As a golf coach this is one of the main attributes I am trying to develop into my players. It does come naturally to some players. Many are blessed with great flexibility and strength. But some are not.

A golfer needs a considerable amount of strength to be able to swing a weighted object at high speed. It is a dynamic action as maximum force expression occurs when the player is resisting as the muscle lengthens at the top of the backswing. Then very high levels of speed are produced on the downswing to produce the distance needed. The golfer has to be strong enough to be able to withstand the impact of the strike of the ball. This especially comes into play when a player is playing from deep rough. Before I started resistance training I used to struggle out of deep rough on links courses. It used to be hard to move the ball ten yards sometimes. But I noticed within a few months of resistance training that my improved strength was allowing me to handle shots from the rough a lot better. I have continued weight training to this day due to the benefits of extra strength on the golf course.

TPI Group Sessions

I am currently offering TPI Fitness sessions to groups. These are proving to be a great option to golfers out there as they are affordable, sociable and also a great work out designed especially for golfers. Contact me on robelnino@yahoo.com or 0866002432 if you want to organize some sessions. Now is the time to start getting some mobility and stability work for your junior and senior cup teams.

Ankle Mobility

Part 1: Ankle Mobility

The importance of ankle mobility for your golf swing can not be overstressed. The ankle needs to be mobile enough to allow you to transfer your weight in both backswing and downswing. If your ankles are tight you wont be able to move your lower leg or rotate it during the swing. Furthermore your knees will not be properly loaded and wont be able to keep your hips stable during the swing! Your swing will suffer and will lead to faulty movement patterns which is the most common cause of injuries in golf. So it is vital that you keep your ankles nice and mobile as the golf swing really does start from the ground up.

Exercise: Ankle windshield wipers.

Grab a chair that allows the upper leg to be parallel to the ground. Place your two palms together and put these between your two knees. Keep your feet directly under your knees and lift them off the ground. Turn your feet to the left as far as possible and then to the right as far as possible. Just imagine it’s the motion of the windshield wipers of your car! It’s important there is no forward or backward movement and perform the movement controlled and slowly.

The importance of sports science

So far in my career as a strength and conditioning coach i have came across a lot of patterns while screening  golfers that i train. The majority of the players have a strength training age of zero. Every single one of them has some kind of stability and mobility issue. Almost every one of them have insufficient strength in their glutes with some even struggling to activate them. Core strength is therefore non existent and the ability to store and release power in the golf swing is diminished. As one of the coaches in the darren clarke golf school said last week the inside controls the outside in the golf swing. What he meant by that was that the swing is controlled by your core muscles not by your hands and arms. Having a strong core should be the number one strength goal for a golfer.

Another pattern i noticed was the lack of flexibility in the lat muscles of the back. 85% of my players fail the lat test on their first screening. With a daily stretching program and foam rolling there can be huge improvements made with range of motion in this area. Stretching and foam rolling can sometimes be boring and monotonous but it is of the utmost importance of any conditioning programme for an athlete. You cannot add strength to an athlete if they dont have the mobility as this could lead to further imbalances and possible injuries.

Getting on to the main subject of my post is the importance of sports science but this is of a more advanced level. Yesterday i took a test to measure my elastic index which is a way of directing the content of my training. Basically it is derived from the CMJ (counter movement jump) – SJ (squat jump) ratio and will indicate whether strength or explosive power development is required for improved performance. My elastic index was 40% which told me that my elastic capacity was well developed and max strength should be the focus of my programme for the next few weeks. The importance of this test is so helpful in planning the next few weeks of my training. So todays session consisted of heavy one legged squats and heavy concentric squat jumps.

North in Portrush and defending my title in Lahinch

Due to college commitments i didnt get up to portrush till later than hoped. I only played a practice round on the valley course which is where i played the first round. Shot my best round of the year 66 which really was the worst i could have had. Played really well and the course was there for the taking. Shot 77 on the dunluce course the next day. I was level par thru 14 and a little tiredness maybe crept in the last four holes which i dropped five shots. I safely qualified but was beaten in the matchplay. It was extremely windy right from the go (my ball blew off the back of the first green fifty yards into the front bunker) and with all respect to my opponent it was pot luck out there who won. But fair play to him.

It was great to go back to lahinch after last years win and i had a very difficult first match which i got through by one hole. My concentration was terrible. Thinking about last year and also a long season was catching up on me at this stage. Won another game which i played very well but lost my next match. Again if i was anywhere near  my best form id have expected to go through. The way the draw worked out  i could have went all the way again if i was in any kind of form or confidence. But such is life!

Its been a long year and a dissappointing season. I have struggled with a few niggly injuries that have definitely affected my performances. Obviously confidence gets dented from bad results. A few other issues didnt help either. Even small off course problems causes stress and after a while it all builds up to a lot of stress. Its impossible to be able to deliver peak performances with any stress on your mind.

On the other hand training has been going great. Had a screening with the master himself Dr Liam Hennessy and we identified a few issues that were causing some of my bad shots on the golf course. Been working hard on the corrective exercises since and he is delighted with my progress. Body is in really good shape, single digits bodyfat,  injury free and getting more neutral by the day. The guys i train with are all shredded to pieces so we only train the right way. The quickest way to injuries and limitations in your body is to train the wrong way.

Im planning a nice long break from the game now to recharge the batteries. and rediscover the love for it again.  Its badly needed! Before that we have senior cup leinster finals on sat week.

british am and irish am

good first round in british am was undone by two double bogeys in my first seven holes at muirfield. although there was three birdies in there also! Had to chase on the back nine due to the low cut and when you are trying to force the issue around a british open venue things can only get worse! thats pretty much how my golf is right now. very inconsistent. lots of brilliance and a few horrific shots. ive been playing the last while with a downswing way too  much on the inside which is causing the inconsistency. i now have a few weeks off to address this and get the downswing on a straighter path. was just a bad time in the season for this swing flaw to show up but plenty of big tournaments left to win before the seasons out.  Qualified in the irish am and won one match but played terribly in the next round and was beaten. looking forward to some heavy sessions in the gym now on my few weeks off.

Also a few people have been mailing me about my stats guy. His name is Graeme Leslie and the statistic service he offers is top class. check out his website www.golfdatalab.com   drop him a mail and tell him i sent you and he will look after you.

onwards and upwards