By: Charles W. Boatright
The Golfer has to be an Athlete before they are a Golfer
The win by Danielle Kang at the 2017 KPMG LPGA proved the golfer has to be just as much of an athlete as a golfer. As impressive as Danielle Kang’s win was at the Olympia Fields Country Club on Sunday, July 2, 2017, so was her athleticism and Danielle Kang’s training routine.
As part of Danielle Kang’s training regimen, she includes Taekwondo and gymnastic maneuvers that are a part of Cirque du Soleil performances, as noted above. Being athletic is a key factor for the golfer to successfully perform, both mentally and physically on the course. If you notice a key factor in Danielle Kang’s win, was how she dealt with golf strokes that didn’t meet the intended results she wanted. Danielle Kang had a great statement before the final round, Trust your golf swing. Golf isn’t about the physical game, of yards or feet, but more like fractions of inches or seconds. With tolerances that tight, the golfer must accept shots that aren’t perfect. Golf is about playing the percentages, and not playing to perfection. There are too many factors that aren’t in the golfer’s control. The golfer has to trust their athleticism and muscle memory to give them the ability to grind it out on the golf course.
If you want to improve as a golfer, you need to improve as an athlete, first and foremost, more than your technique and mechanics alone. Tyler Dyson, Florida Gators’ pitcher that help lead the Florida Gators to win two games in the 2017 College World Series against a very good LSU team, considered himself to be an athlete first, and a pitcher second. Muscle training comes before the golfer’s technique. Rick Asadoorian, Tyler Dyson’s cousin and coach, worked on developing Tyler’s flexibility and fitness first, before his mechanics or techniques.
Rick Asadoorian believes that in Tyler Dyson’s case, that Tyler happens to be a pitcher who is an athlete first. Rick Asadoorian believes in flexibility before building the athlete’s strength and techniques, similar to Danielle Kang. Rick Asadoorian refers to it as body awareness, something that the golfer will have to develop to fine tune their golf swing. Rick Asadoorian believes it’s more important to build flexibility first to prevent injuries before working on strength, mechanics, or techniques.
A Golf Trainer Home Gym
I follow what I call the CASIMIR (Cardiovascular, Aerobic, System, Index Metabolic Impact Rate) Workout Program that is in Section 20 of my book, The ESPY Golf Swing Coach. This includes modified yoga, working with a Medicine Ball, free and resistance weights, and even using a punching bag workout. I have set up in a spare room of my house a golf trainer home gym to maintain my flexibility, strength, and more importantly muscle memory using the Overload training technique. The golf trainer home gym is similar to Danielle Kang’s use of Taekwondo in her workout. I tell people that I have traded in my golf glove and golf bag for a different type of gloves and bag for training to improve my golf game. Boxing bag workout not only improves the golfer’s physical strength and stamina, but the golfer’s mental focus, which is a key component to the golfer.
Part of my CASPER Workout Program is trading in my golf glove and bag for a pair of boxing gloves and punching bag.
I like Yogi Berra’s question about the baseball player in the batter’s box, “How can you think and hit at the same time?” The answer to the question is, you can’t!
Working out with a punching bag, allows the golfer to get used to getting into their mental zone in golf. The punching bag routine also works three key muscles, or lead elements that are a part of the Critical Swing Path. The Critical Swing Path isn’t the path the golfer takes by swinging the handle of the club, but the critical muscles memory used in setting up the golfer’s feel.
Muscle memory allows the golfer to use their mechanics and techniques without having to think. The last thing the golfer wants to do on the golf course is to think. Yogi Berra had a great question- “How can you think and hit at the same time?” The answer to the question is, you can’t! I rely on just three key muscles that forms the lead elements in my golf swing to set up my entire golf swing.
David Leadbetter’s Alternative Swing Approach
David Leadbetter is an author of the book, “Alternative Swing or A-Swing” is Danielle Kang’s swing coach. David Leadbetter substantiated my grandfather’s research that he did in 1927 on his approach to the golf swing. My grandfather, H.Q. Boatright, believed that the baseball swing and golf swing were more similar than they were different. My grandfather, who was a great athlete in his own right, focused on his athleticism to set up the lead elements, or the Critical Swing Path in his golf swing.
The two photographs above are of my grandfather, Hemingway (Hemi) Quinn Boatright. The left photograph is my grandfather at North Hills Golf Course in 1946 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The second photograph on the right is my grandfather at Yellowstone National Park in 1927.
The technique that my grandfather used to coach the golf swing was similar to how baseball players take batting practice. He started me off first in 1969 by hitting baseballs off of a makeshift tee post, before transitioning me into hitting golf balls off a golf tee. I can still hear him during my tee ball practices saying- ‘Sync the elbow, Preset the wrists, before taking the bat or club up to the top of the swing.’
There are three key muscles that I use to set up each of the three elements (Sync, Preset, and Yaw). The first stage of my training was not to be concerned with how far the baseball or golf ball traveled, but instead listening to the contact ‘Thump’ sound. He was more concerned with developing muscle memory than he was developing mechanics and techniques.
The Critical Swing Path for Developing Muscle Memory
The Critical Swing Path for developing the lead elements in muscle memory for the golf swing is simple. My grandfather had a playing partner who was a doctor. While my grandfather developed the technical part of the golf game, Doctor Choate developed the mechanical part. Fortunately, these three muscles that form the lead elements of the golf swing are easy to pronounce. The Syncing of the elbow is done with the Supinator muscle. The Presetting of the wrists is done with the Thenar. The Yaw, taking the club to the top of the swing, is done with the Brachio-Radialis muscle.
What is unique about the Supinator muscle is its location. It is located just below the golfer’s elbows. This allows the golfer to Synch their elbows with the shoulders. This was a tip that Arnold Palmer gave to President Eisenhower before a Pro-AM. This story is in Kingdom Magazine.
The Supinator muscle located just below the elbow responsible for Syncing the elbow with the shoulders.
What is unique about the Thenar muscle is that this is the biggest, strongest, and most dexterous muscle in the wrists that also has direct contact with the golf club handle to Preset the wrists. The wrists are not where the golfer would wear their wristwatch, as this is the golfer’s lower forearm. The wrists are where the two pads are located called the Thenar and Hypothenar. The Preset maneuver is critical for the golfer to set up correctly. If the golfer improperly presets their wrists, they will lose control.
The Thenar muscle located at the base of the thumb and is responsible for Presetting the wrists and locking the elbow with the shoulders.
What is unique about the last muscle element in the Critical Swing Path, is the Brachio-Radialis muscle in the forearm, as it can supinate, pronate, and flex (or bend) the forearm at the elbow to start the Yaw maneuver. This allows the golfer’s forearms and arms to be used to coil the shoulders. This is critical to produce Speed in the takeaway swing and Power in the downswing, based on Sprocket Mechanics. See the Figure below with these three maneuvers.
The Brachio-Radialis muscle located along the forearm just above the Radial bone and responsible for flexing the forearm at the elbow and allowing the arms and forearms to coil the shoulders.
To learn how to develop the Critical Swing Path and a swing coach style of training,
purchase your copy of The ESPY Golf Swing Coach from the links below, or visit your local bookstore:
820 East County Line Road, Ridgeland, MS 39157
My book can also be purchased on-line at:
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
This book is a self-coaching forum that provides basic and advanced fundamentals to help you play golf with confidence and start lowering your handicap.
Please take advantage of my SR-925 Diet Program, where I lost 6 inches in my waist in 3- months (FREE of CHARGE) with the CASPER Workout Program, detailed in Section 20 of my book:
Please include an exercise routine in your weekly schedule.
Also, learning The ESPY Golf Swing Coach process is an excellent way to develop Rhythm without experiencing the Blues in your golf game, learn how to take your baseball-style swing from the batter’s box to the tee box: https://goo.gl/olwgxG
Please visit “The Locker Room” for an Index of all my golf articles to improve your golf game and life. Discover how you can take your baseball swing from the batter’s box to the tee box.
Also, golfers, when you are doing yard work, especially using a grass trimmer; don’t think of it as yard work. But instead as strength training for your golf game. Grass trimming is probably the single best exercise the golfer can perform. I have a farm and I get a lot of golf strengthening exercises. This is me at age 59 getting ready to trim on the farm:
