The 4 Keys To Unlock Your Potential As A Golfer

By: Dr. Michael Kay

Fundamentals – Start Building Better Movement

Improving your fundamental movement will unlock your potential as a golfer, an athlete, and a human.

There’s no way around it. Nail the four fundamental patterns we illustrate below and take your training, fitness, and golf swing to a new level.

Previously we spoke about principles and how they influence our training approach. Every exercise performed should take into account a healthy respect of creating and controlling tension, joint centration, segmentation/dissociation, and breathing. Understanding these fundamental pieces can transform a biceps curl into a monster exercise.

Quick side note: functional training can definitely involve bicep curls. I cannot think of anything more functional than bringing hand to mouth. That aside, let’s move on to today’s topic.  

Four Key Patterns

Fundamental movement is something you should be able to perform and continue to perfect. We believe that fundamental movement is made up of four key patterns: crawling, rolling, hanging, and hip hinging. We really feel that that all human movement is based on these fundamentals. If you cannot perform these movements we think you are leaving a lot on the table.

Does that mean if your crawl looks like a dying cockroach you cannot center up a drive and hit a tight little 300 yard draw? Of course not. We work with plenty of Touring Pros that that have huge gaps in their movement abilities. BUT that doesn’t mean they are not working on them. Furthermore, they continue to benefit from the overall sense of awareness and concentration these movements provide.  

Also when we work these fundamental patterns, and especially crawling, typical positioning of joints are flipped. Joints that are usually stable become mobile and vice versa. This allows for swishing of synovial fluid between joints allowing for increased lubrication. Anecdotally, I can say it is quite common for painful shoulders, backs and knees to no longer be complained of when in these positions. This is probably in part due to novel input to the system and increased swishing of stagnant synovial fluid.

Put the Fundamentals to Work

So then where do I put these in my workout? All over.

Warm-up, active recovery, and you can even load them to become the primary lift in your workout. I personally love going with a high metabolic, highly taxing exercise that incorporates one of these fundamental movements. For example, kettlebell swing and then get on the ground and bury an awesome, neutral, slow, low, reciprocal crawl with perfect breathing. It’s better than just leaning over in a crappy flexed position and gasping for air.

Or another great combo could be heavy bench dumbbell press (of course respecting the principles) and then hang from a bar in hollow body position, trying to bend the bar and killing deep breaths down into your pelvis. That ability to breathe deep and get powerful full core firing will increase your bench press and clubhead speed.

  

That’s the big point about lifting heavy weights and controlling tension. Anyone who says that kick ass training doesn’t carry over to golf has never trained seriously. Avoid these people like the plague, and start making room for these fundamental patterns in your program.  

Want to see more drills, movements, programs? Just ask us at Premier Fitness Systems.