Does weight training assist or hinder golfers?

Innocent Choga : Fitness

Does exercise play a role in golf and does weight training assist or hinder golfers? I think these are questions that have cropped up as a result of Tiger Woods’ back injury and a slump in his performance. Some of his colleagues in the golf fraternity were alleging that the injury arose because of over training with weights.They also thought he was getting too bulky for a golfer. Weather his injury was due to weight training or not, the purpose of any exercise regimen for any individual including sports persons is to improve health and fitness, condition an athlete, prevent injuries and enhance their performance.

Weight training serves the same purpose, but it can be detrimental if it is not appropriately applied. Weight training just like any other form of exercise should be designed and applied according to the needs of an individual and according to the principles of weight training.

It is necessary to focus on training that is designed specifically for the sport one is involved in. If one is following a sports specific training regimen there is no chance of acquiring unwanted physical characteristics or injuries that will prevent one from performing well in their discipline.

For example in some sports like marathon running, increasing weight or bulking up hinders performance so when these athletes use weights there is need to avoid doing things that will result in weight gain.

Also the principles of weight training encourage conditioning all muscles to avoid exposing neglected areas to injuries.

So suppose Tiger Woods was training everything else and neglecting lower back then he was asking for trouble .But this is just an assumption, besides he works out with a trainer and back problems afflict a large number of people at one time or another. So weather those allegations are true or not, only Tiger and his doctors may know the cause of the injury.

Tiger Woods is reported to have kept his weight training workouts a secret and only publicly announced it in 2007 in a fitness magazine. I recall reading about his weight training exploits in a certain magazine where he mentioned that his favourite workout was the chest routine including bench presses.

Tiger Woods’ weight training revelation was, however, regarded at the time, as a confirmation and acceptance of weight training as a way of improving strength, flexibility and balance for golf players.

The fact that weight training presented a lot of benefits to golfers was relatively new to the sport and this was hailed as an important breakthrough.

In golf, technique or skill and flexibility are the main fitness requirements though strength also assists. Golf involves a lot of twisting or rather trunk rotation. The forearms hands, hips and trunk rotators play an important role in golf therefore flexibility is more important than strength.

But weight training does not only increase strength, it also improves flexibility by going through the full range of motion. It is necessary when training trunk rotating muscles to have a balanced workout that includes abdominals, waist and back muscles.

It is also necessary to extend the balance by training other body parts that are not involved, though not with the same intensity and focus as that which should be placed on these muscles that are involved in golf. There is also need to work on legs, as this helps to develop balance especially for those golfers with weak legs.

The emphasis for strength training should vary, not only according to individuals but also according to gender. For male golfers strength without flexibility will not help so there is need to focus more on flexibility training, but women can benefit more from strength training since they are naturally more flexible but physically weaker. I understand, as Greg Norman puts it, professional golf practice comes with aches and pains as a result of continuously swinging the clubs therefore so there is definitely need to condition the muscles involved to avoid injuries.

One could also include a training programme that involves the swinging of a weighted club or practicing the swing with cable machines using the rope as a handle. This is done for both strength and flexibility and muscular endurance. Gaining strength and becoming more flexible enhances techniques by allowing the golfer to assume advantageous biomechanical positions.

There is need to differentiate the training according to seasons. The off season training should focus on conditioning all muscle groups to provide proper balance.

The pre-season training should be like the first but should include some golfing specific moves and some form of cardiovascular work. The in season training should be less frequent and designed to maintain fitness levels achieved in the first two seasons.

My guest for this week is a 35-year old professional golf coach Simon Chigorimbo who plies his trade at the Royal Harare Golf Club.

Chigorimbo agreed that exercise plays an important role in golf. He says long back people used to regard golf as an activity for the aged and lazy people, so there was no need to exercise but this changed over the years.

According to Chigorimbo, Tiger Woods is one of the golfers who has proven that exercise and physical fitness assists a lot in golf and that is why there was such a big gap between him and other golfers. He set up the pace by combining technique, the swing itself and physical fitness.

“If you want to be successful and stay at your peak this has to be your starting point because once you are tired you cannot concentrate due to muscle fatigue. When you play golf you use a lot of different muscles so they have to be conditioned. You do not have to train like a bodybuilder or put on a lot muscles.

The required fitness components are endurance, stamina, flexibility and power so you need to exercise the correct muscles, therefore there is need to engage a trainer to assist you to train correctly .I have observed that in most cases being too bulky gets in the way of flexibility, and flexibility is a very important fitness component in golf, but there are some cases where one can be bulky and flexible, which is fine. A golfer is just like any other athlete there is need to warm up and stretch because one can also pull a muscle; this also helps to avoid aches and pains. Where muscles are working, you can expect a bit of strain every now and then. While there is a definite need for power, technique is the most important aspect. Technique comes through practice and being taught.”

There are two different types of golfers; those who do it as a hobby and play for leisure and those who do it as a profession. The professional athletes need to exercise and be fit in order to perform to the best of their ability, just like other athletes in other disciplines do. But the exercises have to be specifically related to golf.

Those who play as a hobby and play for leisure can also benefit by playing golf as a form of exercise. A round of golf involves walking up to six kilometres that is if, you are walking straight, but at times you hit the ball and it strays in the bush and you have to meander through the bush looking for the ball, therefore you can walk even more. Therefore in golf there is an element of walking and working because you will be swinging.

Simon Chigorimbo himself works out regularly at a gym that is within the vicinity of the club. He engages the services of a personal trainer for his gym workouts. He played junior golf, has represented Zimbabwe as an amateur.

Simon Chigorimbo is travelling extensively as the coach of the Zimbabwe junior team. In 2015 the team achieved their best placing to date at World Junior Championships in Japan. They placed twelfth. He is also the vice president of the Mashonaland Junior Golf and they have a lot of development programs going on around the country, including holiday programs.

“The idea is to make the children appreciate the benefits of the game and be competitive. Spending four hours at the golf course keeps the children away from mischief.

“Most of them are well groomed children but they also learn one or two things including the etiquette of the game, respect etc, but of course it is natural to find a rare bad apple. Golf as a sport is a good tool for networking and it gives them an opportunity to meet their role models including most captains of business.

“Talented children are identified and can get scholarship assistance thereby saving their parents a lot of money .There are quite a number of children that have been assisted through Mashonaland Junior Golf and have taken up studies abroad. Combining education and sports makes one a full product and by excelling in both one is assured of getting to the premier of the sport, the PGA. And in case one fails to make it in golf one has something to fall back on.

“But we are not saying those who are talented in sport only are not appreciated .We encourage children to do their school work but at the same time create time to play golf.”

Chigorimbo and his boss have a lot of things going on as they also work with the Special Olympics. According to Chigorimbo they treat the Special Olympics just like everybody else and their golf clubs can be adjusted and custom made according to their physical traits and physical fitness, etc.

The grip size can be altered, the shaft can be made flexible or stiff, and size of the club head etc .The course cannot be changed of course, but the set up of the course might not be as difficult as that of other athletes in the main stream.

I have discovered that the greenery and the picturesque landscapes of the golf courses makes me feel good and healthy, so do not be surprised to see me swinging the clubs in future. After all Chigorimbo offered me one or two free golf lessons, and since age is not a determining factor, who knows I could be a future golf champion in the making.

Email;[email protected] Choga is a six time National Bodybuilding Champion with international experience. He he is studying for a science degree in Physical Education and Sport.