Two weeks ago, before the golf world was hijacked by the rollback and Rahm, I wrote about basic weight training. Weight training is something all golfers should be doing for their golf but also for their general health. As we age, we lose muscle. The good news is we can always add muscle no matter our age. Maintaining or gaining muscle mass as we age adds to overall quality of life.
Weight training is also a key component to regaining lost distance. Strength is 50% of creating club head speed. Force, or power, is the other 50%. In general terms, force is the explosiveness or speed strength can be delivered.
Why do you need to train for strength and speed?
Muscle is made up of two different fibers: slow twitch and fast twitch. Slow twitch is big and bulky. Fast twitch is lean. Everyone has both, but everyone also has different percentages of both. Some have more slow twitch muscle fiber; some have more fast twitch muscle fiber.
But there’s good news and bad news.
As I said earlier, we can always add muscle no matter our age. That’s the good news. The bad news is we lose fast twitch muscle fiber as we age and cannot regain it. We can only add slow twitch muscle fiber. For example, look at sprinters versus powerlifters. Sprinters, no matter how hard they train, are usually done in their early thirties. Powerlifters can remain competitive until around 50 years of age in some cases. A gentleman in the gym where I train clients set a US record a few years ago on the bench press at age 82 at 209.5 pounds.
Why speed train if I can’t regain fast twitch muscle?
You can always train the fast twitch muscle you do have to move faster. While more focus should be spent on strength training with older golfers, you should still add some speed training to the mix.
Here are some ways to speed train.
Practice swinging fast. How do you expect to swing faster if you never practice swinging fast? This is low hanging fruit. It is the simplest and easiest way to gain speed. Sprinters practice running fast to run faster, and you should practice swinging fast to swing faster. Each swing should be made with maximum effort. Intent is as important as the actual speed you are swinging. Every golfer can add 5 mph to their swing speed, which equates to 10-15 extra yards, just by practicing swinging fast. It’s a good idea to hit balls when doing this, but swinging fast without the ball is beneficial. As your max effort speed increases, your normal, or cruising speed, increases as well. You can also purchase speed training clubs such as Super Speed or The Stack. I would recommend having feedback speed you are s by using a PRGR which is a great, affordable and portable radar device. Another side benefit to swinging as fast as you can; sequencing in the swing tends to improve as your body starts responding to the task.
Jump. Jumping creates explosiveness in your legs. Pogos, skaters and squat jumps are great places to start. Once these become comfortable, you can add other jumps into the equation such as: box jumps, jumping lunges and drop jumps.
Lift, push and pull lighter weight fast. For instance, arm curls with a light weight with a quick, explosive curl up and slow, controlled down for each rep. Fast up, slow down. Performing fast movements gets the fast twitch muscle engaged.
I want to emphasize it is very important to be properly warmed up before doing any exercise whether it is strength or speed training. A warm-up should take 10-15 minutes. If you experience pain, stop immediately.
These are three basic concepts for speed training. I recommend finding a TPI certified instructor near you by going to mytpi.com to get a physical assessment done in order to create a training regimen designed for you.
Feel free to leave a comment, suggestion or reach out for help. That’s why I’m here.
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As always, be grateful when you play. Be humble and thankful when you get to play this amazing game. Now, go golf!