| Newsletter: Kings Barns Links
Title: Kings Barns Links/Lower Body Power
Scottish Courses
Kings Barns Links- Scotland's Premier Links Course
Last year I had the
opportunity to play this beautiful course just as it was being prepared
for the "Alfred Dunhill Links Championship" which is one of the biggest
and most popular events on the European tour calendar held every year in
October.
Photos by
permission of Kings Barns Links
What makes this event so
special is that play is conducted over three of the most challenging
links courses in Scotland- Saint Andrews, Carnoustie and Kings Barns.
Photos by permission of Kings Barns
Links
Although Kings Barns may
not be as well known to the overseas visitors as Saint Andrews or
Carnoustie, in my opinion it has a spectacular layout that offers far
more of a golfing challenge.
Coupled with the fact
that every hole you play on this course is breathtakingly beautiful, the
visitor is offered an experience that is more than they could ever
imagine from a links course.
Photos by permission of Kings Barns
Links
Carved out of the rugged
Fife coastline beside the town of Kings Barns from which it takes it's
name, the course has a rich history of golfing origins that date back to
the late 1700s, around the same time as the American Revolution.
Located within 20 minutes
drive south of the town of Saint Andrews, and close to the capital city
of Edinburgh, Kings Barns is a course that has to be included on any
Scottish Golf Holiday Itinerary.
Visit their
web site to find out
more.
Golf Strategy
What to do when you
are 240 yards out….
I believe many mid to
high handicap golfers can reduce their scores by 4 strokes immediately
if they stop and think how they would tackle the above situation that
occurs often during every round of golf…
Faced with this situation
most golfers in this category would reach into the bag and automatically
pull out a three wood without a second thought. Yet, for many this is a
very difficult shot to execute.
Step back and think about
this for a moment. What are your chances of reaching the green with this
club? Not very good, in fact some pros would be satisfied with a 240
yard 3 wood into the green.
At best, you are
realistically looking at 2 shots into the green distance wise.
Now, what are your
chances of a miss hit, or even a wild hit that would result in your
approach shot to the green being executed from the
rough? With a long club off the
turf that is very possible, even for single digit handicap players.
When you stop and weigh
up your percentages with this shot, you begin to realize that you have
very little chance of making the distance with the club and a high
chance of the shot going off line.
I always stress that the
most important shot on every hole is the approach shot into the green.
If you are not in strong position to execute this shot well, such as
from the fairway or light rough, this can be the cause of a cascade of
wasted strokes on the hole.
With this in mind take
another look at the 240 yards problem and figure on a strategy that is
going to guarantee a favorable result of getting on the green in two…
1)
155 yard 6/5 iron followed by a 85 yard
wedge.
2)
165 yard 5/4 iron followed by a 75 yard
wedge.
3)
175 yard chocked down 5/7 wood followed
by a 65 yard wedge.
Each of the above
situations has a much greater certainty of landing safely on the green
in two, especially since the approach shots are within easy range of a wedge, and are more likely to be executed from the
fairway since you will have better control over the accuracy of your first shot.
As I have said many times
before, once you are safely on the green you give yourself every chance of
sinking a single put with your next shot. Missing the green because of
the difficulty of the approach shot raises the
likely hood of
wasted strokes considerably.
So, faced with this
situation, think wisely before reaching into the bag for that 3 wood,
even though your ego in telling you otherwise...
Swing Consistency
Choking Down a Fairway
Wood for improved Accuracy and Consistency
The single biggest cause
of a miss hit fairway wood is a “skulled” shot, usually because the ball
is played too far forward towards the front foot.
For this same reason, the
other common outcome from a fairway wood is a shot that starts slightly
left of center and then slices to the right usually into the rough.
Knowing this, the player
usually compensates for the event by aiming further
left, causing a larger slice to the right.
The correction for both
problems is to position the ball more towards the center of the stance.
Unfortunately, this can create a another problem because this move
requires “faster” hands to properly execute the shot. If the hands are
lagging at impact a push to the right is the usual outcome.
The way you overcome the
lagging hand problem is by choking down on the grip as if you were
holding a 4 iron in your hands. Doing so will take some distance off the
shot, but it will result in much better accuracy control and more than
likely still place your fairway wood distance beyond that of a 3 iron.
Swing Power
How to maximize the
energy in your lower body to increase your golf swing speed and add more distance
The power you can
generate in your golf swing is largely governed by the connection your feet
have to the ground. If you have a hard time believing this, try swinging
your driver while standing on icy ground or in even in your bare feet!
Before getting into
specific techniques you can apply to your lower body, I like to fall
back and review the “physics” behind the motion to help you understand
how energy is created in that region.
Golf Physics and
Energy Stored in the Backswing
The swing speed you can
produce with your swing is a function of how much energy you can store
on your back swing which is governed by the following equation:
Energy = Torque x Angle of rotation
Swing energy is simply a
function of two factors:
- The angle through
which you can rotate the backswing.
- The “torque” you can
generate during the turn.
If we break down the
requirements for torque a little further, it is a function of two
additional factors:
- The combined “force”
of all the muscles involved in the back swing.
- The “radius of
rotation” around which the whole swing is moving on the backswing.
Summing this up we can
state the total energy stored in the backswing depends on three
things:
1)
The Angle of rotation of the
backswing.
2)
The Total Muscle Force
contribution to the backswing.
3)
The Radius of Rotation of the
back swing.
All three of these
factors are linked with each other and can impact the other depending on
how far each is pushed.
For example, the common
perception for adding more distance to your swing is to rotate more on
your backswing.
That is only true if you
are able to maintain the contribution of all your golf swing muscles
during the backswing by avoiding a point where “mechanical” break down
occurs in the swing.
That is a point at which
a muscle group decides to “opt out” of the swing force contribution
because the tension on the backswing becomes too great to hold their
position.
As soon as that occurs,
torque is lost at the expense of increased angle of rotation and the
golfer actually ends up loosing energy in the backswing.
The trick for maximizing
the energy you create in your swing is to discover the “compromised”
swing settings where you can “optimize” the contribution from each
factor.
There are several areas
in the body that contribute energy to the swing, none more so than the
lower body.
Lower Body Energy
Most big hitters will
tell you that they generate most of their power from their legs.
When looking at the total
energy that can be generated in the lower body we need to examine the
three factors that govern energy creation to understand how to optimize
each and how each impacts the other:
1) Angle of Hip
Rotation
The greater the angle you
can rotate the hips, the more energy you can store in your lower body.
This depends on four things:
- Flexibility of
your leg and hip muscles which can be increased by regular
stretching exercises of the hips and leg muscles.
- Flexibility of
your lower body stance position which can be improved by
“flexing” your knees and keeping them that way during the backswing.
- The distance that
your feet are spread apart in the stance position. The less
distance between your feet, the more flexibility in the hip turn.
- The angle you
position your leading foot towards the target (left foot for
right-handers). The more you position your left foot in a “square”
position in the stance rather than pointing 45º towards the target,
the more you can rotate your hips.
2) Total Muscle Force
of the lower body
The more total lower body
muscles that are used in the turn, the force generated in the
turn. That depends on three things:
- Physical strength
of your leg muscles which is improved through regular
strengthening exercises.
- Ensuring that
both legs are contributing power in the turn by keeping both
feet in full contact with the ground at all times. That means no
lifting of the left heal from the ground during the backswing.
- Good shoes that
have adequate inserts that will avoid any foot slippage with the
ground that would result in a loss of torque.
The reason why many
golfers lift the left heal during the backswing is because the tension
in that region becomes too great to hold the position. When the heal is
lifted, most of the muscles in the left leg “opt out” of the total
muscle force contribution for the back swing because there is little
ground contact around which to generate much torque in that leg.
If you observe the modern
swing, very few tour players lift their leading heal during the
backswing for this reason.
3) Radius of Rotation
of the lower body
Increasing the radius of
rotation of the lower body increases the torque produced by the legs.
That can only be achieved by increasing the distance between your
feet in the stance.
When power is needed for
a shot such as a drive, you will often observe the pros adopting a wider
stance than with other shots in order to generate as much lower body
torque as possible.
Optimizing Lower Body
Energy
Trying to put these
techniques into practice is not easy. You have to find a balance between
the three factors of angle of hip turn, muscle contribution and radius
of rotation in order to optimize the lower body energy you can create by
making certain compromises:
- By keeping the left
heal on the ground, you restrict the hip turn angle.
- By increasing the
distance between your feet, you make it more difficult to keep the
left heal on the ground and you also restrict the angle of the hip
turn.
- When you restrict
your hip turn, you also restrict your top body turn.
At first glance, as you
are trying to decide on how and where to adjust your technique, you
might be thinking why would I need to keep my left heal on the ground
since that seems to restrict the rotation of the backswing. Do not jump
to this conclusion right away.
Here is what you have to
remember:
- Swing Power is
generated through your feet. The less contact you have with the
ground, the less power can be produced.
- Power is not only
generated by angle of rotation alone – there are two other factors
that also contribute to the energy picture as I have shown that are
equally important.
- Whenever you lift
that left heal you also impact the balance of the swing by
encouraging backward lateral movement of the swing making the timing
of the swing more complex on the downswing.
These reasons alone make
a stable left heal your top priority for improving lower body energy.
Recommended
Adjustments
Here is the sequence in
which to make adjustments to your lower body technique:
- Keep the left foot
on the ground at all times since that is the only way to guarantee
maximum power generation.
- Make adjustments to
the distance between your feet to create as much leg torque as feels
comfortable – do this only on shots where you need added power. I do
not recommend this move on mid to short iron play where accuracy is your
primary concern.
- Adjust the angle of
your left foot to more of a square position in the stance to
increase your hip rotation angle.
- Adjust the flex in
your knees to promote more hip turn angle.
- Finally, a simple
routine of daily hip and leg stretching exercises to increase muscle
flexibility can result in 5 º – 10 º increased hip turn in as little
as three weeks.
Golf Fitness
Golf Fitness for
Hips and Legs
Here are a few simple
stretching routines that you can incorporate into your daily program
that will help increase your hip flexibility and hip rotation angle:
1. Lie on your back and
pull your right knee towards your chest and hold it with your right
hand. Now reach down with your left hand and grab your foot. Slowly pull
the foot up towards you so that you are creating a rotating stretch of
the hip.
Hold the position for 60
seconds then change to the other leg.
2. Get yourself into the position shown below resting on your left knee.
Simply press your weight forward over the right knee until you feel the
stretch in the left thigh. Try to keep your trunk upright as much as
possible.
Hold the position for 60 seconds then change to the other leg.
3. This next stretch is a gentle ham string stretch
using a chair.
Extend your left leg on the chair and simply drop
your trunk forward until you feel the tension.
Hold the position for 60
seconds then change to the other leg.
4. If you aim to keep the left foot anchored to the
ground throughout the swing, improving the flexibility of your calf
muscles is a great help for achieving this.
Extend your right foot back keeping the sole of the
foot on the ground at all times. Now push against the heel of the foot
by extending the right leg.
Hold the position for 60
seconds then change to the other leg.
5. Strengthening the Legs for added muscle power
I find no other leg strengthening exercise more
beneficial than a simple squat using dumb bells as resistance.
Always keep your back straight and look directly
ahead when performing this exercise. As you go down, try not to go
beyond 90º
between your thighs and calves so as not to overstress your knees.
If you find this exercise a little difficult, start
off by doing a squat without weights and just hold the down position for
a count of 5 seconds before coming up.
Golf
Book Review
Mike Pederson's
"Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide"
The modern game is being driven by three
areas:
- Technique
- Technology
- Fitness
Fitness has never been linked with golf
performance until more recently. With the exception of Gary Player and a
small handful of others, golfers on the tour would never have been
considered athletes less than 10 years ago.
That has all changed today. Almost every
top tour player has a strict fitness regime to help them compete at the
highest level. Not only does that give them an edge with
performance, it also gives them longevity - evidence by players such as
Fred Funk who is just as competitive on the PGA tour even though he also
plays the Champions tour.
Mike Pederson is one of the top golf
fitness instructors around and his book outlines comprehensive fitness
programs for both the beginner and advanced golfer.
Take a look at his website and benefit from
his programs that are based on fitness instruction that has come from
his many years as a top class athlete in track and field.
Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Know that I
am just a click away if you need help.
"Keep your head down and swing sweetly"
All the best,
Les
"Breaking the Distance Barrier"
Newsletter Archives:
St Andrews
Machrihanish
Kings Barns
 Stumble It! |
