Posted on Sunday, 22nd August 2010 in Golf Fitness
The Wrong Golf Exercise Program For You
The wrong golf exercise program can end up making a golfer’s game deteriorate rather than improving it. It is therefore very useful to know what makes a complete golf exercise program. A complete golf exercise program will tend to have the following attributes;
Golf specific stretch exercises
Stretch exercises are a very important part of any genuine golf workout program. Stretches help improve the golf swing and correct many common mistakes and weaknesses in this area. They sometime help alleviate or even eliminate nagging back problems in some golfers. Many stretch exercises can be done in the comfort of the office or home.
Golf specific strength training
Strength training is also a key area in any good golf workout program. Strength training usually has a dramatic effect on the quality of the game of any golfer. Dumbbells are usually used and the program for building strength for golf is usually very different from a body building program because the idea here is not to build muscles.
Common player weaknesses
A good golf exercise program should also be able to focus on certain common weaknesses amongst most amateur golfers with the aim of helping to improve and deal with those weaknesses. This at times may involve the use of certain golf aid equipment. However it should be very clear what particular aspects of the game are being developed by what golfing aids.
A complete golf exercise program should help any golfer improve their game dramatically and feel much more confident every time they set foot on the course.
How To Develop Confidence in Your Golf Swing Today
When anyone is developing a new confident golf swing, there needs to be an element of action that is taken to alter and update the golf swing properly and effectively. Something new needs to be done enough times for the unconscious mind to learn it.
The early success philosophers and gurus like Stephen Covey and Napoleon Hill recognized that in order for a new behavior to happen unconsciously and automatically, it needs to be done for 21 consecutive days. So then the new behavior is learned thoroughly by the unconscious mind and your confidence in your golf swing can begin to happen on auto-pilot. So, any confidence with your golf swing needs some conscious effort and repeated application for your new confident golf swing to happen unconsciously.
Now, when you have a new way of doing things, the other, old, unwanted way of doing things doesn’t just wither away instantly. It remains in the bank. If you were confined to a wheelchair, the muscles in your legs would begin to experience atrophy, the same way that when certain parts of your brain are not used, they experience atrophy; this is why it is difficult for us learn languages when we are much older and school kids find it a bit easier; that part of our brain has not been used for a long time.
The old golf swing needs significant time to experience atrophy. Imagine that here and now as you read this, your unconscious mind has carved out a distinct way of you swinging your golf club and this way is well defined by repitition from the past. Every time you step up to perform your golf swing, your unconscious mind carries on down that well trodden pathway that you have always gone down; your golf swing is the same. It is the only way that it knows and is the easiest route to take.
When you create an alternative, confident new golf swing, you are carving out a new pathway that needs to be trodden down and paved well several times, so that your unconscious knows it is there and knows that it can take this route in certain circumstances, events and situations.
Ok. So then with repeatedly taking the new pathway, the old pathway can begin to overgrow and have its own atrophy. However, we all know how easy it is to unearth an old pathway and drift back to our old golf swing; if we allow ourselves to go back along that way, it can begin to get carved out again.
These notions can form the foundation of any program of change. However we are focusing on your golf swing here today and how to develop enhanced confidence with your golf swing.
When I first became involved with the world of hypnosis, NLP and personal development, I read a wonderful book by a man called Dr Maxwell Maltz entitled “Psycho-cybernetics” that formed the basis of many modern ideas as to how we understand personalities. Dr Maltz was a plastic surgeon and he found that if he changed the way people looked, often it changed their personality too. When people looked different, they also felt different. Often people that had lacked confidence, were transformed into more confident, outgoing people who lived life with more zest.
What perplexed Dr Maltz is that some of clients did not seem to get happier. Some, whose appearance had changed a lot, didn’t seem to change their feelings. They still felt lacking in confidence.
So what Dr Maltz concluded was that cosmetic surgery would not benefit the client if they had a poor image of themselves. His solution was to create a visualization technique that helped them to change their inner self-image. He had some wonderful results. So when the clients changed the way they felt about themselves, they became happier and more fulfilled and their confidence grew. You know that when you feel great about your golf swing, your golf swing is better and you are more competent with your golf swing. The technique is simple, here it is;
Firstly, imagine your golf swing as you would ideally like your golf swing to be. Think about how you would look if you were as happy and confident as you wanted to be with your golf swing. How do you walk? What do you wear? What expressions are on your face? How do you move? Take all the time necessary for this, to really get an idea of how you are when you are confident with your golf swing.
Secondly, when you know what you will look like, make a film clip inside your mind, in your imagination of yourself being happy, confident and deeply self-assured with your golf swing.
Thirdly, imagine yourself stepping into that film, imagine seeing through those eyes, hearing through those ears, and feel those confident feelings, think to yourself; how do I know the confident feelings? Where in my body are they? Enjoy feeling and being exactly how you want to be.
Lastly for this exercise, imagine that when you get up tomorrow you awaken as that ideal you, feeling this good and imagine your golf swing going as you want it to and be confident about your golf swing.
Remember what I said at the beginning, you must use this technique over and over in order to get the most from it and really make yourself a confident golf swing.
Look out for part two of this article of getting confident with your golf swing.
A lot of golfers sustain injuries to their spine and elbows that causes them a lot of pain and soreness. Some of these aches are persistent, while other symptoms just seem to disappear by themselves without the need of any further or in some cases no treatment at all. While some golf players, more often than not, suffer recurring symptoms of pain usually at the same body points mentioned above, they search for the cause as well as a cure to these afflictions.
You are not alone, in case you were not aware of the following fact, these aches and pains are commonly suffered by the majority of golfers. A few unlucky players suffer, even though they follow a good exercise and training program. As a golfer, you should familiarize yourself with these common injuries in order to protect your self from sustaining serious and possibly long term and permanent injury.
Common Golf Injuries Explained
Delayed Onset Muscles Soreness (DOMS)
DOMS also known as muscle fever, is a pain and stiffness felt in muscles about 24 to 72 hours after unaccustomed or/and strenuous exercise. It is a symptom of muscle damage caused by rigorous exercise. After such exercise, the muscle adapts rapidly to prevent muscle damage, and thereby DOMS, in repeated bouts. Muscle soreness will occur frequently. DOMS is perceived as a dull, aching pain in the affected muscle, often combined with tenderness and stiffness. The pain is felt only when the muscle is stretched, contracted or put under pressure, but not when it is resting.
Although there is variance among exercises and individuals, DOMS usually increases in intensity in the first 24 hours after exercise and peaks from between 24 to 72 hours, then subsides and disappears after about three to five days after exercise. You may only feel a little sore but still be able to move the body normally. These types of injuries require only 1-2 day recovering without any additional treatment. Over time you will notice that the muscle has become fitter and stronger.
Muscle pain during or immediately after exercise
Muscle pain generally happens when you exercise one particular muscle group continuously. Using one particular muscle group continuously, the body will generate Lactic Acid, which is the chemical reaction within the muscle cells that cause you to feel pain. However, this type of symptom is not actually a deep pain, If you rest it for a while until the muscle gets enough oxygen then the pain should cease. However, you must be careful about the symptoms of pain that may happen to specific areas during or immediately after physical exercise, if you feel sharp or burning pain when moving you should be aware that there might be an injury to that area. Stop exercising/playing immediately and seek urgent medical advice from a competent medical professional.
Cramp
Cramp is a reaction of the muscles that suddenly shrink and stick for very short time, generally 1-5 minutes. Cramps are unpleasant, often painful sensations caused by muscle contraction or over shortening. The common causes of skeletal muscle cramps are muscle fatigue and a sodium imbalance. Smooth muscle cramps may be due to menstruation or gastroenteritis. Skeletal muscles can be voluntarily controlled. Among skeletal muscles, those which cramp the most often are the calves, thighs, and arches of the foot. These cramps are usually associated with strenuous activity and can be intensely painful. Muscle cramps due to fatigue can be treated by stretching and massage. Exertional heat cramps due to electrolyte abnormalities (primarily sodium loss and not calcium, magnesium, and potassium) appropriate fluids and sufficient salt improves symptoms.
(R.I.C.E.) Injury Recovery Method Rest: Do not continue exercising/playing if you are in pain. Ice: Use ice contained in a plastic bag, gently massage the injury for about 3-4 hours Compression: Bind the affected area of pain using a bandage to restrict movement, being careful not to bind too tight and restrict blood flow. Elevation: Raise the affected limbs that ache to improve blood circulation. If you have an arm injury, hang the arm so that the hand is higher than the level of the elbow.
The wrong golf exercise program can end up making a golfer’s game deteriorate rather than improving it. It is therefore very useful to know what makes a complete golf exercise program. A complete golf exercise program will tend to have the following attributes;
