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Introduction to Complete Conditioning for Golf
Golf is a great game enjoyed by more than 25 million Americans.
You are undoubtedly one of that number, and whether you're a tournament
player or novice, you certainly want to perform as well as you can. You
also want to avoid injuries and physical setbacks that can easily detract
from your golf experiences. The purpose of this book is to present a sensible
and personal physical conditioning program that will enhance your playing
ability and reduce your injury risk. As you will see, these desirable
outcomes are two sides of the conditioning coin, and the same training
program that increases your driving power also decreases your injury potential.
The golf swing is a complex, explosive, and physically
stressful action, and you must prepare your body to both produce and withstand
the forces required for powerful drives. You can improve several important
aspects of your swing through functional fitness training that should
significantly increase your driving distance.
1. You can increase your club swing range by improving
your joint flexibility.
2. You can increase your club swing speed by developing
your muscle strength.
3. You can increase your club swing power by training your
dynamic postural balance and segmental coordination.
Improving your golf game through better physical fitness
is what this book is all about. Of course, this includes cardiovascular
activity and appropriate nutrition. Our primary focus, however, is on
safe, sensible, effective and efficient exercise programs designed specifically
for golfers. These progressive fitness components include flexibility
for full swing mechanics; strength for maximum distance and control; postural
stability for a consistent swing plane; coordination for power transfer
and skill execution; and the complete golf conditioning program.
Because we want you to fully understand the fitness essentials
for optimum golf and how to evaluate your personal fitness strengths and
weaknesses relevant to golf performance, we devote the first two chapters
to these topics. After following the suggested exercise programs and developing
a functional level of golf fitness, you will find it relatively easy to
maintain your new physical abilities. For this reason, we conclude the
book with our 15-minute golf fitness workout, which enables you to train
productively even when time is limited.
We believe that the first step for improving your golf
game and avoiding physical setbacks is a sound general exercise program
that increases your overall fitness. The second step is more targeted
training that includes specific stretching, strengthening, and sequencing
exercises to enhance your power production and elevate your playing ability
to higher performance levels. This book presents well-tested programs
of basic exercise and sport-specific training known as the PAC (Progressive
Adaptive Conditioning) Total Golf system which can increase your driving
distance, injury resistance, and playing enjoyment.
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