Fitness Friday: Train For Speed

Fitness Friday: Train For Speed

A trip to a club fitting at PXG Detroit yesterday showed that in the several years since I last was fitted, my swing speed has declined by 6 percentage points. That’s not entirely unexpected: I’m older and at this stage still coming off the Michigan winter layover. I’m not feeling at all flexible at this point. Spring weather here in Michigan has not been favorable.

I am not, however, about to take this lying down.

First, I will double down on the routines I learned while working with Skip Bunton at Body Specs. I’ve found they’re perfect for reducing back pain that can inhibit my swing. His stretches also are designed to improve golf flexibility.

Second, I found a video that has some ideas top train for speed that I can easily incorporate.

Among the suggestions in the video:

• One armed row, using a hip turn to pull the dumbbell up
• Standing dumbbell press from flexed knees, using the ground to drive up and fire the glutes through the movement.
• Pullover on the floor, making sure the back remains flat, engaging the midsection
• Vertical chest press on the back with a medicine ball, loading and exploding to push the ball into the air
• Squats, concentrating, not on heavy weights, but on explosiveness.

The goal here is working on loading, exploding and stability.

I am already doing versions of several of these. For example, my bent-over dumbbell rows have been of the two-armed, centered sort; changing that to a one-armed row with some hip turn is the apotheosis of low-hanging fruit. Make a small change for big results.

That also seems in keeping with Skip Bunton’s thoughts on engaging the entire body with off-center positions. On his advice, I now do several of my kettlebell routines with my feet split. I definitely feel more core engagement with that small change.

I initially started working with weights to help with my lower back pain; now my focus is just as much on improving my golf game.