By Matthew Brookes
It is not only the full swing that can be improved by an understanding of ground forces and pressures. They’re facets of utmost importance in the short game as well although should be viewed, and the moves implemented, differently to the long game. In a nutshell, the shorter the shot, the smaller forces and movements we should see.

When amateurs approach me with inconsistent ball striking with their chipping, we head straight to the Swing Catalyst force plate. A lot of the time the issue can be linked to their interaction with the ground and with the Swing Catalyst technology at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, it’s easier than ever to show them what changes need to be made.

The low point of the swing is a big factor and this can be affected by the pressure trace reading. The reading should favour and stay the majority of the time on the lead leg during the shot and have very little lateral movement compared to a full swing.

The pressure trace pattern I see in amateurs who struggle with chipping tend to have too much lateral movement on to the trail and then back onto the lead leg during the shot. Something that can be visually checked is the head movement of the player.That is achieved by drawing a line on the lead side of the head at set up (see below, right) and can be used as a cross reference during the swing. But this is not a 100 percent cure.

Other aspects that are vital to consistent chipping are mobility, stability and strength – all influences that can impact short game ability. A “TPI” (Titleist Performance Institute) physical screen assessment is something I always take my students through as there may be a single leg balance, glute strength or even a disassociation issue between the upper and lower body that may have some influence in the swing characteristics. If you have having issues getting up and down consistently around the greens, consider a visit to DCGYC’s Peter Cowen Golf Academy to add the latest technology to your game improvement ambitions.  You won’t be disappointed.

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Matthew Brookes is a PGA teaching professional and golf specific fitness trainer at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club’s Peter Cowen Academy Dubai.

The post Fatting or thinning your chips? Both? Watch this! appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Scott Graham
Is there a perfect golf swing and if so, can we all swing like that? That’s a moot point but the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) believe there is an efficient way for all golfers to swing. It’s what I would call your “perfect individual swing print” which is based on what you can do physically. This relationship between the body and golf club, known as the “body-swing connection”, is key to an efficient and repeatable swing.

Physical limitations beset most players eventually and can prevent you from achieving your ideal swing patterns. These limitations can be the result of things such as sitting behind a desk five days a week, a lack of physical exercise, a hip/knee replacement or even the result of a broken bone from childhood. Mobility and stability dysfunctions can always be improved through physical training even if this improvement is only slight. Sometimes, however, we need to make swing adjustments to work around these physical limitations.

Tiger Woods is a great example of someone who has changed and adapted his swing over the years because of physical limitations. Tiger’s swing now allows him to play efficiently without pain although his range of motion may not be the same as it once was. He is a perfect example of what happens if swing changes are done correctly; they will ultimately benefit both the longevity and repeatability of the golf swing. In Woods’ case, it helped him to a fifth green jacket.

So the question is how do you know what your physical capabilities are? For a complete picture and best results, a full TPI physical screen is recommended. In the meantime, here are simple exercises that will help analyse two key areas of your body and begin to give some insight into whether the issue surrounding a swing change/s is a physical or technical one.

Based on thousands of physical screens, the TPI identified the most common limitations occur in the “Lead Hip” and “Thoracic Spine.” Try these simple physical tests and then consider the pre and/or in swing modifications outlined to work around any physical limitations without putting additional stress on the body. — With Kent Gray

Scott Graham is a PGA Teaching Professional at The Academy by Troon at The Address Montgomerie Dubai. For help with your game, email academyreception@themontgomerie.ae, call +971 4 363 1209 or visit www.themontgomerie.com

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By Ron Kaspriske
Linebacker Jack Youngblood played in a 1977 NFL playoff game with a broken left leg. Gymnast Kerri Strug tore ligaments in her left ankle but still nailed a vault to give the United States team a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics. And who can forget the bloody sock of Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling in the 2004 baseball playoffs—evidence of a serious ankle injury that, amazingly, didn’t keep him from throwing seven innings and leading his team to victory.

These are all examples of world-class athletes performing extraordinarily despite severe pain and injury. That should give Tiger Woods and his fans encouragement that his latest comeback, after spinal-fusion surgery in April, will be a success. Keep in mind Tiger won the 2008 U.S. Open despite playing with a torn ligament in his left knee. He knows how to get the most out of an impaired body.

Yet, as he prepares to play in the Hero World Challenge, his first tournament in roughly nine months, experts in the fields of sports medicine, exercise physiology and physical therapy wonder if his return to professional golf will be short lived.

“Do people think he can just jump back in and play great? They probably do,” says Golf Digest fitness advisor Ben Shear, who works with several players on the PGA Tour. “But to me, you have to forget about what place he comes in. If he can just get through four rounds of golf healthy, not withdrawing again, that’s a success.”

And even if that is the outcome, which experts Golf Digest spoke all agree is likely, the real concern is how well will his body hold up going forward. A study of the long-term effects of segmental lumbar spinal fusion, published in the Asian Spine Journal in 2016, indicates that he’s setting himself up for further damage if he continues to compete.

The problem won’t be with the discs that were fused together, rather the discs near them. Stress on the adjacent segments of the spine was 7.6 percent higher after the surgery, the study concluded. This is bad because the discs of the lumbar spine—located at the bottom third of the column—aren’t meant to rotate more than 5 to 10 degrees, says Golf Digest fitness advisor Ralph Simpson, a board certified specialist in orthopaedics and a medical advisor to the Titleist Performance Institute. That extra stress could push them past their rotational limits.

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“Stress like that, caused by the way most people make a golf swing, breaks down the discs,” Simpson says. “The segment that was fused obviously can’t rotate much at all, so the ones next to it will have to pick up the slack. And keep in mind these discs are likely to already have degenerative changes from a lifetime of golf.”

Adds Shear: “You can’t swing a golf club at a tour level without rotating your back. So he’s gotta get that movement from somewhere.”

Keyur Khamar
Woods looked fit when serving as an assistant captain at the Presidents Cup in September.

The good news for Tiger is he is hypermobile, especially for a man who will turn 42 in December, the experts agree. Ara Suppiah, team doctor for the U.S. Ryder and Presidents Cup teams, says he spoke with Tiger in September and was impressed with just how strong and fit he looked.

“He’s been doing a lot of cardio and strength training,” Suppiah says. “I know he walks for miles on the beach at his home. The funny thing is he said his feet were killing him at the Presidents Cup, because he hadn’t worn golf shoes in a while. But seriously, I believe his body can absorb the stresses.

“The thing to keep in mind is how much of a competitor Tiger is. When he gets out there, and the younger guys are swinging hard, is that going to want to make him push his body past its limits? Only time will tell.”

Another thing to consider is how multiple back injuries and surgeries, and the long-term arthritic effect on his left knee after the 2008 surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament, might impact the way he swings the club.

While Tiger is historically tight-lipped about what he’s working on with his golf swing—and you won’t get much out of his coach, Chris Como, either—it’s likely that he’ll have to make compensations to squelch pain and reduce the odds of further injury.

“Any time you alter where an athlete is able to create motion, it changes the geometry that the athlete is able to use. In golf, this can result in the rotary component of the golf swing being significantly affected,” says Craig Davies, a manual therapist and longtime trainer on the PGA Tour. “You’ll often see more lifting of the arms as they separate from the torso and a steeper attack angle—or greater lateral movement—as compensations.”

Jon Buckle – EMPICS
Might Woods have to make further swing adjustments to avoid more injury?

Shear, who has developed a program to steer golfers toward a specific swing style based on physical capabilities, says Woods will likely have to generate more clubhead speed with his arms. If he tries to create the type of power needed at the PGA Tour level from body rotation, his comeback might be over pretty fast, Shear says.

“He can try and swing like he used to in the short term,” Shear says. “But long term, that’s going to put his back under so much stress.”

Another thing to consider is how much force he can apply to his left knee, Simpson says.

“Considering the lead knee has as much torsion and load in a golf swing as it does in a running stride, the picture for Tiger being pain free dims,” he says. “It’s going to be difficult for him to finish on a fully loaded lead leg. And if a golfer can’t do that, the usual compensations made in the swing place more burden on the lumbar spine.”

Can Tiger swing hard and not hurt himself again? Can he walk four rounds of golf, in pain or not, and compete with players half his age? Can he do this repeatedly, at least being healthy enough to play in golf’s biggest tournaments? The experts say they’re rooting for him, but it’s hard to ignore what the percentages indicate.

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