Author: Scott Shepard

Junior Golf Training With Scott Shepard

Junior golfers Sierra and Dree working with bands

On any given weekend you can easily find several junior golf tournaments in areas throughout the country. For many juniors, the tournaments are a way to exhibit their skill level with the hope of impressing collegiate coaches and scouts. When I ask my junior clients what their golfing goals are, they almost always mention playing college golf and then hopefully becoming a professional golfer. Research has shown that becoming a college or professional golfer is very rare and the odds are not in favor of the individual.

In order to maximize their chances, these juniors are seeking out instruction from swing coaches, short game specialists, equipment fitting specialists, sports psychologists and golf-fitness coaches.   Top junior golfers understand that they must physically prepare themselves for the next level in order to be competitive. College golfers are expected to workout 4-5 days per week with the colleges’ strength coach (usually the same guy that trains football players). If the golfer has no workout experience before getting into college, they may struggle with golf performance due to rapid changes that will occur to their body as they are now training frequently. For this and many other reasons, we are seeing a large number of junior golfers hitting the gyms.

When young children begin working out there are usually a lot of questions and concerns related to strength training. Parents are concerned that working out may cause injury or affect growth patterns.   Usually this will never occur as long as the junior is working with a well educated, certified, responsible trainer (look for the one that is not having people flip tires or use sledgehammers). I have clients that range in age from 8-80 and I believe that all age ranges are susceptible for injury while working out if the client or trainer is not aware of good mechanics and proper exercise progressions. Age is not the issue.

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p style=”text-align: center;”> When I begin working with a junior golfer, I first look for good mechanics with basic movements such as squats, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups, and core/rotational drills. I train the clients progressively in this order, first clean-up movements, second build-up strength/stability, and third speed-up movements. For example if I have a junior client that cannot perform one good push-up, I will not have them attempting other explosive pushing drills. Seems logical, but you will see trainers doing all kinds of illogical moves with their clients in the name of intensity and mental toughness training. As a Physical Therapist I recommend that juniors never sacrifice form, because if they do then the only thing they are increasing is chance for injury. This is the difference between working out for an apparent change versus a lasting change as stated by famous sports trainer, Al Vermeil. [caption id="attachment_1691" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Junior golfers Sierra and Dree working with bands"][/caption] I also use some specific equipment that is excellent for juniors. One piece of equipment that I use with every junior client is a special type of resistance band called S5 bands (S5bands.com). These are thin, highly elastic exercise bands that can be used to provide resistance training for movements in any direction. Makes sense for golfers because movement occurs in all three planes of motion (lateral, forward/back, and rotational). The resistance level can be modified depending on how much stretch load they are subjected to and which level of band they are using. I use them for golf-specific movements in order to reinforce movement patterns.    These products can be used anywhere so the clients can bring them on the range to warm-up the muscles as well. I cannot think of a better training tool for athletes and if you have never used them, I recommend giving them a try. You will be shocked at the level of intensity they can produce. The bands I use are currently being used by top professional golfers including Trevor Immelman, Suzann Peterson, and my top LPGA player, 2006 LPGA rookie of the year, Seon Hwa Lee. The photos you see are of two of my top junior female golfers, Sierra and Dree working on the bands. I really enjoy using these with juniors due to the endless number of drills that can be performed. This helps to keep the client interested in the workouts and constantly challenged with exercise progressions. For the junior golfer, it is very important to begin working out and build that routine into their lives’. It will help not only their golf game, but their overall health and well being. Thanks for reading, good luck with your golf and fitness, and let me know if you need any help! Scott Shepard MSPT, CSCS, TPI Scott Shepard is based in Central Florida and has an office in Lake Mary, FL. For more information on Scott and his golf specific fitness and injury rehabilitation programs please visit www.planeperformance.com or contact him at 407-222-7489. Check out Scott’s other great articles here: A New Model of Learning Golf Foam - That's How I Roll
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February 3, 2010
A New Model of Learning Golf

Without a doubt, golf and fitness have been inextricably connected. The benefits of working out specifically for golf have been highlighted time and again by the top professional golfers in the world. While there are many different types of golf swing philosophies, there is still a common basic level of physical ability necessary to perform the full golf swing. Amateur and recreational golfers now understand the simple fact that physical limitations such as poor flexibility and a weak core can affect their ability to perform an efficient, consistent golf swing no matter which swing model they are learning. I recently became more aware of this reality when I got a new middle aged client that had NEVER played golf before and wanted to learn. Realizing how important his body was to playing the game, he signed up for 6 weeks of golf fitness training with me at the same time as he signed up for 6 weeks of golf swing lessons from a PGA professional teacher.

In light of these connections, golfers must find a way to analyze themselves from both a physical and technical standpoint. One way to do this is to participate in a golf fitness screen. While many different medical and fitness professionals are selling their own golf specific screens, there is no doubt in my mind that the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) has created the current gold standard screen. I have used this screen hundreds of times and I know that when I am completed with the TPI physical tests I will have all the information I need to develop a corrective exercise program for the golfer. The screens will assess all the key movements and muscles used in the swing as well as looking at an individual’s posture, balance, power, and patterns of movement. After assessing these areas, the TPI fitness professional will then prescribe exercises and stretches designed to correct the physical limitations. Some of these exercises will be available through an online program that has video descriptions and pictures of the exercises that are all downloadable for printing or to an IPOD or other media device for portability. Other exercises may be provided by your TPI trainer based on their own experiences with golfers. In many cases they may be even more specific because the trainer has spent time learning from your local golf swing teaching professional and is aware of the necessary physical requirements of that teachers swing philosophy.

Once you have begun correcting your physical limitations, you will then return to your PGA professional and learn how to integrate your new abilities into the golf swing. At this point, you are now ready to move on even further with your golf fitness trainer because you will inevitably continue seeking improvements in your game, especially in the areas of increasing power and distance off the tee.

As you can see, I am describing a progressive pattern of training that is based on achieving basic levels of movement with your TPI program and then moving on to more sport specific power fitness training all the while as you are advancing your swing efficiency by working with your PGA teaching professional. In my opinion, this is the new model way of learning and improving in the game of golf. Obviously, there are other very important factors in the game including equipment analysis, mental training, and medical care specific to physical injuries that may limit ability in golf. But initially the only requirement is to have an expert that can help you understand how to swing the club correctly and an expert that can help you understand how to move and train your body to achieve those key swing positions.

Sounds easy enough, but really all we can do as teaching professionals is create the “right environment” for potential success; you the student are in control of the outcome of success or failure. So if you really want to get better at golf, I believe you should seek out these professionals and get to work on your physical and technical abilities. The game is just easier to learn when you get the right information and motivation. Good luck on your journey, and be tenacious in your pursuit of perfection! In Health, Scott Shepard, MSPT CSCS TPI Scott Shepard is based in Central Florida and has an office in Lake Mary, FL. For more information on Scott and his golf specific fitness and injury rehabilitation programs please visit www.planeperformance.com or contact him at 407-222-7489. < p style="text-align: center;">Check out Scott's other great articles! Foam - Thats How I Roll - Golf specific Mobility

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November 24, 2009
“Foam, that’s how I roll” – Golf Specific Mobility

Hello! My name is Scott Shepard and I am a trainer and physical therapist for golfers. I have been working specifically with golfers for the past 5 years of my practice including top players from the LPGA, Junior Golf, Nationwide Tour, Hooters Tour, and other competitive and recreational golfers. In light of the recent explosion of golf specific fitness, I would like to comment on my personal beliefs on training golfers.

Golf, like all sports, requires a certain amount of physical skill to allow for optimum performance. Golf, unlike many sports, can be played and enjoyed for a lifetime. With that being stated, I feel that training golfers is similar to training other sports in the sense that your workouts need to focus on increasing overall muscular flexibility/joint mobility, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, core stability, balance, and explosive power capability.

However, golf training is unique in the sense that we have to focus more on long term health than we do on short term gains. Let’s face it, football players only play into their late 30’s/early 40’s if they are lucky or cheating or Brett Favre. Obviously, the physical contact of the sport is the main factor for this body breakdown, however many of the physical training methods add to this deterioration.

Recently, top athletic training centers have recognized this and are focusing on spending more time working on recovery methods and mobilization exercises that actually allow the body to heal after intense workouts and prolonged sports practice. Basically it’s working out in a way that allows you to play and practice longer and with less chance of injury. I believe strongly in this recovery training and I make sure that all of my clients are incorporating these methods into their program.

The concept goes far beyond the few minutes of stretches you usually do after your workouts. In order to really improve mobility you have to stretch the soft tissues (muscles, tendons) but you also have breakdown any adhesions in these structures. Adhesions occur when you have prolonged stress to structures. Most people have these “knots” somewhere in their body, usually around the shoulders and neck region. Whether you play golf, football, or work in a factory, your body does not respond well to any prolonged stressful positions. Some methods to reduce these adhesions include using foam rollers, massage sticks, pressure relief tools, and having professional manual therapy treatments.

An easy way to get started is to use a foam roller which is a dense Styrofoam roll that provides deep self massage to muscles when you roll your body over the foam. Initially it can be quite painful, but as you work on it over time your muscles really loosen up and you are able to relax further. This can actually help break up those adhesed areas and allow you to get more out of your stretching routine. Check the photos of one of my clients working his middle back and lateral hip muscles. Foam rollers are becoming more available locally, but I buy mine from PerformBetter.com, they have everything for fitness.

I have always liked the quote that states, “would you rather train for an apparent change or a lasting change”. Only by addressing the imbalances and stressors present in the body can we truly allow for lasting change to occur. So if we can spend some time getting to know our foam rollers it will help us all to continue playing this game at a high level throughout the “golf span”, which by the way is much more important than the “life span”.

In Health,
Scott Shepard MSPT, CSCS, TPI

Scott Shepard is based in Central Florida and has an office in Lake Mary, FL. For more information on Scott and his golf specific fitness and injury rehabilitation programs please visit www.planeperformance.com or contact him at 407-222-7489.

September 8, 2009