golfrewind.com

Hello guys!
I started working out pretty hard core about 2 years ago. Before I started working out i was around a 6-10 handicap. I have since then gone from being able to bench 185 lbs to 315 lbs. The bad part is that my golf game has suffered big time. I have gotten back to playing reguarly with my regular golfing buddies and they cant believe my golf swing. The guys I used to beat with ease now eat my lunch and they love it. I cant get that big shoulder turn and the club to parrallel in my backswing like I used to! I am not sure what to do. I dont want to stop working out. I feel so stiff when i swing now. I used to have that limber effortless swing. The worst thing that I am doing is rope hooking about every club in my bag! I have always hit a draw, but its definatley now a HOOK! Has anyone experienced anything like this or have any tips or suggestions on how to work out and not feel like a robot over the ball! I have put on a lot of muscle in my chest shoulders and back.

Funny thing, went from being able to drive the ball 300 plus when i could bench 185, now i can bench 300 plus and rope hook my driver in the woods every time!

Thanks for any feedback!

By the way, my signature pic is when I was playing my best 2-3 years ago! :(

Shady1324

People are going to post things like "If you're too muscle-bound, you won't be able to swing." Look at Jason Zuback. He swings 150 MPH and has a bodybuilder's physique.

My backswing is a little shorter since I've become physically stronger, but I've always had my highest swing speeds when I was working out. In college I was benching twice my body weight and dead lifting three times my body weight and that's when my swing speed was the highest.

My scoring was never negatively effected by working out. Try stretching exercises mixed in with your weight training to keep your cartlidge and ligaments flexible.

Take a mild muscle relaxer before a round of golf. I've had to do that a few times, and I've also gotten into the habit of not working out for 48 hours before a round

Add some serious stretching routines to the workouts?

I have to say that last year I lifted weights a lot and it affected my golf swing. I didn't feel as flexible or loose, and I did a lot of stretching along with it. My swing just felt stiffer. I know a lot of PGA players are lifting weights now, but I am not sure what the benefits are. It sure seems to work for them.

A lot of the guys on tour aren't trying to become power lifters though. They train with lighter weight and more reps and incorporate a lot of stretching and flexibility drills into their routines. If you are training hard than the size packs on quick and you lose your flexibility.
Don't know if you knew this but when you work out your muscles tear, then when you recover the muscle rebuilds but loses the original elasticity. This is why many bodybuilders struggle to do anything other than robot like movements. A quick shot of swing lube once or twice every nine holes will keep that swing feeling like liquid as well.. hehe

There is a point you can go beyond to where working out and playing golf do not go together. Johnny Miller blamed the demise of his career on chopping too much wood and gaining too much extra muscle.

Tiger has mastered the balance, just like everything else. I believe David Duval probably crossed that line.

If you want to start playing golf, you should stop working out totally for 30 days. Most people work out way more than they need to. Once a week is plenty for a golfer. It takes at least a week to recover fully from a hard workout. If you work out more frequently, you simply never fully recover.

Rule of thumb...the longer you have been working out, the longer you should take between workouts. You can put out more effort at higher levels of working out, so it takes longer to recover.

Never forget....allow yourself plenty of recovery time. Recovery is when your body pays you the benefits for your effort.

Some of what you mentioned is true but some is also not true. Once per week is not enough if you plan on seeing results. Tiger doesn't look like he does from a once per week workout. I use to be in excellent shape and worked out nearly every day.. I stretched and play sports as well.. so I was in all around good shape. Once per week though is not enough.. period.
Full recovery is really not an issue either. Your body adapts as you train it. If I tried to workout as often as I was 2 years ago than I would wake up soooo sore every morning for a while... but at that time I could workout constantly and never had a problem... like I said, your body adapts. It really is amazing actually. Your body learns to recover quicker and you feed it the nutrients that it needs to do so.

I'd say that it is all false. If you had any idea of the workout regimens that some baseball and football players put themselves through, you'd understand why the human body is capable of enduring far more than what the average golfer could put it through at the gym.

If you look at the number of moving parts in a baseball swing and the amount of flexibility required to hit a moving object that is closing in on you at 95+ mph from 60 feet 6 inches, you'd see that weight lifting won't affect your game all that much. Sure it might affect the PGA tour who has his swing down to a science, but for the average golfer and most posters on this board for that matter, lifting weights isn't going to destroy your golf game

It is possible though. It all depends on the type of workouts one is doing and the frequency. I have a buddy who plays to a 5 handicap but loves to workout and rock climb in the winter. He doesn't get huge but even just those two things combined effect his swing tremendously. At the first of the season he has to stop working out all together so that he doesn't feel like a tight old man trying to swing the club.

And if some of these professional baseball players tried to swing a golf club they would have real flexibility issues. Especially the big hitters. The baseball swing and golf swing are totally different. I played baseball for 12 years. Trust me, some of the guys who are pounding the ball out over the fence in center field are not flexible guys. They just have the power to muscle the ball out there. Most of them would agree that they are not near as flexible as they once were.

Oh, and just so you are aware Mr. Putz: I use to be a competitive short track speed skater and rugby player and volleyball player. Not to mention one of the biggest and strongest guys in my university gym. Each sport offered intense training schedules so I know exactly what the human body is capable of. The only difference between a lot of my workout/training routines and a professional's would be frequency. I have a life to live outside of sport but their lives revolve around their sport because it's their job. If your average Joe had the time and was willing to put the effort in they could go through a training camp with many different professional athletes.

Perhaps from all that working out, you are too used to using your arm muscles.

Try not using your arms for power at all. I would guess your biggest problem is a timing issue and the club head is released way too early from an armsy swing. Maybe get a lesson. You might get it all figured out with an hour or 2 with a pro.

You could stick with your work out routine and still play good golf ( perhaps not professional level ).
(1) you will need to retool your swing, understand that you need not to return the golf club at back swing to parallel; as long as you could set the wrist you'll have plenty of power behind the setting. try 1/2 or 3/4 back swing first to find your new weight shift position.
I don't mean to get a brand new swing, just shorten it to fit your physique. ( ever see Allen Dole on the Champions Tour ?)
(2) you'll need to find the right shaft for your new condition, I'm pretty certain the old clubs are too whippy for you. Get fitted with your new swing set up. A new set of component club will not set you back too far. Start with sponsors on the site to see if you could get a better deal?

Most of all find the control of your new swing on the driving range and try not to over power, you probably don't need to try too hard to hit it far.

I think it depends what you work out too. I remember Tiger saying sometime ago that he doesn't lift his chest that much because it adversely effects his swing. I do pilates to strengthen my core and try to lift my shoulders more then my arms in general. This makes sense to me because these are the areas that tend to be more prone to injury in golf.

EDIT: I should mention that I was in agreement with you when I said "I'd say it is all false", as I was referring to your statement "Some of what you mentioned is true but some is also not true" directed at the previous poster

You must have had some pretty small people at your gym if you were able to be a competitive speed skater and also be one of the largest people at your gym. Every University gym I've trained at has had guys that dwarf me even though I'm 6'2'' 210 pounds. And for the record I wasn't personally attacking you and didn't know that you would be so insecure that you'd actually take it that way.

Yes players were more flexible when they were smaller but if you look at a guy like Dave Wright or Carlos Beltran, they have a ton of power and maintain incredible flexibility. I played highly competitive baseball for 18 years and was arguably the most flexible guy on the team even at 218 pounds. Look at an Olympic athlete, like a 100m sprinter, who is absolutely ripped but maintains incredible flexibility as well. The point I was trying to make is that you can easily maintain your full range of motion if you want to put in the effort of proper stretching.

The average Joe might be able to get through the workout, but wouldn't have anything left in the tank afterwards. The difference is that these guys play 162 games a season while working out. In addition to this you have to consider the pitchers who are large guys and absolutely must maintain full range of motion

Johnny Miller's wood chopping jarred lots of brain tissue.

I can't say I agree with any of the workout advice you listed here. Work out once a week? That is ca ca. I will bet that Tiger works 4 or 5 days per week (when he's not golfing 4 or 5 days a week) with weights and does some sort of cardiovascular activity in addition. Recovery is important, and in that regard I recommend NOT working any particular body part more than twice a week with the exception of forearms or abs.

The two other people I golf with on a regular basis (and me) all work out 5 or 6 days a week, weight training, high intensity (not always high weight). Of the three of us, I'm the worst player at around a 9 handicap. The other two guys are low single digit handicaps. We have no problems at all... one guy is built like Lee Westwood, one like Tiger and I'm a little smaller... like a Villegas but bigger in the chest.