Golf

Performance

Physiotherapy

Jonathan Rebanks

BHSC Hons Physiotherapy MCSP HCPC

Email: swingthroughmovement@gmail.com

Contact number: 07947 435914

Swing Through Movement

‘We don’t believe there is one way to swing a club; we believe there are an infinite number of ways to swing a club.

But we do believe there is one efficient way for everyone to swing a club and it is based on what they can physically do.’

Titleist Performance Institute

Physiotherapy Directed Golf Screen

The physiotherapy directed golf screen is the physical description of the current capabilities and constraints of the individual player. This screen will highlight the particular requirements of physical development for each singular player in order for the swing to be executed optimally.

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The Swing Through Movement Approach.

The golf swing, like most repeated actions of precision, is a combination of sequenced movement. To be most effective it requires optimal movement range, quality, coordination, timing, sequencing, power, mobility, balance, control, deceleration and sensory perception of the bodies physical systems. These components produce fluid, stable, strong, dextrous and accurate motion.

Just as the swing technique requires learning, understanding and repetition to improve and become more automatic, so too do the physical movement systems. The corrective technique programming and patterning of the swing will only be optimally achieved and developed if the necessary physical improvements are acquired.

Don’t try and make technique changes that can’t be physically achieved. Movement and physical capability developments will enable more effective transfer of practical and technical changes into the swing.

The physical assessment screen and the swing assessment aims are identical. Both aspire to identify any existing restrictions and constraints within the systems of sensory perception, action and outcome.

This specific data is then used to devise an individualized program of corrections that will lead to the necessary bodily modifications and adaptations. Thus enabling the increase in physical capability to incorporate the swing progressions.

As singular components, both the technique and physical corrections will produce positive outcomes, but combined they will yield optimal benefits.

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Any physical restrictions to practical movement can hinder and inhibit performance and results. They can confine the ranges of motion available at the joints, create soft tissue imbalances and over time even cause injuries. All of which can prohibit any players performance and impede potential gains in shot success.

This translates as loss of ball striking efficiency, distance, accuracy and control. As these blocks to movement continue within the body’s systems they accumulate further limitations as sustained and repeated loading equates to greater deterioration and possible damage.

In attempting to develop the swing abilities that produce better scores often there is insufficient consideration of the players physical abilities or underlying movement dysfunctions. This important information will have a significant influence over the progress that is available to a player. Correcting these limitations can be a critical factor in unlocking the constraints that are interfering with the effectiveness of shots as well as protecting them from further deterioration and injury potential.

In order to successfully improve the whole golf swing it makes sense to address any body motion limitations as well as the skill acquisition and improvement. This way the movement equipment can be optimised to enable enhanced sequencing and timing of incorporated movement. This then translates into practical improvements of the stroke quality.

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Swing Through Movement:The Pitch

Golf Specific Movement Screen:

The purpose is to determine the current physical capability that produces current movement capability. During this it will become evident that certain restrictions and deficiencies are present. These could include limitations such as stiffness, tightness, weakness, reduced control, reduced stability or the awareness of any these constraints.

Precision Based Corrections:

Through a variety of bespoke exercises, individual motion training and conditioning the body adapts and responds to reduce, minimize and potentially eliminate the deficits and limitations. This provides the practical transition of these learned and enhanced habits and skills into the unconscious natural flow of full body motion.

Application Into Individual Swing:

The personal data acquired from the screen, alongside the unique corrections and developments of the movement and motion systems, are immediately and specifically applied to the individuals swing. The primary aims of this information and physical progressions are to make the swing more effective, efficient and controlled. Thereby producing increased on course results.

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Injury/Deterioration Prevention:

Whereas constraints within the bodies movement processes and systems can reduce performance they can also increase risk of injury. Due to the complexity of the combined, 3 dimensional

elements of movements that occur at high speed the loading and force transfer impact on the structures is significant. If these aren't controlled optimally then injury can ensue.

Swing Programming Without Shot Practice.

What we improve without using a club can directly improve how effectively we use a club.

It is well documented that practice is an essential part of any improvement. Golf is no different and all players recognise the importance of practicing the stroke. However there is also the concept of making improvements away from practicing golf itself. This approach is the hybrid integration of movement optimisation for swing technique progress.

Is an essential part of swing development, practicing without swinging a club at a ball?

Practicing the bio-mechanical requirements of the swing movement in sequence, away from play and shot practice, can be the differentiating factor in producing the body movement development, necessary to make stroke technique improvements.

In practicing the full body movement components that combine to produce the swing, without performing the full swing, we can reduce and eliminate the restrictive impact of any physical constraints.

What we do away from the course, practice green or driving range, in physical development can then be automatically transferred into each players game.

What is golf movement practice?

It is being consciously aware of your movement through physical feedback loops.
It is aiming to gain exploration, evolution and adaptation within the swing.
It is recognising constraints and applying micro-corrections.
It is working on your swing mechanisms for golf movement programming.
It is about quality and quantity.
It is expanding variability within the swing repertoire. No one way that fits all.
It is what you do away from the game that produces maximal returns within the game.

What is it not?

It is not just ‘stretching’ before a game to ‘loosen up’.
It is not just endless repetitive shots or strokes of indiscriminate repetition.
It is not just routine performance of the movements you can already effectively execute.
It is not the rigid attempt to duplicate the exact same swing movement each time.
It is not practicing within established comfort zones or ignoring ‘annoying’ constraints.
It is not hyper focussing on the result and neglecting the process.
It is not guessing at what physical improvements are necessary.

How can practice be optimised?

When considering the two elements of practice and play, usually the thinking goes, that which is repetitively performed on the driving range or putting green, is then repeated during on course play. The old adage of practice makes perfect suggests the more hours spent practicing the swing on or in similar surroundings to the golf course the better the future competitive rounds.

This reasoning was further popularised by the 10,000 hour rule by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers: the story of success. The summarised principle of the books message is that to gain expertise in any given skill requires the requisite 10,000 hours of practice. With results being varyingly dependent on the quality of practice.

But how well we practice is just as important as frequency and repetition. When we solely analyse practice we encounter a unique question in what constitutes effective practice and the efficient use of time within practice.

Practice is pathways. The more we repeat something the more our natural neurological pathways develop and their efficacy is enhanced. This is how automaticity occurs. We want the conscious capability practice away from the course to transfer to unconscious competence on the course. What is corrected and optimised from a movement perspective will allow greater motion quality, variability and control within the stroke.

In this consideration we analyse the quality and action of the swing motion without the result of the stroke. Put simply it is working on the biomechanics of the required body movement systems to enable the most efficient and effective swing. Working on the process - coordinated movement - that will deliver the outcome - the on course shot.

When it comes to learning through practice, be it the golf swing or human movement, how often you do something is more meaningful than how long you do it. Frequency and regularity of practice delivers more success than duration of practice sessions. Therefore what we do on those days we don’t play golf, to improve our movement competency, can directly improve our golf.

Going back to the 10,000 hours theory it is therefore essential within those hours that we aim to target limitations and restrictions to progress. Repeated and attempted swing correction on restricted movements systems simply produces constraint influenced results.

For practice to be most effective requires regular, constant and consistent re-assessment, evaluation, refinement and adaptation. This way the physical limitations within the mechanical swing can be altered and modified, alongside technical developments to produce upgraded results.

‘Adaptability is the essence of evolution.’ Erwan Le Corre.

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Swing Through Movement: Putting It Into Action

The golf swing is a combination of the bodies integrated movement systems incorporated, in series, to produce full body flowing motion. In order to generate power and motion to produce the swing requires the use and control of kinetic forces. These forces, gravity, momentum, body weight and ground force reaction, enable the player to create and use energy that translates into club head power, speed and accuracy.

The backswing sees the beginning of energy and force production through the tensioning of the soft tissue as the trunk hip and shoulder rotate. This coiling of the tissue generates some lengthening tension within the tissue. From here the force is released and added to through counter rotation, during the downswing, in order to propel the club head towards the target of the ball. This combined release of tension and active contraction of opposing soft tissues is achieved through the integrated and interlinked 3 dimensional full body motion.

At contact point these generated energies and forces are transmitted to the ball as the club head follows through and the player must decelerate and control the forces through the follow through. This crucial stage of the swing is a determining factor in the quality of downswing and ball contact quality for accuracy and range. Therefore if there is stiffness, tightness, restriction or resistance through these human mechanical movements the swing quality and efficacy will be diminished. Often these limitations are unknown to the player and as such so do the restraints on swing results. If they remain undiscovered they remain unchanged.

The physiotherapy directed screen will identify these physical constraints as well as designing the corrective strategies to optimise the swing output. Thus beginning the concept of continued and ongoing refined development towards the most effective on course play.

Swing Specific Movement Adaptations

Stability:
In order to transfer and transmit the generated forces to the ball through the club head requires strength, stamina and control of the central unit, the trunk. In achieving competent stability through the trunk the forces can then translate effectively between the upper and lower limbs with power, control and timing. Thus producing the most successful swing.

Control:
Because the golf swing is a demonstration of multi-directional force generation, acceleration and deceleration, controlling these energies is vital in their purpose of use. Control not only maximises use of power and force but influences its efficiency and accuracy. Control is the result of attaining full soft tissue and joint capacity.

Primal Movements:
All of our 7 primal movements are used in combination within physiotherapy directed movement development and practicing/playing golf. These actions produce motion within the 3 dimenional planes of motion that are necessary for movement capability. However they also use our soft tissues in all 3 roles of function, acceleration, stabilisation and deceleration.

Rotation:
A critical movement component to the swing is rotation. Rotation occurs at the feet, knees, hips, spine, shoulders, elbows and wrists. The importance of rotation is significant when considering each joint region but then amplified when viewed from a combined and integrated full body unit perspective. As this all happens at the same time gives rotation a priority.

Jonathan Rebanks

BHSC Hons Physiotherapy MCSP HCPC

With over 20 years of physiotherapy experience working within NHS and private practice Jonathan has effectively rehabilitated and eliminated a wide range of musculoskeletal injuries, disorders and dysfunctions for a varied client base.

However a particular interest of Jonathan's is performance improvement and optimisation.

Having worked with a range of people with specialist participation in sports, activities and hobbies this has lead him to focus on golf due to the interest in the complex biomechanics within the swing.