Happy spring everyone! Most years in the spring issue I write something about “It’s a new year, let’s make it a better golfing year by doing this or that.” Unfortunately, many of the older players I know tell me the same old story every year. They ask me why they’ve lost 15 yards with their driver over the winter. Did you do any exercise or stretching over the winter or did you just sit on the couch watching TV and eating potato chips or ice cream all winter, I always ask. That question usually gets a blank stare.
This past winter I spent an afternoon at the PGA Show with the Professionals from the Titleist Performance Institute, “TPI,” and they had some things to say that I thought were very encouraging. First let’s talk about the fact that we are all getting older. The comment from one of the professionals was, “your body is pretty much done growing at age 21, so you have been aging for a long time, so don’t stress about it.” Here’s the thing, their research tells them that any player regardless of age can pick up speed, but like anything else you have to be willing to put in the work. Fast twitch muscles don’t go away; most players just stop using them so they become inflexible. The solution is to do some heavy lifting (within reason obviously) to get those muscles back in use. The problem is as we get older, we all have aches and pains, so lifting, stretching, working out is painful, it is much easier to go to the fridge and grab a beer. TPI studies the body and how it moves and after getting an evaluation from a TPI Professional, they can tell you what you can and cannot do during your golf swing in your present physical condition. They can also tell you what you can do to change that condition if you want to get better and hit longer golf shots. Again it is all relative, we can’t take an 80 year old and get them to swing like a 20 year old, but we can help that 80 year old improve on what they are doing in their current condition.
There is a lot that goes into this, legs, core, and shoulders but if you are willing to put in some work, I am willing to help you through it. Sorry, about the shameless plug for my instruction. Once the player knows where his/her issues are and starts to address that, a game plan can be put in place for them to get them on the right track as they work towards obtaining their goals. I know that you all want to hit it longer, I have never had a student approach me and tell me that they want to hit it shorter just so they can hit more fairways. I just read a quote from Francesco Molinari and he basically said that the harder he hits it, the straighter it goes. Everyone has a higher speed that they can go to, it’s just that most don’t because they can’t control their body and higher speeds. It’s easy on the range because players can just swing away and not have to chase the ball and count the shot. Once players get on the first tee, they start to limit themselves by looking left and seeing trees, looking right and seeing out of bounds, they start to guide the ball and try to just dink it into the fairway instead of ripping it. Your mind is another limiting factor; Padraig Harrington was asked why he is hitting the ball with much more speed as he aged. His answer was that he told his mind that it was ok to swing harder. Obviously this is an elite player that we are talking about, but just like you, there was something in his head that was telling him not to swing too hard. This is useless if you can’t control your body during the swing, especially if you decide to start swinging harder because all you will be doing is hitting the ball further into the woods.
I don’t know about you, but all of this information made me hopeful that if I put in the work, even at my age I can strive to make improvement in my swing and distance. I have a group of friends and fellow PGA Professionals that I play with on a regular basis. We all just try to have some fun and beat each other’s brains in. I’m constantly looking for an edge and maybe this is the answer. I have never been to Scotland or Ireland, and I plan to do so in next few year. I don’t want to go over there and play from the ladies tees so I’m more motivated than ever to improve.
You can go to mytpi.com and set up a program for yourself or seek out a TPI or PGA Professional that can help you with your journey if you decide to take it. Best of luck and have a great season!
