Why do professional golfers spend so much time before a round working through golf drills to relieve tension in the swing if it takes so much time?

Answer: Perhaps because the results are worth it.  By continually starting off each day slowly building up to full swings, they develop a full envelope of strengths they will use during the match.

This is why after going to professional golf events and seeing how the pro’s start off slowly, I now try to start each round doing the same things.  I try to keep in as good a shape as possible by exercising including even dreaded sit-ups several days per week.

We all should perform drills (putting, chipping, driving, swinging on uneven lies, etc.), but unless you approach them with the correct plan, they may be more problem than help. 

Most people walk up to the putting practice area before a game and immediately start putting for the farthest hole they can, and then work their way in.  Occasionally, it might be a good idea to do the opposite. Start making putts from one foot, then two, then three feet away and so on.  This is where you find out where your abilities break down and if your eyes are betraying you.  Then you can concentrate on working on distance.  We all like to think we can make forty footer’s, but let’s face it, it’s luck for most of us.

Similarly, I have been guilty of going to the driving range and starting with the driver at full force.  The results are not always great.  I do better when I work my way up from wedge to driver, giving myself as much practice from close range, imagining targets to hit as I move from club to club.  Practicing with every club in this way will help to alleviate swing problems tension associated with almost any particular shot you may face. 

We exhibited at a golf trade show in San Diego once, and a gentleman came by our booth and tried out Gotta-Grip on a club with a worn grip.  He was intrigued with our product and started asking me questions that indicated to me he was, perhaps, more than a golfer.  He asked questions about how our product affected certain muscle groups in the arms. 

He was indeed an operating neurosurgeon, who also happened to be a 7-handicap golfer.

I told him our product was designed to ensure that any grip would feel as good as when it was new, and that the entire set remains homogenous, meaning you don’t have to remember different swing tensions across the set because some grips are worn and some are new.  That was as far as my “muscle group” knowledge went. 

I know there are pronation, supination, maxi-flexion, dorsi-flexion, radial, and ulnar movements that take place during a golf swing, but I never thought there could be so much to “tensions” associated with each.

He thought that a product like ours was interesting, and that it addressed a problem. As he explained it, golf is similar to operating.  The problem is over-tensioning.

He went on to say that when a surgeon begins to operate, it is similar to gripping the club and beginning the back swing.  When you first grip an instrument, whether a driver, or scalpel, the tendency is to grip it tightly.  In the case of golf, we tend to make adjustments subconsciously to slightly loosen the grip as we bring the club back to the fully loaded back swing, then on the way down, if there is any doubt at all in the mind, a constricting force is applied on the grip to “make sure” it doesn’t turn or slip.

In surgery, he said that the same is true with a different manifestation. The surgeon will grip the instrument very tightly until they have the feel they seek as they cut.  However, if too much gripping pressure is applied for too long, and adjustments are made due to fatigue, errors can occur.  Muscle memory comes into play and he or she needs to back off and re-think the approach. This may not always be convenient.  He offered that the same is true in golf.

This made a lot of sense to me and I have caught myself subconsciously making such corrections, which is in part why we developed Gotta-Grip.

The next time you have a game planned, try warming up with EACH club for a minimum of 15 minutes and see if that does not eliminate some tension in your game.

Practice, practice, practice…Enjoy Golf!

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