Robert Hendryx, LMT
Ok everyone…I think it is finally safe to dust off the golf clubs for the 2014 season. I know for many of you there is still snow on the ground and the permafrost has not thawed but believe me spring is upon us and the links will be calling out to you soon enough. Each new golf season begins with all of the optimism of a young child with a new bike… we have all just watched the Masters tournament and all of the Golf Channel programing leading up to it. We have seen all of the golf tips from the players and analysts, and we are brimming with enthusiasm. What typically happens next is this… at the first opportunity we rush out to the golf course perhaps hit a small bucket and off to the first tee we go… three holes later the optimism is replaced with pessimism, and we have already used up every tip to no avail, the clubs feel like foreign implements we don’t remember how to use. It doesn’t have to be this way…
This year let’s take a different approach. Over the long winter lay-off your golf muscles and those nuero-motor connections will have collected some dust. You certainly won’t be in golf “shape” right out of the gate. So let’s begin the season by starting small and working up to big. By small I mean close to the green… chip shots can help you establish solid contact right away. Proper technique gives you the feel of making ball turf contact and sense for the rhythm of the stroke. From there you can work back to some slightly longer pitch swings that build on the idea of solid contact with little longer swing motion. You can feel the hinging of the wrists and the coordination of the turning of the body with the swinging of the arms. You can begin to relate swing length and pace to the distance the ball travels. Again the goal here is to focus on solid contact and the feel of the motion, not so much on overall results. Finally work yourself up to a 7 iron. Put the ball on a tee and hit some shots with your feet together. Focus on rhythm and balance and finish it off with a few shots off the ground with a full swing. Then put your clubs back in the bag and head home. The next time work the same routine but at the end of the session hit some drives… now you are ready to hit the 1st tee and get your season off to a great start.
Stay tuned for more great golf guidance from the Performance Center @ Seven Canyons.
Dave Bisbee
Director of Golf Operations
7 Canyons Golf Club – Sedona, AZ
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