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Olympic Weightlifting – Golf Fitness & Optimal Performance

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Longer Drives and Higher Club head speed.  Golf is a power sport!

Fitness in golf is, and has been, the hot topic in terms of performance and the future of the game. Understanding how to train, when to train and how that relates to your golf game can be a difficult task.

Olympic lifting, in some form, should be a part of that training. Olympic lifting consists of 2 lifts: the Clean & Jerk and the Snatch. These 2 movements can be broken down in many different forms of lifting which can have huge benefits for your golf performance.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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The best players in the world train a lot harder than people think and these lifts, in some form, will be in their fitness programs.

The clean & jerk sees the barbell lifted from the ground to the shoulder and then to overhead, 2 movements, whereas the snatch is straight from the ground to the overhead position.

The lifts will increase performance and health in a number of ways:

  • Increased power output due to the global movement patterns that strengthen the neuromuscular link and ability to function.
  • Increased ground force reactions and the ability to use the ground for movement.
  • High levels of core stability and spinal health improvements through strength, positioning and movement quality.
  • Increased strength and muscle mass without unnecessary bulk due to range of motion and multi-joint activation.
  • Great benefits for coordination, balance and agility through new learning pathways and challenges.
  • A more efficient overall physical system that is primed to create speed, power and force.

It becomes really interesting to then transition this performance increase over to the golf swing to give you the gains you want.

Improved physical sequencing leading to a more efficient, powerful golf swing.

You will have heard the term ‘Kinematic sequence’ numerous times relative to the golf swing and this is the engine of your swing.  The key being to create force in a sequential way starting from the ground through the legs, to the hips, torso and finally through the arms, hands and into the club. Creating optimal force.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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The Olympic lifts work in the same way, creating force by pushing away from the ground with the legs, extending at the hip to create full force, using the arms and then the hands to bring the bar into position. Learn the patterns, create more speed period.

Great neuromuscular connectivity and activation.

The ability to recruit and ‘fire’ muscles in the correct sequence and with full force is something that differs from person to person and will also reflect your lifestyle. If you want to get everything out of your swing and your game, you need to be able to recruit the musculature in the most efficient way possible. This means more of the muscle will be working to create force and therefore your output can be considerably higher.

Core stability and spinal posture.

Yet again, the golf swing and the oly lifts match up here as during both movements posture and spine angle must be maintained throughout. It’s one of the biggest physical faults in the golf swing to see a lack of glute activation (think Tiger) and therefore a loss of posture and a player ‘coming out’ of the shot resulting in any number of misses. During the Olympic lifts you will learn how to maintain spine angle and core activation whilst all of the other muscles work to create force.

Overall movement capacity, balance and coordination.

The Olympic lifts need to be learned, and this is a good thing! Actively learning new movement patterns will help your everyday movement, balance and coordination and that can only be good for golf. Ever made a swing change and performed movements that were not even close to what you were aiming for (I have)?

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Well by learning such a complex movement patter and benefitting the other aspects of fitness we often don’t  think about (balance, coordination etc) you can see movements become more controlled, efficient and easier to implement over time.

Creation of higher levels of fast twitch muscle fibers equals more speed.

Your body has an incredible ability to adapt to what you ask it to so; sit at a desk all day and your body will adapt with poor posture and a lack of muscle mass etc. However if you add Olympic lifting to your training you are actively training muscle fibre activation as well as strength, speed and power etc. Everyone is genetically different here but no matter where you’re at currently you will see an increase in performance on and off the course.

Stronger You, Stronger Golf.

Yes physically you will get stronger and that can only be a good thing, but you can be mentally stronger too. Learning a new skill, working through some levels of discomfort and creating a desire to be a stronger, healthier individual can all be gained through Olympic lifting and the correct use of it in your training.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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There is some serious performance to be gained here and the cool thing is, due to the high energy demand and difficulty of the movements, you don’t need to spend hours in the gym doing sets and reps to achieve it. You can add 20-30 minutes of Olympic lifting work into your training 2/3 times a week and you will see your numbers go up! You can also specifically program your training, once developed, to give you the highest speed outputs at the most important times of the year. If you have heard the best players in the world talk about peaking physically, this is what they mean! The ability to understand your performance and body well enough to literally tailor your performance output for specific events and times of the year.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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The key to implementing this into your training is to genuinely learn the lifts first and perform them well, any overloading with poor technique is not what any good coach or athlete wants to see. From there look to build a good level of baseline strength through low reps and continued learning which can then leave you working on the optimal power output moving forwards. Low to mid rep ranges with short rests in between matched with other movements is a phenomenal way to train.

Increased strength, efficient power, faster clubhead speeds and a whole lot of physical improvement – what’s not to like?! We include Olympic lifting in our day to day programming and personalized programming at GOLFWOD and also offer online coaching for all of your movements!

With players all around following our training plans, we aim to create a global community of the fastest, most powerful golfers trying to take their games to the next level.

Check us out to get started!

 


Living in England, Michael has created a unique setup running both a Golf Academy and CrossFit Gym and competing in both disciplines. Michael has focused much of his time working on how to increase golf and physical performance, focusing on the individual and how they can improve as well as create the best lifestyle of health, golf, fitness and more. This unique understanding of human mechanics, learning patterns and ultimate golf performance is now available online via the GOLFWOD platform as Michael aims to bring everything he has to players all over the world looking to take performance to the next level and have a great time enjoying the game.

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