Breaking the Problem Down

Today’s team approach to player development has changed from what it was in the past. In the early 1990’s, most instructors believed there were three components to address in building the ultimate golfer.
1. Instruction – teaching all aspects of the game: short game, basic fundamentals, specialty shots, etc
2. Mental – Dealing with how to handle the mental stress placed on great players.
3. Equipment – Making sure the golfer is fit properly and has the appropriate set make up.

Later on, as amateur golfers deepened their understanding of how great pro golfers train, golf instructors broke these three ideas down further, making instruction into four parts: course management, shot making skills, basic instruction, and physical conditioning. As the field was refined, in became clear that training was the result of multiple interdependent factors, each relying upon the other to create success.

Similarly, the body itself is composed of multiple interdependent parts, each of which relies upon the others for success. In fact, the golf swing relies on eleven separate body zones, alternating between stable segments and mobile joints. Here they are:

Foot Stable
Ankle Mobile
Knee Stable
Hip Mobile
Pelvis/Sacrum/Lumbar Spine Stable
Thoracic Spine Mobile
Scapulo-Thoracic Stable
Gleno-humeral / Shoulder Mobile
Elbow Stable
Wrist Mobile
Cervical Spine Stable

That’s a lot to keep track of. No surprise, then, that TPI found, in a survey of amateur golfers, that 64.3% lose their posture during a swing, 64% early extend, 56% cast or early release, 45% of players have a flat shoulder plane, and many other swing defects are prevalent as well.

If you want to keep improving, you have to keep finding new ways to break your problem down. Maybe there’s just one link in your chain holding you back. You won’t know until you have an understanding of all the interconnected parts of your golf swing.

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