Fran Rhoads Golf

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Unless you are a PGA TOUR Player or an Olympic Athlete, read on!   The golf season is upon us and its time to make sure your equipment is in proper condition.  I do not mean your clubs and other gear, I mean the most important piece of golf equipment, your body!

While it is great to start your golf season with lessons and time on the practice tee, you will get results much faster if you are in better golf shape.   Even if you have not kept in good condition through the season there are a few simple things you can do without going to the gym.   I want to share with you a few things I do to keep my condition golf ready and prevent injury.

WALK!  That’s right, start a walking program!  Something we can all do more of and the  benefits are tremendous.  Every step you take requires balance, coordination and stamina, all of which are crucial for good golf.   Now, I am not talking about taking a leisurely “stroll”, but rather a more intense version as the pictures will demonstrate.

I call this my golf walk and while it may appear to be a little exaggerated, it will keep you feeling younger and more fit than if you are just strolling along.   First, lets look at how older and less fit people tend to walk.

Here I am demonstrating the typical gait of someone out of shape or just not aware of the  natural progression our bodies may take as we age.   There is no reason to hasten this process so be aware of it and work to improve it.

The shoulders and posture are slumped, head down and the stride is short in length.  This person will tend to have little or no shoulder movement or swing during each stride.  If you are aware of this progression, why not work to improve it!!

I would recommend a more high-energy walk like this:

The first thing you want to do is make sure you are flexible enough to take a longer stride as shown.   Also, you want to engage the shoulder and hips by swinging  the opposite arm and leg (left foot forward and right arm forward and visa versa).   This will stretch the hips and shoulders as they move in opposing direction.  This separation is very important in making a golf swing and is a great pre-round warm up.   Start slowly with this motion until you get the coordination perfected and then you can step up the pace.

A more advanced version of this would be “lunge” walking but it can be little tough on the knees and requires more strength and flexibility.   Do not try the lunge walk unless you are fit enough or with a personal trainer.

Lunge shown here:

I have done a lot of training and put the time in the gym so I am able to do more advanced techniques.  Most all of the training I do now involves using my own body weight.

My next blog post will demonstrate training moves I do to keep the power and body control at a high level for the more competitive golfer.

Most of us have already heard of the new rule regarding “Anchored Putting”.   Just to be clear, the long or belly putter will not be banned, just the ability to anchor it to a fixed point on your body or use your forearm as an anchor point against your body.  The purpose of which is to stabilize on end of the putter so the putter head can swing more consistently.

Here is the rule from the USGA and R&A which will go into effect in 2016:

This is a rather huge ruling for those affected by it, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer etc.  but it gives them plenty of time to make the transition back to conventional putting.  In my opinion, that is more than enough time to change.  In fact, the way these guys work on their games, I am sure they would be just fine in a few weeks or months.  For many though, it is not the physical side of it that would be the hardest.  The mental crutch would be yanked out from under them as well and that would mean  having to deal with the demons of the short putter past.

Putting is the most important part of the game at this level and really is the determining factor in who wins and strikes it rich and those that will struggle to keep their job on tour.  It is no fun when the hands start shaking and the putter starts to have a mind of its own, trust me, I have been there even at the level I compete.

I did experiment a few months on and off with a “Belly Length” putter and will admit that it helped my short putting.  Another words, the short length “tap ins” were much easier and less chance of a nervous yip causing a miss.  On the other hand, my long distance or lag putting suffered a lack of “feel”.  This was particularly true on breaking putts even at medium range.

To me it became a net no gain as I made less long putts but made more short ones.   In fact, the game was quite boring to simply two-putt most every hole.  Two-putting a lot does not get the job done anyway at most levels, you have to do better than that!

I have already committed to playing the rest of my days with the short putter even if it means dealing with the yips head on.  I do feel that I can make more of the “feel” putts more often and if it means a few more one-putts and a few more three-putts, I think it will make for a more interesting round of golf than steady, boring two-putts all the way.

A little more about the word we use so often, “Feel”, which is an intangible, hard to train and hard to teach part of the game.  Some believe it is a natural gift, some believe it is attained and some like me, believe it is a combination of both.    For me, the belly putter reduced my feel and feedback from a struck putt.   With the short putter, I can usually feel right away when a putt is struck if it has a good chance or not to be close or go into the cup.

I do wonder if not for 3 of the last 5 Major Champions winning using anchored putters if the ruling bodies would have minded as much??  Maybe they still would have made the change but for the average golfer not on tour or those with neurological issues or a bad back why take it from them??   I believe some exception will be made for non competing amateurs who just play for fun.   And if you are playing for “fun” then you can certainly make your own rules as so many already do!!

Recently I organized a one day travel golf school to Stonewall GC with our membership and host Director of Instruction, Erika Larkin, PGA.    We could not have had a better day, the weather was perfect.   Stonewall is a very nice daily fee facility located in Gainesville, VA set along Lake Manassas.

Lake Manassas in the background, very pretty!

We started the day at 8:30 for a morning session on putting, wedging and then full swing instruction.  After a lunch break, we then proceeded to the golf course for an 18 hole playing lesson with our students.

Erika Larkin was a wonderful host and had everything set up perfectly so things went very smooth.  She is a great instructor who is making quite a name for herself.

We are planning more of these, next one will be on Friday, October 5th with the same format.   We are limiting the size of the class to 6 students so if you are interested, let me know early as this will sell out fast.