Fitness

By Josh Biard, Athletic Manager

There is no try…there is only to do or not, right? Well maybe. Cliché as it sounds most fitness programs succeed or fail before they begin. Well organized plans should be life altering. “Diets” are fine to lose a couple pounds but for sustained health improving habits, goals should be realistic and for the long term. Here are some helpful steps to get you started. Get your “mind right”: Set a no kidding drop dead date in your calendar that gives you enough time to prepare and communicate with your doctor and fitness professional. Annotate the reasons you want to start a fitness plan. Are you doing it to live longer, be healthier, lose weight or look better? Whatever the reason, if keep focused on it, you will be better able to motivate yourself. Shop and stock: Generate a meal list of appropriate foods you like. There is a lot of high quality, good tasting whole food out there to enjoy. Pick your 6 favorite (healthy), dinner time foods and rotate through them for the first 12 nights. Having a meal to look forward to will decrease the likelihood of slipping. Set a menu: Plan out your weekly meals and snacks. You may need to take meals to work with you. Slip-ups often happen when you simply don’t have a better food option available. This includes planning for travel and eating out. Most restaurants have online menus. Knowing what you will order before you arrive will help avoid giving into foods that are not “trainer approved.” Inform your support group: Tell your family, friends, and neighbors; or anyone that will listen to you about your intensions. This will help hold you accountable and will signal to them that they should not apply any undue pressure on you by eating poorly around you. You can set the example! Establish an exercise regimen: Consult with your doctor and fitness professional about an appropriate exercise program. Be specific, are you a golfer? Then talk to a Titleist Performance Institute Golf Fitness expert. Everybody is different and you should build a program around your needs and abilities. Balance is key, and any age group should mix in some form of strength training with regular cardiovascular training. It is never too late to begin. Put it in your calendar: Carve out times for yourself and set your work out times in your phone or computer. This makes training times official and it makes you less likely to skip them. Fitness sessions don’t have to last hours and take up your whole week. Prioritize 30-minutes regularly to establish a routine. Plan to succeed and you are most likely to. Set realistic goals and communicate with professionals that can help guide you. Remember, the bottom line should be to become healthy or healthier. “Reduced waistline” goals are great but should be a byproduct of establishing a lifestyle of healthy living.

Matt Greenemeier Fitness Manager, Four Seasons Golf & Sports Club Titleist Performance Institute Certified Personal Trainer

By Josh Biard, Athletic Manager By Mike Kiesling, Director of Golf

The way your body moves directly affects how you swing the golf club. To be more specific we want to focus on the movement of Rotation. Why is Rotation so important? • Rotation plays a critical role in the structure of the backswing • Rotation helps the golfer manage the clubface throughout the swing • Rotation allows for a more consistent delivery of the club through impact • Rotation is key component to generate speed to hit the ball further The goal of this article is not to focus on golf instruction. You will be amazed at the changes you can make to your golf swing by focusing on movement, as opposed to “swing positions”. Trying to make certain “swing positions” in the backswing will often times limit rotation, thus inhibiting the body from moving properly. We will focus on some simple movement exercises you can do to help you enjoy this game fantastic game even more.

Stop the Shift and Slide. Proper rotation of the hips and shoulders in the back swing creates the hand depth needed to promote a shallowing of the downswing.

Let’s keep that club face square to the path, and rotate through the hitting area. If we are trying to manage the club face on the down swing then we are stopping our rotation, which causes inconsistencies with impact, and loss of club head speed.

Do you struggle with consistency of contact? When rotation stops on the downswing your body will often go into early extension. This “standing up” through the hitting area will lead to inconsistencies at the moment of impact and lead to misses right, or left as well as heavy or thin shots.

Power in the golf swing refers to the amount of speed you are able to generate. Now that we have created more hand depth due to more rotation in the back swing we can rotate freely through the ball, instead of back to the ball. Do not try and manage impact, it will stop your rotation, and decrease your power. Now that you understand the importance of rotation and how it affects several critical areas of your swing, let’s go over some of my favorite exercises for improving rotation.

• Equipment needed: none; this exercise can be performed anytime anywhere. • If needed, a golf club can be used to help get in the right position. • Cross your hands over your shoulders. • Rotate your hips without moving your shoulders. • Rotate your shoulders without moving your hips • The ability to disassociate lower body is a critical component of the stability needed for swing rotation.

• Equipment needed: cable machine or band. • Start in a kneeling position with hands at chest level. • Keep the trunk and hips square throughout the movement. • Push the hands out parallel to the ground to a straight arm position before returning them slowly toward the body. • Engage the core and control the movement with slow consistency. • Perform 3 sets of 12 repetitions on both sides.

• Equipment needed: medicine ball of challenging weight and a solid wall, rebounder or partner to toss the ball to. • Begin around 3-5 feet from the wall/rebounder/ partner with your feet and body in a swing ready position

• While maintaining full range swing mechanics and keeping the core engaged, rotate and explosively toss the medicine ball, return and repeat. • Perform 3 sets of 8 repetitions on each side.