Sports Spotlight:  This month GOLF

This is a quote from my 6 year old son.  We were at home on a rainy day doing what I call ‘yoga for anger management’.   Meaning: let’s do something else besides pick on your little brother because it is driving all of us crazy.

Watching him and his brother move around I noticed how he seemed to be developing the awareness of where is his limbs were in relation to the rest of his body.  how his brain was waking up to what his skeletal muscles are doing.  How he was able to put his body into desired positions without looking at his reflection in a mirror.  He was developing ‘proprioception’ a vitally important brain-body connection process for an athlete.  A quick demonstration of a yoga position to that child produced an exact copy of my well-rehearsed pose.   I murmered to myself he would be a ‘natural’ at ballet with that propriocetive ability.  (He disagreed with me.  Said the words I started with and added,  “I want to be a golfer.”)

Every creature that moves has to have proprioceptive pathways from brain to muscles.  It is necessary for movement.  It is one of the bodies’ senses in addition to tasting and seeing, etc.  Think of muscles like audio speakers sitting in your living room.  If you do not connect them to the stereo, they just sit there without making any sound.   We need that sense of proprioception.  Development of that sense is what makes good movement great.  It is what elevates a walk across the floor to Fred Astaire’s extraordinary dance sequences.   Without proprioception,  Michael Jordan would have just been a good school yard basketball player or long jumper, instead of thrilling us with incredible feats above the rim.

Athletes develop proprioception as well as strength and speed.  One of the purposes of a TPI Golf Fitness screening is to identify areas were proprioception has been turned down.  We can’t look in a mirror to set ourselves up for every shot.   Good body mechanics and proprioception are essential to consistency in the golf game.  A well-designed golf fitness program must address this brain-body connection.  Just going to the gym to try to get Tiger’s shoulders won’t improve your game.  Just buying a better club will not improve your game.  The best piece of equipment a golfer has is their body.