Exclusive report by Kirwan Kanwar, Albany, Bahamas.
Golf is obviously a game of uncertainties, even for the very best golfers of the world, despite all the ‘interventions’ they seek to try to keep their games in peak condition.
Golf at the Tiger Woods Foundation-Hero Motorcorp Hero World Challenge is no exception.
An early ace by Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson marching left and right on some holes like a seasoned sergeant, the leader in the field finishing at 6 under, while on the same course, at almost the same time, the highest score is 3 over par.
Does it need to be so very complicated? Can science, something that combined human endeavor has put at the forefront during the 21st Century, help?
If so which science? Biomechanics? Anatomy? Psychology with its visualization and self talk? Sports Medicine and injury prevention? All of them? None of them?
Read the upcoming posts to see what the best players in the world have to say about sports science.
Then at the end of the Hero World Challenge, watch out for a summarizing article to be titled ‘what sense does that make’.
While some sports sciences are staples that one should never be without, some concepts surrounding the golf swing itself have gone from the ridiculous to the sublime, and common sense, as a result, has flown right out the window!
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Former US Open winner Justin Rose says he’s toyed with all the scientific advancements.
Justin Rose: says he’s definitely toyed with all the scientific advancements. For instance Trackman data on how he’s swinging it. Force plates and using weight shifts to hit the ball further. He’s understood that the driver and irons are different swings, requiring shifts at different times. “Everything I do is based by science, not necessarily a wing and a prayer.”
Golfers are often being told to shift weight aggressively towards their target side during the downswing. Of course a push down or forward, either of which involves some lowering of the body would be great if a golfer could use the ground to push off against to come up in time for impact! It is well known that the lead shoulder should be as high as possible at when club meets ball. The higher the lead shoulder, the longer the radius of the swing and thus the greater a golfer’s clubhead velocity. However, CAN every golfer push up quickly – and IN TIME for impact – after pushing down?
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Billy Horschel: “I try to keep it simple when it comes to the science part, I leave it to my team around me – my teacher, my trainers, the chiro guy I use, to better themselves and create more knowledge. They can tell me what I need to work on. I try to stay hands off.”
Billy’s team involved with the cutting edge of golf science and evidence based practice? What are their sources of knowledge? There is so much information easily available everywhere these days, much of it unproven by research and not very scientific!
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Rickie Fowler: Does he uses science for his golfs wing? “Not too much, I’m very much a feel player.” But he and his coach check to see if his body is moving properly especially with respect to foot work, power from the transfer of weight, they might use a launch monitor too, but he uses all this, in his words “After the fact.”
When asked what he felt about less movement being better, he replied that he absolutely does, and said, “The more efficient you can make things, that’s probably one of the biggest things I’ve worked with Butch on – the more compact, the less movement going on, the better.”
Compact is great. Sometimes, however, compact becomes complex. If a large number of joints have to be rerouted within a small space, injury can result. Sometimes it is important to look at every joint from neck to knee and count the actual number of joints being repositioned in the maximum 1/3rd second a golf downswing lasts.
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Zach Johnson: Another golfer on the cusp of 40 years. He always talks about how his ‘team’ supports him. Does he use any swing sciences? His team, he says, include his caddie, his swing coach who likes biomechanics and he’s a Golf Machine guy. He has a physio who is a chiropractor, as is his father. He also has a mental coach and a spiritual coach to round off the ‘Johnson team’. He gets inputs from all these people, because, as he says, “If one area is weak it can affect the others.” He does a lot of work in the gym, and a lot of working out and treatment, which is a huge priority. His swing fundamentals he feels are pretty ingrained so if they’re off he just has to get them back.
In the medical world, teams are becoming very popular, especially for the complex cases that the large hospitals seem to deal with, with so much ease. Why not in golf? One coach does not have to, nor pretend to, know everything. Still better, of course, would be a golf instructor with a degree in kinesiology, the study of human movement, because an instructor with knowledge in all the sports sciences can be the General Physician who knows exactly how each of the specialists’ inputs will affect which aspect of his player’s game!
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Jordan Spieth on his way to finishing three behind with a round to play in the 2015 Australian Open.
Jordan Spieth: Another ‘team player’ who has several people other than his golf coach who work on various aspects of his performance. Asked about which of his team members’ brains he might pick so he might have something to work on for an encore, coming off such a great 2015 season, he said he works equally with all of them, they 100% all contribute equally.
As regards science, they would look at statistics, for instance if the problems are closer to the green or further away, what they are around the greens or in putting. When asked about his day’s performance, especially his wedges with which he is reputed to really struggle, he said he perhaps has the greatest need to improve with his wedge work for soft greens. What else might he work on to be prepared for the next season? His long iron work – his driving irons and woods are coming together, so he plans to maintain that work, and do more work with his wedges. Even though statistically he is a decent wedge player, he knows where his weaknesses are. A lot of background work has obviously gone into making 2015 a great year for Jordan Spieth.
Paul Casey: On his game of the day he felt he had “Picked some good numbers, committed to every shot.” On golf science, mental vs physical he said he is always working on mental, that never stops. As regards the two aspects of physical, he tries to keep his body in position to always play his best golf and regarding the technical aspects he looks at statistics to find the weaknesses and what improvements might be needed. When asked, “Have you heard all the new information in science, stuff like ground reaction force, what do you think of that?” With his unique sense of humour Casey replied: “I’m not sure GRF is new. We’ve always used the ground.”
