weighted clubs

would using a weighted golf club be recommended to gain strenth? or are they purely for technique?

what is a good lat (upper back) exersize? should i exersize for more lean muscles (little weight with lot of reps) or should i buil for strenth (more wieght 8-12 reps)? i am refering to the back and forearms only

I'm probably in the minority here about weighted clubs. I've seen research about using weight on the end of baseball bats. A couple of studies concuded that they do not increase bat speed and they actually decrease speed because the body is trying to decelerate the weight before the end of the swing. As far as strengthening muscle by using them I would think they would have an impact. You need to take into account that you are trying to move the club from address to impact at a certain speed. If you could swing the weighted club at that speed, or higher then we would all be using much heavier clubs all the time. Also I would look at the stress your wrist, elbow and shoulder joints take with repeated use.

As far as exercise for the back and forearms you could try bent rows with dumbbells. I personally like the deadlift for an all over exercise that would hit both the back and forearms as well as lots of other muscles. From a training standpoint absolute muscular strength comes from 4-6 repetitions. General strength training is 8-12 repetitions and muscular endurance is between 12-20 repetitions.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I have momentus weighted club. i use it to warm up before a round and also if i feel me swing speed is getting a little fast.

Most gyms have a latteral pull down machine ( the one that you have to sit bolt upright and pull down behind your head ) , this machine is ideal for training your lats.

thanks, this site has good forearm exersizes in the top right... the dead lit is a good idea.

i just wan't sure if absulute strenth training would be better or endurance would be better for back and forearms to help get stronger faster release and a faster stronger body turn.

I'm always wary of moving weight through a range of motion. Too much weight in a weak position leads to strains, tears, and injury.

The top exercise is a lat pulldown. Sit on the bench, grab the bar, pull it behind your head.

That's one of my favourite gym myths. Muscles can only do one of three things: Get bigger, get smaller, or stay the same size. They can't convert to fat, get huge overnight, or do quantum physics.

Now, I do believe that there are two types of muscular strength - endurance and explosive - but that becomes a factor of how you train your muscles rather than how you grow them. What's more impressive: A guy who can bench press 150 lbs for 6 straight hours, or the guy who can bench press 800 lbs one time? Both these guys are obviously strong, but the first guy hasn't trained his muscles to work explosively, while the other guy hasn't trained his muscles to work for long periods of time.

So, that said, workout however you want to. Grow your muscles however you want. But to train your muscles, then you need to pick things that will help your goal.

I think in golf, both types of training are beneficial. If you can play 18 holes and not get tired (endurance), that's great. But you also need explosive power for maximum distance on every shot.

To me, the ideal training routine would be to build muscle through the gym doing reps until exhaustion (not just to a certain number). Let's call that building for strength, if you prefer that term. Then, on your next day, take a weighted club or some other similar lightweight instrument, and work on your swing with it. Again, work until exhaustion. (In the case of your swing, exhaustion would be working until your form suffers).

But I would never, ever, swing a super heavy club with any kind of force. The last thing you want, IMO is a ton of weight being moved through some physiologically weak positions.

__________________
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter - www.pcsgep.com
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

ok, so i am getting from that that explosive muscle would be good for golf distance......

but you say train till muscle exuastion, wouldn't that be working endurance muscles?

Muscle growth is a response to stress. You tax your muscles and your body produces more muscle mass to make the same work easier next time; in the same way that your skin darkens when you've been in the sun, so that the next time you're in the sun, it's effects are lessened. Get it?

So, working those muscles to exhaustion will tell your body to make maximum muscle. The fastest way to do this is to lift really heavy weight for a short period of time. Pete Sisco ran a study that showed whether or not you lifted 400 lbs over 10 seconds, 800 lbs over 5 seconds, or 1000 lbs for 1 second, you do the same amount of work, and the muscles respond by requiring the same amount of growth. You still need to train those gains to work for long periods of time at lighter weight - hence the training with the heavy club.

__________________
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter - www.pcsgep.com
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

lgskywalker37,
If you get the time read these articles. They will help you understand what training modes are available. http://www.drlenkravitz.com/Articles...ncehealth.html
http://www.drlenkravitz.com/Articles/periodization.html


http://www.drlenkravitz.com/Articles/hypertrophy.html
This is an article on muscular hypertrophy, its a bit clinical. Anytime I work with my clients I don't expect them to know anything about physiology, but I better know something in case they ask me questions.

thanks very informative, one question on the first site

Therefore, slow-speed training will result in greater gains at slow movement speeds, while fast-speed training will realize the improvements in strength at faster movement speeds.


Isn't training at fast speeds a good way to hurt yourself?

Yes and no. I would never ask anyone to do fast (explosive) training until they could show me they are ready for that type of movement. However what is golf? Explosive movements done in a repetitive manner. I would try some medicine ball exercises. Look at www.performbetter.com in the training zone section they have medicine ball workouts. I like olympic style lifts but I would never recommend them to anyone without proper instruction. In the center I work in my brother and I break the lifts into components and teach them that way. Don't be afraid to try new things. I worked out one way for a very long time and looked at olympic lifting, bodyweight training and the like as something for sissies. Now I realize that great results can come from all types of training and I try everything.

Thanks for checking out the articles and if you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask.

Good explanation LP42.. Very clear and to the point.

I’m hopping in late on this one.

Would using a weighted golf club be recommended to gain strength or are they purely for technique?

IMO, using a very heavy club to improve general golf strength/flexibility can produce good results if used correctly.

The golf swing is a very technical movement that requires precise execution in order to be performed correctly and consistently. Too much regular golf swing work with a weighted club can throw off your neuromuscular programming (swing technique) due to the increase club weight and start to instill incorrect swing technique in order to compensate for the additional load.

You can get the same overall muscular training effect, but avoid the chance of hurting your technique and/or body, by swinging the weighted club like a bat.

By doing this you are still training the muscles responsible for rotation, but will avoid having the club draw you into positions that could be detrimental to your swing. When you go to swing like normal the club will feel light as a toothpick and you will not have hurt your technique.

In terms of what is the best way to train, the answer depends on a lot of things, with the 2 most important factors probably being your training history and age. Assuming that you are a middle aged guy with a moderate training history and little time to train, I would say that circuit training would probably be the best workout structure to get you started, simply because it is very time efficient training.

Isn't training at fast speeds a good way to hurt yourself?

Yes, if you do not have a proper training base to work off of. If you are in good shape, speed training can usually be done safely.

Generally speaking, the older you are the less explosive-based work you should be doing simply because your body is more prone to injury. Believe it or not, golf is actually one of the most explosive movements the human body is capable of.

Also, running with the upper back exercises you were asking about before, exercises like the lat pull down will have a positive effect on your general upper back strength but will not have very much of an impact on the upper back strength needed for the golf swing.

Also try using exercise tubing with handles. You can perform virtually every phase of the golf swing with tubing as your resistance. Depending on the strength of the tubing, you can train for explosiveness or golf specific muscular endurance.

The benefit of tubing is inexpensive, portable and can completely mimic athletic movements.

By switching the strength of the tubing, you can do many of these golf specific exercises throughout the week without overtraining.

You should do as many exercises as you can "on your feet", as the golf swing is performed on your feet (and in golf posture).

Think of every exercise you do as you are a "golfing athlete", and you'll get the most bang-for-your-buck.