Power is the product of strength and speed. While this is true, you can’t just build strength and then move faster. There’s a lot of other work that needs to be done to truly build power. One thing that the definition of power is missing is efficiency. Power, at its core, is developed first through efficiency of movement, then by building strength around that efficiency, and finally by moving faster through that efficient movement. And oh, by the way, you can’t do any of this without getting the proper forces through the ground. Now, this might sound almost impossible to do, but the cool thing is all you have to do is follow your plan! The 5 Elements Evaluation shows us how your body currently creates power and gives us a road map on how to make that power more efficient.
How do we get the body more efficient? Simply put, we stack each joint on top of the other! This will allow each muscle to be neither too long nor too short, but in an ideal resting position. This is important when you go to use the muscle. Since it is in an ideal position, it can contract and relax at the exact time your nervous system needs it to. Often, I think about if Function Dictates Form, then what dictates function? From what we learned above, Position dictates function. Again, ideal positions (a human body with their joints stacked) will dictate how the muscles and joints function, which will dictate how you swing the golf club.
So, when you just say swing the club faster or throw that med ball harder, it doesn’t always work! It means your body isn’t in the best position for it to feel safe enough to swing the club faster or throw the med ball harder. Your nervous system recognizes this and stops joints and muscles from moving because it is fearful of getting injured, and oh, by the way, you have old motor patterns you have developed stopping you from moving faster. That is truly where injuries happen when we, as golfers, try to just work on swinging the club faster without doing the proper correctives to stack the body in the gym, then build strength in those positions, then ingrain that new motor pattern, then develop power through those positions and motor patterns, and then transfer it into the golf swing.
I know this sounds very complicated, but I wanted to give you more of the reasoning behind what we do in the Performance Zone and to let you know that, unfortunately, you cannot skip steps to gaining more speed on the golf course. It’s just not how the human body works! So, if you are unsure of where you are in this process, come see us in the gym, sign up for another 5 Elements of Success if you haven’t had one in a while, or join some of the small group classes we have throughout the week. Once we know where you are, all you have to do is follow the program; it’s as simple as that!
