Ep 231: 8 Tools Every Golfer Needs for a Faster, Stronger Swing

Uh, so the, the first, the, the foundational tier, uh, so I always talk about the pyramid.

Uh, think of it as like the old school food pyramid that we had in elementary school, um, where you'd have, like, your, your grains on the bottom, right? And, you know, now if that pyramid actually is good or not or right, doesn't matter at this point.

[laughs] I'm just using it as a visual that most people know what that is.

At the bottom of the pyramid, the foundational s- piece of the golf performance pyramid to play this game for a really long time, to give yourself the best chance of longevity, it is the mobility foundation, right? So that's your ability to rotate in your four rotary centers, uh, which if you are brand new are your shoulders, your hips, your thoracic spine, and your neck.

Right? So we'll put in the show notes, as always, the link to the home assessment, uh, where you can actually see how you do on those four areas.

Now, the two key pieces of equipment on the foundational level, uh, one is actually to help with the mobility, and that is a softball or a lacrosse ball, right? So it's literally less than like $8 if you're getting a really fancy one.

Uh, you can go to a used sporting goods store and get one way cheaper than that, but that would be the first piece of equipment, and then obviously you would use that to do tissue work to, uh, open up tissue restrictions in and around those joints, in particular the ball and socket joints of the shoulder and of the hips.

Um, so that would be the, the number one piece of equipment for this foundational level to help with your mobility.

Now, the next natural question is, okay, I have this ball.

What the hell do I do with it, right? [laughs] Well, and that, that's where you go through the home assessment.

That'll help you to zone into which of the rotary centers you have the issues with, and then that's obviously where, you know, whether it's doing a program with us, um, we have, you know, free, um, on-demand type things that you guys can check out on our YouTube page, um, where you can kind of get an idea of stuff that you could do.

You know, obviously the most, uh, I guess, optimal or optimized way to do it would be to actually work with a coach who'd tell you exactly what to do.

But, uh, softball is going to be an integral piece to your, uh, equipment puzzle to improve the mobility foundational level.

Uh, the next piece on the foundational level, the next piece of equipment would be some sort of launch monitor.

Now, that...

You're probably scratching your head and be like, "Wait, I thought this was the mobility side, Chris.

Why the heck are you talking about a launch monitor?" Uh, well, a swing speed radar or a launch monitor is key bec- on the foundational level, 'cause if we don't assess, then we're just gonna be guessing as we're trying to improve.

So very much so at the b- at the base foundational level, if we're trying to get better and play this game for a long time in any sort of optimized form, we need to know how fast we're swinging the golf club, and we need to track that over time, right? Even if you're not doing swing speed training, at least every 90 days you should swing the golf club, you know, swing a driver, see what your gamer speed is, see what your all-out speed is.

Has it changed, right? If it's...

If you're going to the gym or you're spending time working on your body at home, whatever it is, and your speed is going down, something needs to change, right? There needs...

Or there needs to be some sort of explanation.

Maybe you've been playing seven days a week for the last three months and your body is exhausted, in which case there needs to be a recovery element in your workout to help your nervous system recover.

Maybe your diet sucks.

Maybe you've lost 50 pounds and that you lost literally 20% of your body mass, right? Well, guess what? I guess [laughs] if you lost 50 pounds, that's 20% of your body mass.

I guess be a big, be a big person.

Uh, so the, the first, the, the foundational tier, uh, so I always talk about the pyramid.

Uh, think of it as like the old school food pyramid that we had in elementary school, um, where you'd have, like, your, your grains on the bottom, right? And, you know, now if that pyramid actually is good or not or right, doesn't matter at this point.

[laughs] I'm just using it as a visual that most people know what that is.

At the bottom of the pyramid, the foundational s- piece of the golf performance pyramid to play this game for a really long time, to give yourself the best chance of longevity, it is the mobility foundation, right? So that's your ability to rotate in your four rotary centers, uh, which if you are brand new are your shoulders, your hips, your thoracic spine, and your neck.

Right? So we'll put in the show notes, as always, the link to the home assessment, uh, where you can actually see how you do on those four areas.

Now, the two key pieces of equipment on the foundational level, uh, one is actually to help with the mobility, and that is a softball or a lacrosse ball, right? So it's literally less than like $8 if you're getting a really fancy one.

Uh, you can go to a used sporting goods store and get one way cheaper than that, but that would be the first piece of equipment, and then obviously you would use that to do tissue work to, uh, open up tissue restrictions in and around those joints, in particular the ball and socket joints of the shoulder and of the hips.

Um, so that would be the, the number one piece of equipment for this foundational level to help with your mobility.

Now, the next natural question is, okay, I have this ball.

What the hell do I do with it, right? [laughs] Well, and that, that's where you go through the home assessment.

That'll help you to zone into which of the rotary centers you have the issues with, and then that's obviously where, you know, whether it's doing a program with us, um, we have, you know, free, um, on-demand type things that you guys can check out on our YouTube page, um, where you can kind of get an idea of stuff that you could do.

You know, obviously the most, uh, I guess, optimal or optimized way to do it would be to actually work with a coach who'd tell you exactly what to do.

But, uh, softball is going to be an integral piece to your, uh, equipment puzzle to improve the mobility foundational level.

Uh, the next piece on the foundational level, the next piece of equipment would be some sort of launch monitor.

Now, that...

You're probably scratching your head and be like, "Wait, I thought this was the mobility side, Chris.

Why the heck are you talking about a launch monitor?" Uh, well, a swing speed radar or a launch monitor is key bec- on the foundational level, 'cause if we don't assess, then we're just gonna be guessing as we're trying to improve.

So very much so at the b- at the base foundational level, if we're trying to get better and play this game for a long time in any sort of optimized form, we need to know how fast we're swinging the golf club, and we need to track that over time, right? Even if you're not doing swing speed training, at least every 90 days you should swing the golf club, you know, swing a driver, see what your gamer speed is, see what your all-out speed is.

Has it changed, right? If it's...

If you're going to the gym or you're spending time working on your body at home, whatever it is, and your speed is going down, something needs to change, right? There needs...

Or there needs to be some sort of explanation.

Maybe you've been playing seven days a week for the last three months and your body is exhausted, in which case there needs to be a recovery element in your workout to help your nervous system recover.

Maybe your diet sucks.

Maybe you've lost 50 pounds and that you lost literally 20% of your body mass, right? Well, guess what? I guess [laughs] if you lost 50 pounds, that's 20% of your body mass.

I guess be a big, be a big person.