By Marlon Familton, CSCS
C.H.E.K. Certified Golf Biomechanic

As published in Golf Washington Magazine, June 2005

Has your body and posture changed since you learned to swing the golf club?  Are you frustrated because your game has gone down hill despite more time practicing?  The reason could be that you've built your golf swing on the body you used to have.

When you pick up a golf club and decide to swing, your brain pulls out a recording it knows as "golf swing".  Then it works to fire all the right muscles needed to recreate that swing.  This recording is called a motor engram.

When you're at the range practicing, your mind records the coordinated patterns of movement and replays them each time you swing.  If you practice with incorrect movements on the range (garbage in), your brain will remember and replay those faulty movements when you're out on the course (garbage out).  It is believed that to unwind a motor engram and build a new one, it takes as many 3,000 repetitions!  So it is important to remember that practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect. 

Yet even perfect practice might not be the solution to improving your swing.  If you first learned how to swing fifteen years ago and your posture has changed or you've been injured and lost flexibility in a joint, your brain could still be trying to replay the recording it stores.  If your body is no longer physically capable of getting into a position or executing the movements required by the swing, you'll find your game deteriorating through inconsistency or even injury.  A swing coach can help you compensate for the resulting ball flight issues, but the real solution is often not in the swing, but rather the body that is swinging the club.

Improving the function of your body through flexibility and fitness training is always possible, but golfers have specific training needs that aren't typically met in a traditional gym training approach.  Time must be spent on corrective stretching to restore the extensive rotational needs required by the golf swing.  Then a stability training phase must be undertaken if you want to improve your body's ability to hit more consistent shots.  Only after flexibility and stability have been restored or improved can strength training be a benefit to your game.

Conclusion: If you build a motor engram for the golf swing on a fully capable body and work to maintain that body's dynamic health, you'll set yourself up for years of better golf and more enjoyment from your game.