Play better golf next season by playing less golf?

Your juniors golf swing is only going to do what their body can physically do no matter what age. Whether its hours at a desk for parents or hours in front of a tv for juniors, the results are the same on your juniors body, posture and their golf game.

I understand that Tiger Woods shot par before the age 0f 3 and Mozart may have composed symphonies at age 5 and it seems tempting to start that junior golfer off at a young age and have him or her drop everything to hit the range. Contrary to this belief, recent research has shown that important Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) and Neuroplasticity (how the brain changes as it learns new tasks/information) can be improved greatly by training the body and brain in many different ways. I’m not saying that practicing golf is not important. I am confident that many successful athletes in every sport have committed thousands of hours to their trade but I believe you will find the best athletes in every sport have diversified their training at the junior level.

What to do…

Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are what most people would call basic game play, i.e. running, throwing, catching, kicking and striking — all elements that used to make up typical lunchtime play sessions and after-school activities.

Learn new functional movement skills!

Take out the tee ball bat, play some catch, throw the football, run, skip, balance or anything that will improve your juniors body control and awareness. By practicing these FMS, it will make teaching your junior how to activate certain muscle groups in the golf swing much easier.

What not to do…

A typical day in the life of your average junior involves many hours in front of the tv, computer or mobile device playing games which means: zero activity combined with poor postural habits.

I wanted to post a series of pictures of a friend of mine who I played golf with recently. He is a former collegiate tennis player, stays physically active and plays golf 8-10 times per year. Now here is the kicker…he has never taken a golf lesson in his life and shoots in the high 70s to low 80s! Now for you avid golfers and coaches, you know how impressive this is with little or no practice. I believe this can all be attributed to his FMS training he did during his years of tennis and sport.