Structure in a winter golf training program is important for many reasons. In my experience, the biggest benefit of structure is being able to control variables. How will we know if something is working without consistency and structure?
After having my athletes complete their TPI physical and strength assessment, we map out a plan to execute. When doing so, I always ask the same questions:
How many days per week can you dedicate to your fitness program?
How many minutes can you commit to each of those sessions?
From there, it is my job to develop a program that will benefit them the most. My in-person clients will be evaluated on their ability to perform specific movements each time I see them, and I will gradually incorporate progressions to keep their development going in the right direction.
With my remote clients, I have them complete a questionnaire each week to provide feedback so I can create progressions as we go. Screening every 4-8 weeks is ideal to collect real data that tells us things are proceeding nicely.
The ability to have clear expectations with clients going into improvement season is something that has to be discussed and established with the athlete. Setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based) goals is something I was taught years ago and is a must for running a successful fitness business. The athlete and the trainer need to have their visions aligned. Not just when it comes to what can be accomplished, but how it will be accomplished. The way I measure progress with my golfers is through the TPI physical screen and strength assessments. If the athlete is at a place where we are looking to gain speed, I also utilize the Super Speed training protocols and track their speeds each session.
Being able to set records with speed sticks and improve golf fitness handicaps and overall strength numbers is the ultimate motivator. It is important to not assess too frequently and always collect multiple data points. There should always be something showing progress. It's important to note that the percentages of improvement will be very different between taking an untrained athlete (or new client) through an eight-week program compared to a client who has been training with me for several years. I've seen golf fitness handicaps go from 10 to +2 in eight weeks with a new golf fitness athlete. However, a seasoned athlete who is already a +2 may be there for a while, but we will still see improvements in strength or club head speed. Therefore, the needle should always be moving forward in some capacity.
Like most athletes, the ability to improve in the off-season is so much greater than it is during the active season. Ultimately, there are only so many hours in a day. If a golfer is playing in events and traveling every week, it adds a lot more variables than being home and having more time to devote to health and fitness. My philosophy is relatively simple, regardless of whether I am working with a professional golfer, professional hockey player or collegiate lacrosse athlete. Do the work in the improvement season to be as prepared as possible when the competitive season starts. In season, our goal is to do our best to keep the body injury-free and pain-free, while maintaining strength and mobility.
As we wind down our off-season training, the idea is to hit the ground running when the athlete's season starts. Ideally, we would know exactly when their first event is and work backwards to build a program so that they peak for the start of the season. When the season starts, maintaining mobile, pain-free and powerful bodies is the goal. It doesn't take much to maintain mobility, strength and clubhead speed. With that being said, it does take doing something.
If you crush it in the improvement season and stop when the golf season kicks in, your physical abilities will regress — it may take days, weeks or a few months, but the decline will be noticeable. Based on my client's success and data, I've found it is important to maintain a pre-range session or round of golf mobility routine, a couple of shorter 30-minute strength workouts weekly and one day of speed maintenance that takes roughly 30 minutes. Dedicating an hour to mobility, strength and speed just twice per week, as well as 15 minutes before a round to get moving, is something that should be possible time-wise for golfers at any level.
Bobby Rupcich is a personal trainer, sports nutritionist, post-rehab medical exercise specialist and the Founder of Superior Fitness Solutions in Villa Park, Illinois.