Ever since I started in golf, I was fascinated with understanding more about the swing and wrote laborious notes from books. I went to a chiropractic university — Logan University in Missouri — for an MS in sports science, but felt I learned more about subjects I was not interested in and less about biomechanics, the big buzzword even in 2011.
The first subject I had to study was musculoskeletal anatomy — naturally, as it was a chiropractic school. I was in shock with so much to memorize and cadavers to associate with! However, I quickly realized that the golf swing is all about anatomy, and in more recent years, also learned to appreciate the role of motor control in movement.
I went on to a PhD program at Texas Woman's University, where Dr. Young-Hoo Kwon has probably done more golf biomechanics research than anyone else. However, I soon realized the answer was not in biomechanics as much as it was in anatomy. So I begged and pleaded and battled with my advisors and found a university that would admit me for a minor in anatomy.
I was fortunate to study anatomy with the medical students at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth. I also had the opportunity to study some neuroanatomy there, and that was so revealing. The brain allocates very limited resources to torso movement, and yet the golf swing is so focused on moving a body part (at great speed) that is not designed for rapid, rotary motion. So, anatomy was something I was meant to study, and all along the way I had some superb teachers and mentors in that subject.
I moved to Southern California because a professor in the Biokinesiology department of the University of Southern California, Dr. George Salem, needed a project manager for an R&A-funded research study titled “Golf for Healthy Aging.” He agreed I might collect my PhD dissertation data from his lab, and hence my move to SoCal. It was a great year and a half in the USC lab. Then, as I had a PhD degree and was looking for a job, I came across Stanton University. A year after joining the team as golf and general education faculty, I was offered the job of Chair of the Associate Degree program in Professional Golf and Golf Management.
As a result, I developed every single course that we offer, and they are all quite state of the art. In fact, the previous Chair had put in some info for the fitness course from TPI Level I, but I decided to have two fitness courses, with the first one being Principles of Fitness Training - General, where we use the NASM textbook. I did that because I believe students must understand the basics of the human systems with some scientific foundations for prescribing exercise, rather than merely get some TPI training without understanding the science behind exercise or knowing whether there is anything beyond TPI.
Then they study Principles of Fitness Training - Golf Specific, where they are given a collection of research papers in every aspect of golf fitness — balance, cardio, strength, rotary etc. and decide for themselves what is right for their clients.
Our golf management program is unique, as we admit anyone to the program and do not require a playing ability test (PAT), as our course is for any job in the golf industry other that being an instructor. So, we have four courses, that between them, get a non-golfer to learn and play the game. I teach those classes and also give lessons online.
Today, as a golf coach, I ensure my students conduct a proper warmup prior to swinging. We focus on fitness when that is the student’s desire; otherwise, we work on the technical aspects of the golf swing.
We consider these movements from an anatomical perspective, look at what the human motor control system is able to do and not able to do well and talk about which movements and positions might create injury.
Dr. Kiran Kanwar is an LPGA Master Professional and the Golf Department Program Chair at Stanton University in Anaheim, California. She has discovered positions and movement through over 34 years of research that can give golfers of any skill level better performance with less risk for injury.