Looking to hit higher softer shots from the bunker? We’ve got a couple tips for you to try.

Additionally, we’ll discuss some of the physical requirements that accompany each of our suggestions.

Let’s start by discussing our way from the ground up.

1) Move the Ball Forward in your Stance:

Be sure to play the ball forward in your stance; somewhere near your lead heel. Doing so will allow you to maintain much of the club’s loft through impact. When the ball gets too far back in our stance, we tend to address the club in a delofted position making it difficult to create a soft high shot.

Physical Attributes Needed:

None. If you’ve got a golf ball and golf club you should be covered. No specific physical requirements needed here.

2) Keep the Lower Body Quiet:

Think of your lower body as the platform for your golf swing. We want to have a stable lower body particularly in the bunker. The key here is to limit the amount of motion coming from the lower body during shot, particularly avoiding any sway or slide.

Physical Attributes Needed:

Glute strength and the ability to disassociate the upper and lower body. The glutes are the most important muscle in the golf swing but when discussing lower body stability in the sand, we’d want to pay close attention to the lateral stabilizers. If you have a difficult time creating separation between the upper and lower body your ability to keep your “platform” stable will be greatly reduced.

3) More Torso Rotation:

Many players like to use their arms and chop down on the ball while in the sand. Try rotating your torso all the way through the shot. This could feel as if your torso is pulling your arms through the ball. In other words you’ll want your chest to be open or facing the target as much as it can at impact.

Physical Attributes Needed:

Cervical and thoracic rotation with upper and lower body disassociation. If you have limited cervical rotation (the ability to turn your head left and right) you’ll have issues in your golf swing no matter how much you practice. Thoracic (mid spine) rotation is a big key in the bunker. Torso rotation allows us to generate the speed needed to put height on the shot. Without good thoracic rotation, players rely too much on their arms to produce the shot which has a tendency to cause digging in the bunker.

4) Weaker Grip and Greater Release of the Golf Club:

Try experimenting with a weaker grip in the bunker. A strong grip can cause the club to become delofted during the release, particularly for players with limited thoracic rotation. However, if you move to a weaker grip you’ve got to release the club more or your shots will tend to miss right of your target.

Physical Attributes Needed:

Lead wrist flexion and Ulnar deviation. To take a weak grip and release the club properly you’ll need the ability to flex the lead wrist. Not a great amount is needed, so those of us who have not experienced any serious lead wrist injuries in the past shouldn’t have any limitations. The ability to move the wrist in a way which allows the knuckle of your pinky to move toward the bottom of your forearm (ulnar deviation) is also needed to properly release the golf club. Without this physical ability releasing the club becomes difficult and generating the speed necessary to create height on your bunker shot becomes next to impossible.

If you have a difficult time employing any of the suggestions you may have a physical limitation inhibiting your performance. It’s important to consult your golf pro and visit your golf fitness provider before making any permanent changes to your swing.

We’ve just added the Ask the Pro Section to our website at the request of many of our visitors. Have questions for our TPI Certified or PGA Professionals? Load up and ask away. We’ll post anonymous user questions along with our answers so get in there and start asking. The more you contribute, the more we’ll post, the greater community resource you’ll have at your disposal. Click here to ask your first question.

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If lessons or practice haven’t helped resolve your swing fault try these 3 quick tests to learn if you have a physical limitation in play. If you fail any of these tests, you’ll need to work on your body before you can expect to completely lose your slide.

Be sure to consult your physician before attempting the tests below. If you experience any discomfort prior to or during any of these or similar tests stop and consult your physician immediately.

1. Internal Hip Rotation Test – Sit on a sturdy chair that’s high enough to keep your feet from touching the ground. Make a fist with each hand and touch them together so that your knuckles are lined in a row and facing away from you. Make sure you’re securely in your chair, place your fists between your knees, then rotate your feet outward. Have a partner in front of you take note of where your legs are. To have enough internal hip rotation to support the back swing your lower legs should be at about a 45 degree angle or greater. If you have difficulty hitting the 45 degree mark, you’re a prime candidate to experience slide or some alternate lateral swing compensation which could be robbing you of consistency and power. Also take note of each leg’s individual range of motion. If you’re a right handed golfer with a left leg limitation, slide can be an issue. If problems arise on the trail side, you could be prone to sway or a reverse spine angle in your golf swing.

2. Segmental Separation Test – Sit tall on a chair and place a golf club across your shoulders with crossed arms. Keeping your knees together and your head forward, rotate your torso to the left. You should be able to get to 45 degrees or more to demonstrate enough range of motion to support the down swing. What you’re doing during this test is measuring the ability to turn your upper body while your lower body remains still. If you can’t separate your upper body from your lower during the golf swing, one segment is along for an unwanted ride. Stability equals consistency in the golf swing, and the golf swing is complex. While the upper body is rotating, the lower body should be primarily focused on stabilizing. If it can’t stabilize because of an inability to separate itself from the upper body you can expect to see unwanted lateral motion sometime during the swing.

3. Glute Medius Test – Lie on your side, position yourself so that your elbow is placed directly under your shoulder. From there, bring your pelvis off the ground so your body creates a straight line from your head to your feet. Your pelvis should not be sagging toward the floor and the only portions of your body that should be touching the ground are your elbow and the side of your down foot. Next, extend your top leg toward the sky. You should be able to hold this position for 3 seconds without your pelvis dipping toward the floor. If you’re unable to perform this test you’re showing a weakness in the musculature that resists lateral motion in your down leg. In other words, if you have a difficult time holding this position or if your pelvis dips toward the floor during the test, you’re exhibiting signs of lateral instability in your golf swing.

Bottom line – failing any of the tests above suggest that you have a physical limitation inhibiting your golf swing. At the same time, improving your level of fitness to the point where you pass each evaluation will put you back on the track toward better golf.

If you’re in the San Diego area and need help enhancing your golf fitness be sure to contact us by email or our contact form to learn more. For those of you outside the San Diego area you can find your local golf fitness provider here.

Leave us your comments on how these tests have identified limitations in your golf swing. We’d love to hear from you.

Dr. Peter Mackay of San Diego’s Elite Performance Institute demonstrates an exercise to help prevent hip and back pain in your Golf Swing.

Most of us hit a hand full of golf balls before our weekly morning tee time and call it practice. We can all agree that such a routine can hardly be referred to as practice or even a decent warm up for that matter. We have 10 rules to consider next time you head out to the range. If you’re looking to maximize your efforts, put some thought into your practice sessions and within no time, you’ll see benefits on the course.

1. Go with a plan.
Don’t simply head out to the range and start hitting balls. Consider an aspect of your game which you’d like to improve upon, set a goal, and work to achieve it. This week you may want to work on short iron consistency, next week maybe hitting a draw. Either way, make sure you’re armed with a plan.

2. Pick various targets.
The middle of the driving range isn’t a target. Aim at a flag and change your target frequently. You don’t get to hit two of the same shots at the same pin during your round, so why would you practice that way.

3. Start with your short irons and work your way up to your woods.
How many times have you seen a guy grab the driver and head straight to the range? It’s not uncommon. The problem is, the physical demands of the golf swing are greater than most people realize. Make sure that you work up to the longer clubs so that you’re physically prepared to accommodate the heavier workload required by longer clubs.

4. Spend as much time on short game as you would on the full swing.
Think about the last time you went out to practice. How much time did you spend hitting full shots on the range? How much time was spent hitting short shots around the practice green? Find equal time to work on each aspect of your game and watch how quickly your scores improve.

5. Pre round is warm up only.
Anything you do before a round is simply a warm up. You should focus on using this time to work on your pre-shot routine and reinforce what you’ve been practicing. This isn’t the time to experiment with a swing change or try shot types you aren’t familiar or comfortable with.

6. Post round is time to work on swing mechanics.
Most recreational players head home after 18. Go to a PGA Event, see how many players are hitting balls after their round. If things didn’t go well during your round spend some time on the range to dial in your swing before you head home. Be careful however, we don’t want to practice to the point of fatigue. Reinforce what you were doing right, or correct what you were doing wrong on the golf course then get out of there.

7. Document each session.
How many times have you found yourself asking what needed to be done to get back to how you were hitting the ball the previous week? Take a moment or two to jot down a couple notes regarding what you felt worked and didn’t work during your practice session. Doing so may help provide a reference point for potential tough times down the road, but more importantly, you should begin to develop a greater sense of awareness and become more focused while practicing.

8. Don’t take practice too lightly.
You don’t get any freebees on the course so make sure each shot on the range has a purpose. Don’t rush through shots and rifle ball after ball out there without taking a breath. Think about what you’re attempting to do then execute.

9. Incorporate or develop a pre-shot routine.
Assess each shot as you would on the golf course, visualize what you’re trying to accomplish, make your practice swing, and hit your shot. There are a wide number of pre-shot routines or sequence of events a player may partake in prior to hitting their shot. Find out what works for you and learn to employ it before each swing.

10. Visualize holes and practice like you’re playing.
In other words, play the course from the range. Visualize the 1st hole on your home course. Start there and hit shots on the range as if you were actually playing the hole. Learning to do so will help you to maintain focus and will help incorporate a goal for each swing in place of mindlessly hitting balls until your bucket is empty.

So, if you want to play like a pro, start practicing like one. Try out our list above and see how quickly you begin to see an improvement in your game.

Dr. Peter Mackay of San Diego’s Elite Performance Institute demonstrates a 4-5 minute stretching routine to help you improve your mobility and flexibility for better golf.

If you’re experiencing pain, you need to address the source now or suffer some serious consequences later.

Problem.

While recently working with a new client who’d been complaining of low back pain we learned a few things. Here’s what we found:

Our physical screening procedure showed his lower back was being attacked in a few different ways, but the lumbar spine itself wasn’t the problem.

While this client had the ability to tilt the pelvis in both directions with decent range of motion (forward and backward tilt), his tendency was to set up in his golf posture with an arch in his lower back.

We discovered this arched setup was due to some physical limitations including tight hip flexors, and inhibited glutes (butt muscles) and core (abs and back). When faced with this combination of physical limitations a couple things happen to the pelvis, but once resolved we knew it would ease the tension on his lower back.

Tight hip flexors tug the front of the pelvis toward the ground, kind of the same way it would tilt if someone tied a 20 pound weight to your belt buckle. Imagine how much pain you’d be in if you had to experience that every day.

Because of weakness found in both the core and glute muscles there were no sources of strength to counter or offset these tight hip flexors. The end result, our player had no shot at stabilizing his pelvis in any manner other than having that big arch or “S Posture” in his golf set up.

A nice side effect – resolving these limitations not only eliminated his back pain, it eliminated his “S Posture” and improved his golf swing as a result.

Setting up with an “S Posture” in your golf swing limits your ability to maintain your posture through the downswing and rotate properly during the shot.  While hitting balls you should always set up with a neutral spine and avoid S Posture.

Further examination of this player showed his upper back and hip joints were both limited in their ability to rotate. Ultimately, limitations found both above and below his pain source (lower back), forced the body to try and get rotation from the next available place (the lower back) during his golf swing.

Unfortunately for this guy, and everyone else with back pain accompanying their golf swing, the lumbar spine isn’t designed to rotate in a way that will support the golf swing.

Resolution.

In order to relive this player of his back pain we needed to do a few things. We began by working on improving the mobility in both the upper back and hip joints to reduce the attempt to use the lower back for rotation. We also helped him to develop glute and core strength while working on flexibility of the hip flexors so he could maintain a neutral pelvis during the golf swing.

In essence, we helped him to cut that 20 pound weight hanging from his belt buckle.

Explanation.

Prior to correction, his tight hips and lack of upper back mobility directed unwanted rotational stress to the lumbar making it appear to be the source of pain. The lumbar was not the cause of his pain, it was simply the only area that hurt due to the improperly functioning areas above (upper back) and below (hips) the lower spine.

If you’re experiencing lower back pain, don’t assume it’s your back that’s the problem. Visit your golf fitness professional and find out what’s causing the pain, get to the source, and fix it.

To learn more about how to identify the sources of your back pain be sure to make an appointment with one of our golf fitness instructors here.

Dr. Peter Mackay of San Diego’s Elite Performance Institute demonstrates the use of non-traditional isometric patterns to enhance the stability in your golf swing.

Yes, there is such a thing as a Golf Specific Physical Evaluation. Sounds intimidating, right? Not really, especially if you’re still looking to improve your golf game. Unfortunately I’ve met some golfers who think they’re as good as they’ll ever be. Others just plan to keep buying the latest equipment in hopes of gaining a competitive edge. A few guys are still pulling that 8 iron to get over the water on No. 3 while old Father Time keeps begging them to grab more club.

Maybe you can relate to some of those guys maybe you can’t. The bottom line is this. The rules of golf are changing and as you know, it’s not getting any easier. Golf’s governing bodies are putting a cap on what club manufacturers are allowed to build in terms of performance and forgiveness and we’re pretty much against that ceiling as it is. So if we’re hard pressed to find substantially better equipment and the aging process is beginning to rob us of those extra yards, what are we supposed to do? Here’s where the Golf Specific Physical Evaluation comes in.

The good news is that you can still get better with the equipment you have and the fact that we continue to get older doesn’t have to impact your game. Getting a Golf Specific Physical Evaluation allows us to see exactly where our body’s inefficiencies lie (as they relate to golf) and also provide an outlet in which to resolve them.

The evaluation process can uncover a great deal about your body and when it’s all said and done, it can change the way you think about your golf swing. Any individual can have any number of swing faults but what we often find is that the physical state of their body largely contributes to their poor movement pattern. Exposing those areas and consulting with your golf fitness provider to design and execute a plan of attack can help you to improve your golf swing, repair your body and increase your general level of health.