Neutral Spine and Pelvic Tilts for Golf Swing Performance

Don Parsons, PGA, TPI

This month we are starting a 3-part video series on golf posture by PGA pro Don Parsons, from the Studio at Twin Lakes. Don is an experienced and knowledgable golf pro with decades of competitive and teaching experience.  When he is not analyzing golf swings, he trains with Prevail Coach Guzman to build a better physical foundation for his own swing.  

Check out the video below!

To set up a an appointment with Don, visit his website to set up an appointment today!

Ankle Circles

Windshield Wipers w/Golf Ball- Hip Internal Roatation

One Leg RDL with Golf Club

Hip External Rotation Seated

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

Knee Hug-Hold: Hip Mobility/ Psoas Activation

Arm Hugs

Exercise of the Week: Anterior Tib SMR

Santa Barbara Golf Academy coming this May!

Prevail Conditioning is excited to announce a joint venture with PGA Professionals Richard Chavez and Dave Thornton and Santa Barbara Golf Club.

Beginning this May, we will initiate a program that will be the first of its kind for golfers in the Santa Barbara area.

Dave Thornton and Richard Chavez will bring decades of expertise in the areas of swing mechanics, golf strategy and sports psychology. The exciting addition to these One Day Seminars will be benefits of power production, postural correction, fine motor control, and joint mobility and stability. As these concepts are becoming more prevalent in the literature and golfing world, our goal is to add a component and perspective to our attendees that will be like none other.

Details for the Santa Barbara Golf Academy / All Day Golf School
1 Hour Seminar/Breakfast at Mulligans Restaurant
2 Hours Golf Instruction with PGA Pros Richard Chavez/Dave Thornton
1 Hour Corrective Exercise / Strength & Power Instruction with
Performance Coach Chris Ecklund
18 Holes Golf
Tuesdays starting in May 2009!

For further information or to Register, contact:
Dave Thornton at 805.687.7087 / teeeoneup@aol.com
Richard Chavez at rchavez@pga.com
Chris Ecklund at 925.285.0924 / chris@prevailconditioning.com

Exercise of the Week: Supine Bridge

Exercise of the Week: Side Bridge

Exercise of the Week: Prone Bridge

May 2008 Core Conditioning Group Training

Here's the Core Conditioning training class at Hayashida & Associates Physical Therapy Clinic. For those of you who are athletes, weekend warriors, or just looking for something different than the typical "gym" workout...put this into effect for a month and watch your agility, stability, balance, explosiveness and core strength improve. If you are an athlete, you can utilize this program as a pre-season, in-season or off season program for improving strength and power-endurance. Variations and progressions exist with each exercise.

Holler with questions:

Dynamic Warm Up/Movement Prep (5-10 minutes)

Core Circuit (2-4 Sets / 30 seconds each / 0-5 seconds between exercises)
Ab Roller
Swiss Ball Back Extension
Quadruped Ipsilateral
Draw In Unsupported March
Cable PNF Lift
Side Bridge (both)

Explosive / Balance Circuit (same sets/time)
DB Push Press
Forward/Reverse Mini Band Walk (Abduction)
Mini Hurdle Skip (forward/reverse)
Zig Zag Hop & Stick
Push Up Clap or Pivot Push Up
Bodyblade PNF w/SL Balance

Agility / Lift Circuit (same sets/time)
Miniband Lateral Shuffle
Single Leg RDL Contralateral
Quad Patterns (1-2’s & 3-4’s)
FreeMotion Push-Pull
Cone Star Drill
DB Lunge w/Press & Knee Punch

Active-Isolated Stretching Cool Down (5-10 minutes)
Strength/Agility Circuit
Bear Crawl/Crab Walk
Agility Ladder 2 Step Backward Run
Valslide Push Up
Fan Drill Cones
Split Squat & Cable Row
Clock Drill Cones

Perform exercises with perfect posture and landing technique prior to progressing to more difficult variations. If you can't do it slow and controlled...you can't do it fast and heavy! Simple as that.

Enjoy!

Consult a physician prior to beginning any exercise program and stop at the onset of any pain or dizziness.

Golf Performance Enhancement Resource: Free!

Here's another podcast you golfers shouldn't be missing. Gamble...when you read this, let me know. Better yet, when you listen to the first podcast...let me know!!!

This is another free podcast that has a tremendous amount of information for those of you fitness/Strength & Conditioning pros who work with golfers. Great information regarding the needs, assessment, evaluation, and training of the golfing population. Take a listen!

Better Golf with Fitness Podcast (click here)

StrengthCoach.com Podcast: Listen for Free

If you are a Strength Coach, trainer, or simply want to learn more...this is a podcast you shouldn't miss. Tons of great information from some of the top minds in the industry. Mike Boyle (pictured below) is a regular on the show and is editor and primary contributor to the StrengthCoach.com website.

Program design, strength/power development, quickness/agility development, mobility/stability/flexibility discussion, assessment and movement evaluation, technique tips, warm up and activation ideas, etc.

If you're not listening, you're not learning...and trust me, there's a LOT to learn.

StrengthCoach.com Podcast (click here)

What I Recommend

For those of you who have not yet taken a look at some of the resources I subscribe to and recommend, take a look in the right hand margin of my blog.

I did want to make special note of a couple sites I use for my own reading/learning as well as some of the sites I use for my own purchases and for those of my clients:

StrengthCoach.com: Edited and run by Mike Boyle, this website has some of the top Strength & Conditioning professionals in the country contributing their thoughts and updates on research, program design, nutrition, injury prevention, etc. One of the primary benefits of this site is online video resources. If you're a strength and conditioning professional or just an avid learner, take a moment to check out this site.

AdvoCare.com: My trusted source for supplement products and information. These are the only products I have taken and recommended to my clients for the past 6 years . With so many companies out there, it's tough to know who is doing the research and putting safe, quality USP grade products in the packages. These guys do it. And not only that, their products work synergistically well within their easy systems.

Also, if you're a trainer looking for a good company to retail to your clients or on your site, you can do it with AdvoCare (click here).

Perform Better: My choice for almost all equipment purchases. Good quality, tons of variety, great library for learning as well.


Human Kinetics: if you're looking for ANY book related to exercise, nutrition, training, strength, conditioning, etc., you'll be able to find it here.

NSCA Performance Videos: A recent find of mine. A great video collection utilizing Dartfish technology showing proper form & technique for several athletic-related lifts, Olympic Lifts and variations, Power Lifts, and Acceleration mechanics.


SPARQ Training: Athletes, this is another Good resource for up-and-coming Performance techniques. Find articles and videos on improving your speed, power, agility, reaction, quickness.

ExRx.net: Another great tool for exercise info and demo videos. Not fun to navigate, but if you take the time you'll find good info.

CorePerformance.com: Mark Vertegen's site. Another tremendous site filled with information on exercise for athletic performance, example programs, nutrition insight, and a large library of exercise videos.

When is the Best Time to Stretch...and How?

Written for SB Fitness Magazine
By Chris Ecklund, MA, CSCS

I like this question. I do. It always makes me laugh. We all know the unspoken question being asked here, right?... “Do I really have to stretch at all, and if so, how little can I do and still be okay?”

For those that read the article I wrote addressing the importance of warm up and cool down, my answer is very similar here: I find that the older I get, the more important stretching becomes (probably because I didn’t do enough when I was younger). Ideally stretching should be a part of our routine from the get-go. However, when bodies and minds are young the feelings of invincibility and rapidly recovering muscles often discourages it…so we are left with the aches and pains to enjoy 20 years later. Good deal, huh?

A couple quick background thoughts. First, why do we stretch? Most often the default answer is ‘to avoid injury.’ Understand, however, that most reviews of literature in the area of flexibility training would likely agree that there is not a strong correlation between static stretching (the type where you ‘hold’ the stretch) and acute injury reduction. Is it probable that it does help at all in the area? Sure. But not a primary result as per the literature. This begs the second question…if not for injury prevention, then why? The primary reasons we find in current literature center around improved posture, decreased chronic injury or pain (i.e. low back pain), improved movement economy (your body moves more efficiently and doesn’t fight itself), and decreased recovery time. And just like all other fitness or exercise-related questions, the goal of the ‘stretching’ or ‘flexibility’ training would determine the type of stretching and the appropriate placement in an exercise session. Here are the most common stretching techniques as well as when, how, and why to use them:

Static Stretching: This is what most people are familiar with. It is the stretch that you “hold.”
Goal: lengthen the muscle and associated connective tissue to allow greater range of motion. Necessary for maintaining proper posture and allowing full range of motion in activities of choice. Decreases recovery time.
How: with proper posture and alignment, stretch the muscle to the point of discomfort (not pain) and hold the position for at least 20-45 seconds. Keep the muscle relaxed and maintain slow relaxed breathing patterns. Perform 2-3 sets on appropriate muscles.
When: if you are only going to do it once during your routine, do it at the end of your workout. You can also stretch in between sets of an exercise to maximize your workout time. Also, it may be appropriate to stretch prior to exercise also. However, if you are focused on building strength or power, static stretching is not recommended between sets or immediately pre-activity as most research shows decrements in these variables for up to 60 minutes post stretching.

PNF or Neuromuscular Stretching: this is often referred to as the “Hold-Contract-Relax” method. Though there are other methods of Neuromuscular Stretching, this is the most common. Most literature would agree that, if done correctly, Neuromuscular Stretching is slightly more effective than is Static Stretching.
Goal: Same as Static Stretching but perhaps a more aggressive approach.
How: with proper posture and alignment, stretch the muscle to the point of discomfort (not pain) and hold the position for 5-10 seconds. Then perform an isometric contraction of the muscle being stretched (this will increase the feel of the stretch as well as decrease some of the neural inhibitors) for 5-10 seconds. Then, relax and take a deep breath and move to the new point of discomfort (this is usually 5-10 degrees further each time). Repeat this pattern 2 or 3 times. Keep the muscle relaxed and maintain slow relaxed breathing patterns. Perform 2-3 sets on appropriate muscles.
When: research here is similar to Static Stretching with respects to timing, and for similar reasons.

Dynamic Stretching: This is often referred to as calisthenics or movement-oriented warm up.
Goal: increase muscle and connective tissue temperature, range of motion, blood flow to the working muscles (more nutrient supply) and increase neural drive to working muscles. In essence, to prepare the muscle for the activity it is about to encounter.
How: in the simplest terms…start with small slow movements and gradually progress them to bigger and faster movements. Engaging in movements similar to that which you are about to engage in are most beneficial (i.e. don’t go skip to warm up for swimming). In attempting to warm up for most ground based sporting activities, movements like body weight squats, gradual sprint build ups, side slides, skipping, cariocca, etc. types of activities work well.
When: more research and applied science encourage this type of “flexibility” training pre-activity. Why? You don’t lose strength and power. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Why would you teach your muscle to relax (static stretch) before trying to get it to contract quickly and powerfully? I don’t know either. If you figure it out, let me know. Point?…prepare the body for what it is about to encounter. It may also be wise to perform this type of activity as a “cool down” post exercise to shuttle waste out of the body and decrease recovery time.

Self Myofascial Release: a technique that has come to some popularity over the past 5 years. It is ultimately utilizing various tools (a foam roller, a “Stick”) to apply self-massage. In truth, it is not stretching, per se, but it does have significant benefit for range of motion which is why it’s worth mentioning here.
Goal: to break down trigger points and/or knots within the muscle as well as adhesions between the fascia (tissue surrounding muscle) and muscle itself. When either of these are present, range of motion is affected due to inhibited neural communication with the muscle and connective tissue preventing movement.
How: utilize tools such as “The Stick,” a 6” Foam Roller, or anything relatively firm (tennis ball, medicine ball, etc.). If using a Foam Roller, lay the appropriate muscle atop the roller and attempt to work out any sensitive areas that are encountered. Use as much pressure from bodyweight as can be tolerated while maintaining a relaxed muscle and breathing pattern. Work out the worst areas first. Perform 2-3 sets of 30-60 seconds per muscle.
When: SMR techniques can be applied pre-exercise, in between exercise sets, or post exercise. If you only have time for one application, pre-exercise is probably the best option.

Example routine for “General Fitness”
Dynamic Warm Up 5-10 Minutes
Static Stretching or SMR Techniques 5-10 Minutes
Exercise
Static Stretching between sets
Dynamic Cool Down 5-10 Minutes
Static or Neuromuscular Stretching 10-15 Minutes

Example routine for “Athletes”
Dynamic Warm Up 10-15 Minutes
SMR Techniques 5-10 Minutes
Exercise
SMR Techniques between sets
Dynamic Cool Down 5-10 Minutes
SMR Techniques 5 Minutes
Neuromuscular Stretching 15-30 Minutes

Apply these techniques to your program for 1-2 months and you will notice significant benefit.

Consult a physician prior to beginning any exercise program and stop at the onset of any pain or dizziness.

Advocare Partners with Drew Brees Foundation

To See or Not to See...

Written for SportsVision Magazine Vol.1 No.3
by Chris Ecklund, MA, CSCS

In the past couple pieces I have focused primarily on what happens when an athlete sees better, sooner, more, etc. as well as how to improve those capacities. This issue we’re going to take a slightly different slant on vision…or lack thereof: how the lack of vision can be helpful to an athlete.

I know, I know. You’re probably thinking, “He’s just taking us down this road to make it appear like he’s going to tell us something that’s fantastically counterintuitive.” And, if you are thinking that, I would have to tell you…you’re right.

Balance and stability are things I constantly work on with all of my athletes (and clients in general). I don’t care what sport you play or what activities you do (or if you primarily engage in power walking for your activity like my mother does), balance is important. The ability of an athlete or individual to be kinesthetically aware (know where his/her body is in space) is extremely important. The way I see it, the better an athlete knows and can feel where his/her body is in space, the better the application of force, and the better the application of force, the better the outcome is with less chance for injury. That’s a pretty simplistic approach, but I’ve found it to be quite successful.

Case in point. I had an athlete a couple years ago who was a sophomore basketball player playing on the varsity basketball team. He came to me about a month before the end of season and asked me to help him improve his vertical jump. Now, for those of you who haven’t heard this before…the end of the season is not the time for improving power. And to make the issue worse, this sophomore was (though a great little player) still quite physically underdeveloped after his growth spurts left him tall and lanky. So, my plan was simple. I told him we’re not going to work on improving power, that needs to be done in the off season. We’re going to work on balance, stability, and jumping mechanics. And that’s what we did. We worked on single leg balance with a good hip load and knee-toe alignment. We worked on single leg hopping and sticking the landing. And we worked on low level double leg jumping and landing on balance. What happened? Two inches added to his vertical in one month. To be honest, I was a little surprised. But hopefully my point is, in part, exemplified. Yet in case it’s not, let’s go a little further.

One particular drill I work up to with my clients is something I call Balance Triangles. It’s a ¼ squat, single leg, eyes closed balance for time with the other foot in various positions. I am constantly amazed at how often my clients are surprised that this is more difficult than with their eyes open. Of course it’s harder. You can’t see! But why does that make it harder? Vision is one of a number of tools our bodies use for balance. Vision provides feedback to our brain with respect to where we are in space. Therefore, our nervous system can send messages to our muscles to respond before we get too far off balance. Now, take that advantage away and what are we left with? We are left with the sensors within our muscles, tendons and skin as well as our inner ear feedback mechanisms. While these mechanisms are effective, in some individuals they can be underdeveloped (due to previous injury, lack of use, etc.) or underutilized. A concept that I’ve heard many coaches that I respect offer is that practices should be tough enough that games seem easy. I think in the strength and conditioning realms, this concept has application as well. And this is one of those areas. If I can get an athlete to feel and control their body’s ability to balance without sight, how much more easily will that be accomplished with sight?

Therefore, I often progress to eyes closed balance drills. When athletes can better feel where their bodies are in space, body control is a natural byproduct. The more control I can get out of an athlete, the better directed is the force production. The better the force is directed, the more power I get out of the athlete. And if I can get more power out of an athlete who is now better balanced before I even truly address the area of strength…we have something exciting happening.

Try these simple drills at home to help improve your balance and body control. Start with your eyes open first. Begin with 2-3 sets for 5-15 seconds per position. Once 3 sets can be accomplished in each position for 30 seconds, then try with your eyes closed.

Coaching Points for Balance Triangles:
1. Draw In Tight (belly button to spine)
2. Maintain Knee-Toe alignment
3. Begin in a ¼ squat position with hips loaded (slightly pushed back until you feel your glutes and hamstrings firing)
4. Make sure you can wiggle your toes
5. Hit all 3 points of the triangle before switching feet
6. If you’re struggling moving from eyes open to eyes closed, try to take a visual snapshot of the room you’re standing in and then imagine that picture in your mind once you’ve closed your eyes.

The 20/20 Workout: Improve Peripheral Vision Skills

Written for SportsVision Magazine January-March 2007 Issue
by Chris Ecklund, MA, CSCS

Working with athletes to improve visual and perception skills is not something new to the sports arena. However, the addition of utilizing planned integration of these skills and techniques into the strength and conditioning or coaching fields is a relatively new trend. In a recent article published by the National Strength and Conditioning Association it was noted that as Strength Coaches progress athletes to maximal strength/power/conditioning, it may be necessary to focus on other areas in order to help athletes continue to improve and achieve maximum performance.

While the Strength and Conditioning coach is by no means a visual expert, there is available information in which S&C coaches (and coaches in general) can educate themselves in order to integrate this type of training into the workout session. One evidence of this vision focus and available information is on the Nike SPARQ Website (www.sparqtraining.com).

The American Optometric Association identifies 9 important visual skills helpful for sports performance. They are: Dynamic Visual Acuity, Visual Concentration, Eye Tracking, Eye-Hand-Body Coordination, Visual Memory, Visual Reaction Time, Visualization, Peripheral Vision and Depth Perception.

The purpose of this article is to focus on the improvement of Peripheral Vision, that is, the vision of what occurs beyond the boundaries of one’s center of focus. It should be quite apparent that an athlete’s ability to identify, process and respond to activity that occurs in his/her peripheral vision is, in most sports, not peripheral at all. In fact, often times cues and information that is vital to a play or sequence occurs in the periphery of the athlete’s vision. And though it is not possible to improve the physical range or field of peripheral vision one can see, it is possible to improve one’s awareness of information, perception of that information and ability to process and respond to it.

As a Strength and Conditioning profession one of the primary facets of training I deal with is improving athletic performance through more appropriate, refined, balanced, stable, powerful movement. In doing so I have found it overwhelmingly true that there are stages of both physical and anatomical adaptation (hypertrophy, strength, etc.) but also neurological adaptation. What I mean by that is this; it isn’t appropriate to make an athlete stronger just by adding weight. There may be inappropriate movement habits or compensations at work that must be dealt with in stages in order to gain maximal performance gains safely and effectively. As Loren Seagrave (an internationally renowned S&C coach) put it, athletes go through 4 stages of learning: unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence and finally unconscious competence. Ultimately it is a process of moving through not knowing you are doing it incorrectly to performing it correctly without having to think about it. It is important to remember that as a Sport Coach or S&C Coach we cannot overload an athlete with too many stimuli to focus on at any one time. If an athlete were in a stage of Conscious Incompetence for a sport skill, it would not be appropriate to add another stimuli to improve peripheral vision as the athlete would most likely not improve at either skill. Keep this concept in mind as you implement the following plan.

With that in mind, here is a progression moving through 7 weeks of 20 workout sessions to not only improve peripheral vision but to implement it into the playing field:

Four Drills/ 5 Minutes Each = 20 minutes to 20/20 SportsVision
1. See and Describe (SD)
This drill will need either 1 “coach.” Athlete is seated or standing. The coach must watch the eyes of the athlete to make sure they are focused on an object specified by the coach directly ahead of the athlete. The coach then places various objects into the athlete’s peripheral field of vision and asks the athlete to describe the object in as much detail as possible. As the photoreceptors in the eye that sense peripheral vision are not color sensitive (rods) it should be noted that the coach should not place a great emphasis on color as opposed to simply lightness or darkness of the object.

2. See and Respond (SR)
This drill will need either 2 “coaches”. Athlete is seated or standing. One coach must watch the eyes of the athlete to make sure they are focused on an object specified by the coach directly ahead of the athlete. The 2nd coach stands behind the athlete. At approximately 12-24 inches from the athlete’s head, the coach brings into peripheral view stimuli he/she wants the athlete to respond to (pick a sport appropriate stimuli such as tennis ball, football, picture of another athlete, etc.). The athlete must respond with a verbal cue when the object comes into his/her field of vision. Pick cues that are sport related, such as “ball,” “defense,” “hit,” etc.

3. See, Look, Respond (SLR)
This drill will need 2 “coaches”. Athlete is seated or standing. One coach must watch the eyes of the athlete to make sure they are focused on an object specified by the coach directly ahead of the athlete. The 2nd coach stands behind the athlete. At approximately 12-24 inches from the athlete’s head, the coach brings into peripheral view stimuli he/she wants the athlete to respond to (pick a sport appropriate stimuli such as tennis ball, football, picture of another athlete, etc.). The athlete must turn his/her head and look at the object when it comes into vision and then respond with a verbal cue. Again, pick cues that are sport related, such as “ball,” “defense,” “hit,” or reach out to grab the object, knock it down, etc.

4. See, Look, Prioritize, Respond (SLPR)
This drill will need 2 “coaches”. Athlete is seated or standing. One coach must watch the eyes of the athlete to make sure they are focused on an object specified by the coach directly ahead of the athlete. The 2nd coach stands behind the athlete. At approximately 12-24 inches from the athlete’s head, the coach brings into peripheral view 2 stimuli he/she wants the athlete to respond to (pick a sport appropriate stimuli such as tennis ball, football, picture of another athlete, etc.). The athlete must turn his/her head and look at the objects when they come into vision and then respond with a verbal or physical cue. Again, pick cues that are sport related, such as “ball,” “defense,” “hit,” or reach out to grab the object, knock it down, etc.

These drills can be implemented at the appropriate times of your sessions based on what your objectives are. For example, after the drills are learned they can be utilized as a great option for dynamic warm ups as they will need to be completed at relatively slow speeds early on.

The ultimate goal of the Sport Coach or S&C Coach should be to improve an athlete’s ability to perform relatively complex motor skills without thinking about having to be aware of peripheral vision. You want the athlete to be able to be “unconsciously competent” at moving about the playing field while perceiving what is happening in the peripheral fields of vision.

Hope you enjoy implementing these techniques into your workout or practice sessions!