Anderson, a performance coach with 27 years of experience, saw something clicked in 2014 and led three big winners through a series of exercises for photography.
“He went:’Oh, I love how it feels,'” Anderson recalls. “There are photos and images from that photo shoot, and you see him in this wonderful position. I can.”
Anderson has been teaching amateur and professional golfers since 2004, during which time he has seen how fitness conditioning can help players sharpen their games.
“When you can take advantage of the athletic ability you already have and use it for your benefit on the golf course … you get some consistent results.”
Anderson trains athletes in a variety of areas, including American football, baseball, and general fitness, but golf has changed the way he thinks about conditioning the most.
On today’s PGA Tour, the majority of players are lean, muscular, and athletic. Just like when you’re on the golf course, it’s the same when you’re in the gym.
When it comes to golf swing biomechanics, Anderson, who calls himself a “perfect geek,” carefully observes that fitness has become an important element of modern gaming.
“Twenty years ago, a flesh head trainer guy like me trying to talk about golf swings was taboo,” he says. stomach. “
But today, he finds that he is working closely with golfers to improve the physical aspects of the game (stability, mobility, coordination, speed, explosiveness).
“Golf swings are one of the most violent and athletic movements in the world of sports … standing in place and moving as fast as possible,” says Anderson.
Anderson does not focus on helping players get stronger, but on durability and enduring the rigors of swinging a golf club over and over again.
To that end, he does exercises such as TRX (a suspension training tool that uses weight to build strength, balance, and core stability), squat and lunge routines, plank series, deadlift repeats, and sprint and jump sets. I’m using.
Anderson also sees the background of various sports in the interests of golfers.
He is the 2019 US Open Champion and former college basketball player Gary Woodland, two-time major winner Dustin Johnson (“Dunk Basketball Now”), and 2017 Masters Winner and avid soccer player. It refers to Sergio Garcia and so on. ..
“I have found that golf course players have a competitive advantage when playing team or individual sports that require all aspects of exercise, speed, agility and response. “Anderson continues.
“The different types of pressure situations you experience in a typical sport … these are the veins that go through all these sports around the world, and from a competitive point of view, they can actually be used on a golf course. increase.”
Woods training
The relationship between golf and fitness training is not unique to the last 20-30 years. Gary Player is a nine-time big winner who is regularly active until his 80s and frequently praises the benefits of exercise and a healthy lifestyle.
But it is Tiger Woods who is often believed to have revolutionized the sport’s attitude towards the gym.
Woods, 24, has four miles of running in his daily routine, weightlifting training, hours of ball hitting and practice, another four miles of running, and a night of basketball and tennis when he comes up with it. Said to be included.
“The work he put in made him a great player,” Anderson says.
“Well, looking at today, Tiger, the many young, athletic and very talented players out there, were their idols.
“When they wanted to know what it was and what it took to be successful on a golf course, they were looking at someone like Tiger. You have to be fast. , You have to exercise, you have to be powerful and balanced, and they have embraced that spirit. “
DeChambeau’s “scientific approach”
One of the most striking approaches to physical conditioning in today’s golf games is the 2020 US Open Champion, former world No. 1 Bryson DeChambeau, who piled up £ 40 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is a rewarded approach when the tournament returns, with DeChambeau recording four top 10 finishes in June and July 2020.
But Anderson doesn’t think DeChambeau’s blueprint, which involves building muscle to drive the ball long distances, will change the course of golf. He says the window of opportunity provided by the pandemic makes DeChambeau “abnormal.”
“What really helped him do that was that he had this one plane swing,” Anderson adds.
“All his irons are the same length and there are all of this kind. He takes a very cerebral analytical and scientific approach to the game. He puts everything on the same plane. You can keep it right and get off with more power. And speed. “
DeChambeau is not currently on the PGA Tour because he had surgery for a fracture of his left hand.
This means you will miss the PGA Championship at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Here, you’ll love the newly crowned Masters Champion Scottie Scheffler, the world’s second-largest Jon Rahm, and four-time major winner McIlroy.
For Spieth, who Anderson has collaborated several times through shared sponsorship, Americans were able to join the elite circle by completing a career grand slam in the PGA Championship.
He will definitely want another light bulb moment as he bids to win the first major title in five years.
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