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Balance
Your Checkbook and Golf Swing
We all search for it.
Balance in our daily lives. Balance while riding a
bike. Politicians are always debating a balanced
budget in Washington, and most of us could use a
little balance in our checkbooks. Balance is a term
used in golf quite often as well. It's a "buzzword"
and almost a cliché when it comes to the golf swing.
I am sure you have heard numerous times from swing
coaches that "you have to stay balanced when
swinging your club." Others phrases that I hear when
we talk about golf and balance are the following:
"When it comes to a sand shot, dig your feet into
the stand so you can stay balanced," "If the ball is
on an uphill lie and above your feet, make sure you
swing through the ball, and stayed balanced," and
"Stay balanced when hitting the driver and get to
the finish position in perfect balance." The list
could go on and on, and I am sure all of you could
probably add to the short list above.
Two questions always
arise in my mind when I hear the word balance in
association with golf: 1) what does balance exactly
mean, and 2) how do I create balance in my golf
swing? I am guessing quite a few of you have these
same questions, or similar ones, when you talk about
the subject of balance in relation to the golf
swing.
I am going to answer
both of these questions. We will first define
balance and its relation to the golf swing.
Secondly, we will discuss how you develop the
balance capacities of your body in relation to the
golf swing. So without further ado let's get
started. What is Balance? This is a really great
question and the perfect way to begin. So let's hear
it! What is the definition of balance? Think about
it for a minute and then write down a couple of your
answers. I understand that this is not the easiest
question to answer (trust me, I have asked it plenty
of times), and it is okay if you are not able to
create a good working definition of balance (that's
part of what we are going to do with this article).
Okay, time is up, what did you write down?
Well, let me tell you
some of the replies I have received for this
question and we will take if from there. Here are
just a few that I hear: "head over your belly button
between your feet," "swinging a club on the correct
path," "knowing where your body is in space," and
"kinesthetic awareness." All of these answers are
somewhat correct, but none of them gives us a good
sound understanding of what balance really means.
The definition of
balance is simply the ability to control your body
during movement. Sounds pretty simple, does it not?
It really is when you think about it, but let's
break this definition down so we understand it
completely. Starting with the first portion of the
definition: "the ability to control" means what?
Well, it is probably easiest to imagine what "out of
control" looks like. Take the mental image of a
racecar crashing into the wall. We could describe
the car as out of control. Now take the flip side of
this, and what would this car look like if it were
in control? It would probably zoom around the track
without hitting anything. The body is the same; if
your body is out of control it will, in a sense,
crash or fall over. If the body is in control, then
it performs whatever movement you are asking of it
without "crashing." Take the example of a toddler
running. Sometimes they get going so quickly that
they get out of control and fall over. Other times
they stay in control and are able to run.
Moving onto the
second part of the definition: "your body." Pretty
easy concept to understand, don't you think? Your
body includes your torso, head, arms, legs, and
anything attached to the arms or legs, like a golf
club. Up to this point we can put together the first
two parts of the definition and summarize it as: the
body (including your arms, legs, torso, head, and
golf club) must be under control. Let us add the
final part of the definition into the mix to
complete our understanding.
The final piece of
the definition is: "during movement." This simply
means anything your body is doing. It can be
walking, running, throwing a baseball, or, in our
world, swinging a golf club. Swinging a golf club is
"our movement when discussing this definition. We
are now at the point to put the whole definition
together. Let us use the example of a golf swing to
create the connection we are looking for in terms of
the definition.
Balance is the
ability of your body (i.e. nerves, muscles, and
skeleton) to swing a golf club effectively and
efficiently on the correct path without changing the
position of your body in such a way that it is
detrimental to the swing and its outcome (i.e.
contact with the ball). Pretty simple definition
when you break it down, and from now on when your
swing coach says, "You have to stay balanced," you
know what he is talking about. Developing Balance in
Our Golf Swing Okay, we now know the definition of
balance and its relationship to the golf swing. Now,
for the second question of this article: "how do we
develop balance in relationship to our golf swing?"
This next section will answer this question for you.
I would also bet that the answer is not as obvious
as it appears.
I will first say that
developing balance in your swing is a combination of
a couple of factors. The first and probably most
obvious factor is mechanics. The golf swing is a
biomechanical movement that requires the body to
take the club through a specified swing path in a
certain sequence and timing. The body must learn the
biomechanical movement of a golf swing to become
efficient with the movement. As your body becomes
aware of the movement, more efficient with the
movement, and has a better "feel" for the movement,
the concept of balance in your swing will improve.
So the first part of developing balance in your
swing is linked to the mechanics of the swing and
becoming more efficient with these mechanics. This
all funnels down to two things: 1) proper
instruction about the swing, and 2) practice.
Practice, practice, and more practice is necessary
to create better balance in your swing.
The second factor has
to do with a term that many of you have probably
heard before. That term is "muscle memory." Realize
that within your body the skeleton is controlled by
your muscles, muscles are controlled by nerves, and
the nerves are told what to do by your brain. The
messages sent to your muscles through your nerves by
the brain create movement (i.e. muscles working to
make the body move). These movements can either be
efficient or inefficient. Inefficient movements by
the muscular system tend to be "sloppy" and
"unrefined." Efficient movements are just the
opposite. Efficient movements by your muscular
system are refined and technical. Improvement in
balance is a result of the latter (i.e. efficient
muscular movement). Efficient muscular movement is
developed through training the muscles and nerves of
your body to become more efficient. This is not done
through typical exercises like bench press or leg
press, but through stabilization and balance
exercises.
As golfers we have
our priorities. Let's get some balance in our golf
swing by training our bodies, getting proper
instruction, and certainly a lot of practice. Once
we've got balance there, then we'll start talking
about balancing our checkbook or helping Washington
balance the federal budget. To learn more about
improving your golf swing go to our web site
www.bioforcegolf.com.
Sean Cochran
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