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More muscle more problems?

INgolfer

INgolfer

Internet Golfer
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This may be more of a mental thing, but I thought I'd get other people's input on this. We see many body types in golf from skinny, average, to John Daly. I remember a few years back when Tiger's struggles started some analysts thought he had put on too much muscle and that's why his swing had started to decline.

I've put on 13 pounds of lean muscle in the last 2 months (I can put it on fast if you've seen my dad you'd know I have decent genetics) and was thinking of getting back into competing in some local powerlifting meets, but I feel like my swing has declined a little. Even after 8 months off I started off hitting the ball well this year, and I've been hitting the range at least once or twice a week and playing at least one round per week. If I know I'm playing a round I change my workout schedule so I don't lift that day or the day before so I'm not tight or fatigued. I always work out at least 4 days per week.

I played in an outing yesterday and it was my first round in a week and a half. Just didn't feel like my range of motion was as good and I wasn't getting through the ball well, had a couple drives that I pushed right. Overall not a bad round but not great either.

I guess my question is this...do you think having bigger muscles hurts the swing? Maybe I just need to stretch more, maybe I just need more range time. But I feel like my practice has been steady, not as much as I used to, but my swing is feeling harder. It was pretty cold yesterday, low 50's, so it was tough to get loose, but I've played well in those conditions before.

Guess I'm just looking for some thoughts on whether heavy lifting is good for golfers or if I should just settle with sticking with the weight I'm at. Golf and weightlifting are both passions of mine so its tough to give up one to be better at the other.
 
I think it does, especially with powerlifting. Powerlifting only promotes strength while restricting range of motion and flexibility. You need the latter two to swing effectively. Strength and fitness help a golf swing, but core work and low weight, high rep, high intensity workouts that build lean muscle are much better than the bulky muscle that comes with powerlifting. Tiger is a good example. A person's frame is only meant to carry so much mass, and I think crossing that threshold can be problematic in the long run.
 
I also believe that heavy lifting and the acquisition of extra mass is not good for the golfer.
 
Depends on how you get that muscle IMO. If train like a bodybuilder then you will have problem IMO. Tiger's problem wasn't the muscle. He had a swing that was bio mechanically speaking hard on his body.

For me, it's all about how you gained that muscle.
 
blugold said:
Depends on how you get that muscle IMO. If train like a bodybuilder then you will have problem IMO. Tiger's problem wasn't the muscle. He had a swing that was bio mechanically speaking hard on his body.

For me, it's all about how you gained that muscle.
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100 true in all aspects
 
Just basing this on my experience but I follow more of a powerlifting style of weight training (Wendler 5/3/1) and it has done wonders for my swing. You have to be flexible to perform a squat, over head press, etc. Stretching and foam rolling are the big factors, however. Don't be afraid to look into some basic Yoga or stretch routines.

I was in your exact shoes: love heavy low rep style of training and enjoy playing golf. Decided to add more stretching/foam rolling and it has helped tremendously. Give it a few weeks or a month and see how you feel.
 
I've been working on doing more stretching to stay loose and flexible. Maybe doing some yoga would help a little more. I've been around this stuff a long time so its hard to go into the gym and lift light weights after going heavy for so long in my early 20's. I hate sitting there curling 15's and 20's to stay light while I watch other guys curl the 40's and 50's. I am a very competitive person, its just my nature.
 
Powerlifting or training like a bodybuilder will hurt your swing. A golf specific weight and flexibility routine will help your swing. I like the book, "Fix Your Body Fix Your Swing" to determine the best exercise/strength routine for my areas of weakness. I stopped caring how big my muscles were sometime after my 2nd child was born. Now my focus is on golf specific training and lots of cardio workouts so I can live long enough when retired to collect a pension from my company for 40 years.:act-up:

Started doing a few exercises with free weights and cable machines from this book a couple months and I'm hitting it longer than ever. I'm probably hitting triple the number of par 5's in two than I have been the last 20 years. In fact I've had three par 5 eagles in the last 5 rounds. It feels good to hit it like I'm 28 years old again.
 
I'm not trying to be a professional bodybuilder or anything, I just have a high natural metabolism and I lose weight pretty quick if I don't work out regularly, and I've been doing light weights long enough that I feel I've just started looking scrawny which is not good when you work in the fitness industry and I deal with gym members and national reps from sports nutrition companies and I look like I've never touched a weight in my life.
 
tahoebum said:
Powerlifting or training like a bodybuilder will hurt your swing. A golf specific weight and flexibility routine will help your swing. I like the book, "Fix Your Body Fix Your Swing" to determine the best exercise/strength routine for my areas of weakness. I stopped caring how big my muscles were sometime after my 2nd child was born. Now my focus is on golf specific training and lots of cardio workouts so I can live long enough when retired to collect a pension from my company for 40 years.:act-up:

Started doing a few exercises with free weights and cable machines from this book a couple months and I'm hitting it longer than ever. I'm probably hitting triple the number of par 5's in two than I have been the last 20 years. In fact I've had three par 5 eagles in the last 5 rounds. It feels good to hit it like I'm 28 years old again.
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I disagree about the powerlifting.

There is a ton of flexibility needed to squat properly. Lots of flexibility needed for snatches. Combine the explosive aspects and the posterior chain strength needed, all great for golf.
 
blugold said:
I disagree about the powerlifting.

There is a ton of flexibility needed to squat properly. Lots of flexibility needed for snatches. Combine the explosive aspects and the posterior chain strength needed, all great for golf.
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True but squats and snatches are only part of the equation, and for lower body and core strength they are great as well. But for a workout full of powerlifting as the main focus, it can't be good. It would have to be a balanced approach with streching/yoga/pilates as was stated above. It's not the powerlifting exercises that I disagree with, its the high weight/low rep part that I think is counterproductive.
 
More muscle more problems?

EaglevsFalcon said:
True but squats and snatches are only part of the equation, and for lower body and core strength they are great as well. But for a workout full of powerlifting as the main focus, it can't be good. It would have to be a balanced approach with streching/yoga/pilates as was stated above.
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Maybe. I'm plenty flexibly and have never done a yoga or Pilates session. Plus, just completing golf swings on a regular basis is plenty fine dynamic stretching.


But yoga and Pilates can't hurt.
 
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All I'm saying is to not be afraid of muscle. Just be conscience how you get it.

Plus, this guy had no issues completing a golf swing and putting the ball out there.........a long ways.

zuback.jpg
 
I guess I should clarify. I've never done powerlifting-specific training. Because of my low body fat % and my strength I have always done well in meets because I'm in the lighter weight classes. I lift for a balanced physique, my sets usually involve progressive overload and I do 4 sets 12/10/8/6. I eat a balanced diet, I don't eat junk to get big and bulky like the guys you see on the Worlds Strongest Man competitions. As a comparison, look at some of the NFL's most elusive WR's or RB's. Adrian Peterson is flexible and fast but he definitely has good muscle size. I'm sure he works hard on his flexibility which is what I'm focusing more on than I used to.
 
INgolfer said:
I guess I should clarify. I've never done powerlifting-specific training. Because of my low body fat % and my strength I have always done well in meets because I'm in the lighter weight classes. I lift for a balanced physique, my sets usually involve progressive overload and I do 4 sets 12/10/8/6. I eat a balanced diet, I don't eat junk to get big and bulky like the guys you see on the Worlds Strongest Man competitions. As a comparison, look at some of the NFL's most elusive WR's or RB's. Adrian Peterson is flexible and fast but he definitely has good muscle size. I'm sure he works hard on his flexibility which is what I'm focusing more on than I used to.
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Compound lifts and full range of motion are my keys. Isolation lifts are useless to me.
 
blugold said:
All I'm saying is to not be afraid of muscle. Just be conscience how you get it.

Plus, this guy had no issues completing a golf swing and putting the ball out there.........a long ways.

zuback.jpg
Click to expand...

I agree. As long as there is a comprehensive plan and understanding of what is to be accomplished, then go for it.

For myself, I've always been a high rep/low weight guy because my natural flexiblility is a great strength to me, and I try to accentuate it. Whatever works for for your own personal physiology.
 
I think were all saying some variation of the same thing - excess mass, whether that be muscle or fat - that inhibits flexibility is bad news for the golf swing.

Golf clubs aren't especially heavy, muscle isn't nearly as important as a big turn to generating club head speed.
 
blugold said:
I disagree about the powerlifting.

There is a ton of flexibility needed to squat properly. Lots of flexibility needed for snatches. Combine the explosive aspects and the posterior chain strength needed, all great for golf.
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I guess I should have added more detail to clarify my meaning. The serious powerlifters I have know(my brother had a 380 lbs bench and 490 lb squat at 189 lbs in his younger days) tend to focus only on power lifting and don't normally focus on the yoga and stretching needed to maintain flexibility. Powerlifting in itself isn't bad but I've just never seen scratch golfer that was decent at powerlifting. I have seen plenty of scratch golfers that can't bench press there own body weight.
 
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I think if you're lifting for aesthetics/mass, then you can run into situations where you have to make some swing adjustments to compensate for muscles. But lifting for strength and being mindful of flexibility? Shouldn't be a huge issue. That being said, increasing your strength and power, moves like the snatch and clean for example, can increase the velocity of some parts of your swing and lead to some parts getting out of sync, IMO. I'm much more likely to fight a hook when I'm lifting a lot, as my hips get too far out ahead of my shoulders.
 
The longest and best driver of the ball I know is pro bowler EJ Tackett who is 22 years old and he weighs about 130 lbs wet, and at the same time, I play with a very much overweight guy who is 60 and hits it about as far. Bodies builders never seem to make great golfers.
 
HoosierGolfer said:
The longest and best driver of the ball I know is pro bowler EJ Tackett who is 22 years old and he weighs about 130 lbs wet, and at the same time, I play with a very much overweight guy who is 60 and hits it about as far. Bodies builders never seem to make great golfers.
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EJ is pretty wild. Definitely a toothpick haha he sure does heave a bowling ball too
 
I lost 45 lbs in the last 3 years when I stopped coaching and also lifting, with the loss of the bulky short muscle and the evolution into longer leaner muscle with more flexibility I hit the ball about 20 yards further than I ever did at my "strongest". You can loft lift and bulk and have no issues, but you had better abide by the flexibility/stretching too as that makes it the best of both worlds.

For me having HAD to be in and around the weight room for about 20 years of my life, I don't and can't do it anymore, its total burnout. But you'd better believe I stretch a lot though, flexibility is key.
 
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