Position Statement of The Golf Athlete:

History of Player Development:

The modern golfer is subject to a barrage of coaching and health & fitness advice. In the mid 1990s there were only a handful of scientifically based textbooks and no web-based information, dedicated to a multi-disciplinary approach to improving the performance of the golfer. Over the last 15 years there has been a proliferation of Health and Fitness advice due to the successful emergence of Tiger Woods as a dominant force in World Golf. Prior to this period, the directors of TGA and its consultants, had been researching optimal swing technique and pioneering physical intervention for the golfer. This strategy for intervention had its roots in an already successful philosophy of athletic development based around the Australian Institute of Sport. There is now a second wave of knowledge emerging that dictates that the link between physical and technical intervention to the golfer will have to evolve. This evolution will concentrate on the physical or athletic development over the entire life of every athlete - a focus that has historically not existed. This concept is termed Long Term Player (Ahtlete) Development or better known by its acronym LTAD (see www.movementdynamics.com). Kelvin Giles (Director of Movement Dynamics) now provides TGA with LTAD expertise and performance enhancement skills across a range of our services and products. The topic of Long Term Player Development will be covered in more detail elsewhere on the website.

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Experience:

In 1978, the Australian government undertook the bold initiative, after its poorest Olympic performance ever in 1976, to establish a centralised training, competition and research facility in Canberra - this was to be known as the Australian Institute of Sport. The enlighten view of the time was to provide a forum where coaching could exchange ideas with the sports science/medicine team and thus accelerate its development. This was supported by a push to improve coach education through a structured process of qualification to the international level of Coaching. This revolution was partnered with the philosophy that sports medicine and sports science should co-habitate the same environment as the coaches and the athletes. Over the next two plus decades, this two pronged approach was to set Australia at the forefront of sporting performance on the World stage, particularly within the Olympic family.

Right up until the present time, Australia continues to be the most successful nation, based upon its population, when compared to its more populous competitors. This is reflected in its fourth place finish at both the Sydney and Athens Olympics in total medals won as well as its national teams' successes in the non-Olympic sports arena.

The idea of sports medicine science working closely with the coach and the athlete to accelerate the attainment of optimal technique, decrease injury occurrence and to improve recovery rates was pivotal to Australian Sporting success since the early 80s. Australian academic institutions have supported each of these integral components through research and course development to improve education of the future generations at all coaching levels.

The Formation of The Golf Athlete Partnership:

In the early 90s the directors of TGA had already been involved with golfing organisations and individuals, providing research and practical application of sports science/medicine strategies in an ad hoc manner. The emergence of Tiger Woods and his ground breaking Masters win in 1997, provided significant impetus to the increased awareness of this type of strategy as a valid and valuable service for those wishing to improve technically and thus compete successfully on any stage.

Thus in 1999, Rob Neal, David Chettle and Michael Dalgleish formed an alliance and created The Golf Athlete with the expressed view of providing “scientific support for better golf performance”. Their desire was to create resources and services that supported the “coach driven” model of player development. That is, the player and coach relationship is sacred. The services provided by TGA should aim to support that relationship – education, repeatable excellence in the golf swing, longevity and important strategies to reduce injury rates and accelerate return to playing. The unique skills brought together in this partnership were largely in the improvement in the player’s ability to “physically” swing the golf club more proficiently and efficiently. Thus the triumvirate of biomechanics, physiotherapy and strength and conditioning for golf was created as the cornerstone of The Golf Athlete’s interventions. The alliance identified that for a truly holistic approach to be embodied there would need to be a complete spectrum of practitioners that may need to be involved to truly reflect the totality of sports science/medicine. Thus TGA continues to espouse the role of podiatry, psychology, massage therapy, optometry, nutrition and sports medicine practice in all of its resources and education forums.

Physical versus Technical Development in the Golf Swing:

If you ask the average PGA Professional or Golf Coach, how many common technical faults do they see as identifiable on a weekly basis, amongst their presenting clients on the range – they will likely list over 50 and possibly a hundred, when the numerous opinions are collated.

It is rare that two coaches will have a uniformed opinion as to the technical direction for the development of a single golfer - the TGA staff recognise and respect this aspect as a constant within golf coaching. However, the research supports the view that there are definite immutable “corridors” of an ideal swing technique that are characteristic of the best players on the planet. We would refer you to our section on biomechanics and three dimensional kinematics, for more explanation of this point (see also www.golfbiodynamics.com). As a consequence of this fact, there will be certain swing faults that will have a definite physical cause or contribution and some that will not.

In practical terms, for many average players, their inability to change a specific swing fault has its major cause in the players inability to physically do it. This maybe due to a lack of awareness or poor co-ordination or motor patterning, decreased range of motion or basic control of body segment or actual strength. In some cases, it could be a combination of a number of these issues. More importantly, coaching improvements maybe slow or retarded by a player’s physical inability!! Enlightened coaching will accelerate their coaching outcomes by embracing the link that physical inability may lead to technical deficiencies. The Golf Athlete aims to support coaches, players and allied health staff who support this approach on a daily basis.

The Coach’s Responsibility Now and in the Future:

Coaching for the average athlete is no longer something you do when you are “bored with your real job” – it is a fulltime profession. Most coaches are now well educated and bring to the table a range of skills that are honed over years in training and education. The modern PGA Professional or Golf Coach often has tertiary education and thus has a good understanding of the link between the technical and physical development of golfers of all ages and handicaps.

TGA is concerned that some coaches are being armed by some institutions, with a minimum skill set to evaluate physical deficiencies and then apply intervention strategies. In these increasingly litigious days, it is appropriate to highlight the fact that prescription outside ones field of expertise attracts inherent risk. Good coaches will surround themselves with quality support staff and thus safely maximise the improvements in their coaching outcomes. The benefit of this multi-disciplinary approach is that collectively everyone benefits, more work is created and the education for all team members is accelerated. This is the competitive advantage that the most successful coaches in the world have monopolised over the last two decades. This philosophy has slowly permeated the largest Professional Golfing Associations and thus the rank and file coaches around the world. This philosophy and understanding is placing increased pressure on the average coach to keep up with their successful competitors. The ultimate beneficiary of this evolution is the average player.

Physical Intervention – Problem Solving versus Long Term Athlete (Player) Development

Consider the coach who is presented with a specific technical fault. The decision is how much is physical and how much is technical? TGA believes that there is a distinct core of faults that have a primary physical cause or contribution. There will be many that do not require any or minimal physical intervention. However for faults with a large physical contribution, coaching interventions directed at technical corrections strategies alone, will at best, have retarded improvement. This approach will unfortunately prolong the achievement of a successful outcome for the player.

Once a problem has been isolated, the challenge is where to send the player. What interventions or assessments should the informed coach expect from their support staff? TGA would recommend that all athletes should undergo a thorough physical assessment. This approach is valid for all athletes who have as their goal the long term improvement and, ultimately, maintenance of their physical ability – irrespective of their developmental age or handicap. A thorough assessment involves:

Physiotherapy – a golf specific musculoskeletal screening or assessment
Strength and Conditioning/Athletic Development – a full golf specific physical competence assessment
Biomechanics – a 3 dimensional kinematic assessment

We will detail these important assessments in other areas on the website.

Often players are referred to allied health for golf specific assistance. The challenge for the clinician is to isolate if the referral is for the:

Remediation of a technical problem only, or
Treatment and management of an injury in a golf specific manner, or
Physical assessment and then the prescription of a programme aimed at maximising the golfers athletic ability in the long term

All players and coaches who access allied health services need to be clear what their expectations are for their consultants.

Many players present to the average physical therapy clinic or training environment, for the first two reasons. The challenge for non golf trained clinicians is to impart information and management without specific knowledge of golf. The problem solving and treatment approaches are often ineffective without the knowledge required to add significant value to the paying customer.

The clinician who is keen to increase his/her golf client base needs to become very knowledgeable about golf – epidemiology, swing technique philosophies, kinematic corridors of ideal for leading players, sex differences and training habits......to name a few.

Alternatively the player or coach who seeks long term physical development has the challenge to isolate practitioners who understand the training stages and physical development “windows” that must be optimised to enhance athletic development. Our Long Term Athletic Development Section (under Strength and Conditioning) will look to explore this important area in greater detail.

Physiotherapy (Physical Therapy) versus Strength & Conditioning (Training):

The TGA philosophy determines that unless a player understands their physical deficiencies, then the prescription of any exercise will be non-individualised and potentially injury producing. Some of the aspects that need to be assessed include:

Past history of injury
Family history of illness or muscloskeletal pain
Training history – thus “training age”
Past history of sporting involvement
Other forms of physical training eg yoga or Pilates etc
Anatomical structure
Joint stability
Muscle activation patterns - static and dynamic
Segment control of movement
Range of motion of all soft tissue/bony structures
Golf specific strength and power

Many exercise programmes maybe implemented without apparent problems for the individual golfer. However the need for individual programming in a golf specific sense and at the correct developmental level cannot be overstated. Too many unhappy golfers present to our staff with programmes that lack specificity or have actually resulted in injury.

The relative contribution of physiotherapy versus strength and conditioning, will vary along the athletic development continuum (training age and biological age). Irrespective of age or handicap, all golfers should have a decreased involvement of basic physiotherapy interventions within two years of their initial assessment. This does not eliminate the need for, at least quarterly or six monthly reviews, for most golfers over the balance of their playing career. Too many players experience technical problems after the first two years due to a trailing off of the individual physical maintenance programming that is required over time.

Strength and Conditioning input is often implemented hand in hand with the early correction strategies prescribed by the physiotherapist.

The Need for Improved Education for all Golf Stakeholders?

With the proliferation of health and fitness for golf material and performance enhancement aids in the marketplace, the TGA directors felt that a reliable, scientifically credible forum needed to be available for all golf stakeholders. This forum would thus provide appraisal and recommendation of resources, publications and merchandise. The TGA website will always attempt to formulate opinion based in the research evidence available, within its staff and consultants, to provide objective opinion as to the relative merits of a multitude of golf related topics.

We will attempt to provide a filtering service for research findings to allow practical application to be made to all our stakeholders – coaches, players and allied health practitioners. So if you have any interesting questions that you wish to pose to the forum and the TGA database, please feel free to do so.

Endorsement of Products and Services:

TGA will produce material and merchandise for the expressed use of its stakeholders from time to time. In addition, TGA may look to endorse products and services that are consistent with its stated Vision and Mission.

TGA will provide a forum for endorsed products to be purchased by its stakeholders.

Accreditation of Clinicians and Coaches:

TGA will continue to organise and conduct seminars around the World for coaches, players and allied health staff. The website will be supported by a Client Management System and will provide a forum for advertising and promoting these seminars.

The future will see seminar participants invited to become TGA accredited or certified members and clinicians. This will then be advertised by the website for all TGA stakeholders - and thus the network will be accessible by all visitors to the site.

Why a Health and Fitness for Golf Portal?

It is with the understanding of the aforementioned content, that the Directors of TGA saw the opportunity to establish a significant Health and Fitness for Golf Portal that the coaches, players and allied health staff could reliably access for advice and services.

Through the website and its strategic partners, TGA aims to position itself as the premiere portal for this specific niche in the golf market.