Personal trainer takes a swing at fitness program for golfers

By Julius Whigham II
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Adam Cole holds the golf club in his hands, repeatedly practicing his swing. His routine looks similar to that of many golfers, except for a few differences.
Instead of being on a golf course surrounded by tees and greens, he is standing inside a gym, surrounded by weights and fitness equipment. Instead of hitting a golf ball on the driving range, a device strapped to his leg is moving 100 pounds of weight with each swing.

Cole is performing one of the exercise routines in the Butch Harmon Golf Fitness training program.
Personal training director Rafael Moret has been teaching the program at the Delray Beach World Gym on South Federal Highway since December. The program, designed by Butch Harmon, a former swing coach for Tiger Woods, combines traditional strength and conditioning training with exercises designed specifically for golfers.
"The program is specifically designed to strengthen the avid golfer's swing," Moret said. "It could be somebody who is just starting out. It could be a pro. The exercises are focused on the actual golf swing."
Moret, who resides in Pembroke Pines, introduced the program to the World Gym in Paramus, N.J., three years ago. He has lived in South Florida for six months and is the personal fitness director for all of the World Gym facilities in Palm Beach County. Since starting the program, he has found no shortage of clients.
"This has been a golf mecca," Moret, 29, said.
The success of Woods and other professional golfers has made golf-specific fitness training increasingly popular among avid golfers, Moret said
Cole, who also works for World Gym and who lives in Delray Beach, said he is a recreational golfer and has been training with Moret for about a month. In that time, Cole, 27, said.

The success of Woods and other professional golfers has made golf-specific fitness training increasingly popular among avid golfers, Moret said
Cole, who also works for World Gym and who lives in Delray Beach, said he is a recreational golfer and has been training with Moret for about a month. In that time, Cole, 27, said he has already noticed improvements to his golf game.
"It's great, I just feel more stable on the swing," he said. "My accuracy has gone up significantly, and for me I notice it more because I'm still new, so it's not like I need fine refinements. Most of the refinements I see are larger refinements that I can notice over a short period of time."
When golfers come into the gym, they spend much of the time on one piece of equipment, the cable cross machine. The machine allows the golfers to connect a variety of devices and mimic the golf swing while also getting strength training. Moret said the fitness program is typically divided into four parts - injury prevention, which uses exercises to strengthen the shoulder and wrist, general conditioning, swing training and stretching to strengthen a variety of muscles.
The workouts last about an hour and are done at least twice a week. The program lasts at least six weeks. It has become popular among younger golfers, particularly high school golfers," Moret said.
"We've been getting a lot of kids that are still in high school that are still playing, that want to get a little bit stronger," he said. "A lot of kids are already being recruited by colleges as early as their junior year to play golf. Their year of training is a lot more intense than most people think. The strength-training element helps them get a little bit better conditioned for everything that's coming."
Moret said the feedback he has heard from clients who have tried the program largely has been positive. Many typically notice improvements in their swing and in their conditioning, he said.
"The biggest thing I hear is 'I'm not tired when I'm

How to Choose a Golf Fitness Trainer

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve been asked this question during my travels around the country and world on the golf circuit; “Sean, I am looking for a golf fitness trainer in my area, what do you suggest?”
Finding a golf fitness trainer for you, simply takes a little knowledge and time on your part.
Bottom line there are thousands of fitness experts, personal trainer, instructors, and conditioning coaches available to you. Some are more qualified than others to help you improve your golf game. Lets first off take a look at some general qualifications to look for in candidates.
The golf trainer’s education would be the first thing I would consider. In the world of personal training and fitness, there are no educational requirements, governing bodies, or state boards. Essentially, anyone can hang a sign on their front door and call themselves a “personal golf fitness trainer”. It’s unfortunate, but unqualified people are training people every day.
A highly qualified golf fitness trainer will likely have a college degree in the field of kinesiology, biomechanics, health sciences or a related field. There are many other organizations that accredit trainers too. These organizations provide intense educational programs providing the trainer with certifications. Accreditations from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, National Academy of Sports Medicine, and American Council of Exercise are highly regarded within the field. I would suggest looking for a golf fitness trainer with a degree in the field and at least one additional certification from the above organizations. This tells us that they have taken the time to become more specialized and better educated.
The Proof is in the Pudding
Experience within the field is absolutely critical. First look at the trainer’s general experience and dig deeper. In general, I am talking about how long they have been in the industry. Are they just starting out or are they a seasoned veteran in the field? What areas of the industry have they worked? Have they worked only in the health club setting, have they worked in a collegiate or professional athletic environment, or experience directly related to the golf industry?
I would look for a golf fitness trainer with some experience in athletics. A trainer with experience in competitive athletics understands the demands on your body under competition, whether it’s the weekend round with your friends, the club tournament, or the Masters for that matter.
Go to the Right Mechanic to Get Your Car Fixed
Now I don’t know about you, but if I had an engine problem with my car, I probably wouldn’t go to a motorcycle mechanic to get it fixed.
Would you look for a personal trainer that specialized in let’s say, youth football, to help your golf game?
Most trainers in the industry usually have a repeat client base. The client base can tell you a lot about the trainer’s area of expertise. The trainer’s cliental base could be very specific, for example working with elderly individuals or with athletes only. Other trainers may work with numerous types of individuals from young children, golf-fitness-products-home.htmlmakers, to the budding collegiate star. More than anything a trainer’s client base gives you an idea if they have experience working with someone like you, and if they fit your individual needs.
I would suggest looking for a golf fitness trainer that has some experience working with someone like you. For example, if you are Nationwide Tour player, I would probably suggest looking for a golf fitness trainer who has experience working with professional athletes. The experience of working with professional athletes is only going to help with the interaction between the two of you.
Can’t We Just Get Along
Outside of education and experience, the final area to consider is the trainer’s personality. Some personalities will work well with you and others will not.
To get the best results for you, you must find a trainer that you are comfortable with on a professional and personal level. This will allow for the training sessions, development of your program, and the relationship to be a positive experience for both. Remember, you must trust the golf fitness trainer and this requires a level of comfort with them.
Overall, I suggest taking some time on the front end and interviewing a series of trainers. This will allow you to compare and contrast all of the criteria we’ve discussed, and help you make a decision you feel good about.
Remember, choosing the right golf fitness trainer for you can mean the difference between reaching your goals on the golf course or not.
Sean Cochran
About the Author- Sean Cochran (Fitness Trainer to Phil Mickelson)

What is a Core?

Many people think that the term “core” refers to the abdominal muscles, or perhaps to the abdominals plus the lower back. I have a better description: Your core is everything but your arms and legs.Essentially the core is the trunk of the body, including the groin muscles, the hip muscles, the abdominal muscles, the lower back muscles, and the butt muscles. Yep, it’s everything but your arms and legs!An interesting fact: There is only one muscle that attaches each leg to the spine. The psoas, or “hip flexor”, runs from the thigh bone through the pelvic area and on to the lower back. Likewise, there is only one muscle that attaches each arm to the spine. The latissimus dorsi, or “lat,” runs from the lower back up to the upper arm bone.How Do I Get the Core To Do Its Job?This is the $64,000 question within the fitness and physical therapy industries. There are several ways that trainers and therapists attempt to teach core activation:a. draw the navel inward toward the spineb. tighten the pelvic floor (muscles near the crotch)c. pretend you are urinating and tighten the muscles that cut off the flowd. pretend you are balancing on a canoe and pay attention to which muscles you are activating for balancePersonally, I prefer the method espoused by Gray Cook, a physical therapist and educator from Danville, VA. He teaches his patients to create a “tall spine.” To get a feel for this, kneel on the ground and pretend you are trying to lengthen your spine upward so that the top of your head feels as though it is pressing toward the ceiling. Sit-Ups and Crunches for the Core?The thought that sit-ups and crunches will strengthen the core is an example of a “1980’s” school of thought. Think about it: The core is everything but the arms and legs. The core encompasses a complex network of muscles crisscrossing the pelvic area and trunk. It is best exercised with a variety of movements that incorporate bending, twisting, reaching, and turning.Don’t think about strengthening your core. Think about activating it and using it to channel movement. When you activate it you will feel like you are lengthening your spine (making it “tall”). When you use it you will move dynamically and transfer force through it from the legs to the arms and from the arms to the legs.An Exercise to Illustrate the PointStand with your feet close together and place a soccer ball between your knees. Exert inward pressure on the ball with your knees and inner thighs. Now lengthen your spine and make it feel “tall” by feeling like the top of your head is pressing toward the ceiling.Now stretch your arms up like you’re signaling “Touchdown!” Now rotate your body side to side, left and right.What you just did is activate your core from the bottom up by engaging the groin and inner thigh muscles to put pressure on the ball, and by creating a tall spine. Then you engaged abdominal and torso muscles by rotating your trunk. Congratulations! You just activated your core and used it to create movement in three dimensions! You just moved the way a real human being is designed to move!

Mike Romatowski
http://www.golffitnessproducts.net/