McIlroy's Ankle Woes

Unfortunate news from Rory McIlroy's camp.  He has torn his ATFL, a ligament on the outside of his ankle, playing soccer with friends.  Depending on the extent of the injury, he will most likely spend the next several months rehabilitating his ankle to get it back into PGA shape.  Here is a look at the foot and ankle and the vital role it plays in the game of golf!

 

The feet and ankles play an extremely important part in not only the stability of the golfer during his/her swing, but also help turn on the other generators of torque higher up the chain (i.e. the hips and core).  During the back swing, the back foot needs to stay planted in order to allow the R gluteal to load, creating potential energy that will be converted to kinetic energy (power) during the downswing.  The front foot also needs to stay planted, but allow the ankle to flex so that we can get adequate hip turn.  If we lack the ankle flexion here, it may lead to insufficient hip loading and increased lower back stress, increasing our chance for lower back injury.  It can also lead to front knee collapse inward and a horde of problems (related to both health and performance) that come along with that movement. 

 

How do we keep our feet and ankles healthy and supple? 

 

Triplanar Calf Stretch

 

This stretch should help to create ankle flexion while moving through all 3 planes of movement that are going to be utilized during the golf swing. 

 

 

 

 

Case Example

Got a new client in the door the other day and I thought I would share some of the findings and our thought process.

Client is a 40 year old male with a 5 handicap.  He came in for work on flexibility, balance, and strength to hit the ball farther.

This is what his swing looks like at the top of his backswing:

Observations and Findings: 

1) Decreased control observed and mild weakness reported with left lower extremity lunges. 

2) Decreased control and balance on left lower extremity noted with balance tests.
3) Limited internal rotation motion left hip due to hip joint stiffness and tight hip muscles.
4) Tight and stiff left foot.

Assessment:

Decreased balance, strength and control of left lower extremity compromises stable foundation for backswing and ability to maximize load of muscles in lower extremity to maximize load of backswing for club speed, ball speed, power, distance, control and accuracy. Left lower extremity motion restrictions may be influencing upper half of body to compensate in backswing (overswing tendency).

Objective measures from Evaluation Session:

Ball Speed: 109.8 MPH

Carry Distance: 151.66 Yards

The client was given an exercise program which he performed for 1 week, underwent his first training session after 1 week of independent exercise, and then was measured again.

Ball Speed: 120.0 MPH

Carry Distance: 171.05 Yards

After 1 week, this client gained 10.2 MPH on his swing and 19.39 yards of carry distance!! Can you say incredible?

We will continue on and report as we go.

As always, hit 'em long, hit 'em straight, and optimize your body to optimize your game!

Why do some people hit the ball farther than others?

Here are the leaders in driving distance in 2014

RANK	LEADER	AVG.
1	Morgan Hoffmann	318.5
2	Brooks Koepka	317.3
3	Peter Uihlein	315.9
T4	Charlie Beljan	312.4
T4	Jimmy Walker	312.4
TOUR AVERAGE		290.0

Morgan Hoffman: 6'0", 180lbs

Brooks Koepka: 6'0", 186 lbs

Peter Uihlein: 6'1", 190 lbs

Charlie Beljan: 6'4", 215 lbs

Jimmy Walker: 6'2", 180lbs

Aside from Beljan, these are not huge guys.  

2014 Mr. Olympia Winners

Branch Warren: 5' 7", 250 lbs

Victor Martinez: 5' 9", 245 lbs

Fred Smalls: 5'7", 245 lbs

Shawn Rhoden: 5'10", 240 lbs

I see some stark differences in body type here.  The longest hitting golfers on tour are tall, slim guys.  But if they aren't powering the ball with muscle, then how do they do it?  Furthermore, how can we modify our training to help we normal people hit the ball as far as we can?  It seems fairly clear that training like a body builder is not the way to get long off the tee.

I believe one answer is FASCIA.  If you don't know what fascia is, don't worry.  Most folks don't.  Up until very recently, even scientists pretty much wrote fascia off as an inert covering of the more important muscular tissue and hacked it off in cadaveric dissections to get really clean looking musculature.

Fascia is a connective tissue made up of densely packed collagen fibers, water, and proteins that covers and invests inside all tissues.  Here is a really well written article about fascia and why it is important: http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/the-top-5-ways-fascia-matters-to-athletes

This can all be a bit dense.  So let's do something a bit more active.  Take your hand and place it on your chest.  Now without lifting your palm off of your chest, hit yourself as hard as you can with your index finger.  Now, use your other hand to pull your index finger back and then let it go and hit yourself with it.  Which one created more force?

Easy.  The second one.  By a huge margin.  You were able to create an audible thump!  Why is this?  Did we somehow develop a massively stronger index finger in 5 seconds?

No.  You were able to create more range of motion when you used your other hand to pull your finger back.  Force = mass x acceleration.  Acceleration = velocity/time.  More range of motion allowed for more change in velocity (increased acceleration), and thereby increased the amount of force produced.  This explains why being a muscle bound weight lifter would be detrimental to playing the game of golf well.

However!  The increase in range of motion was pretty dang small.  How do we account for the very large increase in force production?

The answer is:  we loaded our fascia.  By stretching the finger back, the fascia was stretched, creating potential energy.  We do this in the golf swing as we wind up into the back swing.  

If you watch a slow motion clip of a Tour Pro and you look closely, you can see the hips start the downswing while the hands are still loading up into the backswing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iH-GlpozSg

This stretches the fascia even further, creating an incredible amount of potential energy that is translated into acceleration and therefore massive amounts of force.  

Well how do I get ball mashing fascia?  We need to train the sensory receptors in our fascia, the proprioceptors.  Prioprioceptors basically tell the brain what is happening in the body.  If we train specific movements over time, the body creates motor patterns and can effortlessly repeat these patterns when called upon to do so.  How does Ray Charles play a piano he can't see?  He has rockin' proprioception.  His brain knows where the keys are in relation to his fingers: no sight necessary.  

This means we need to train specifically.  If we bench press or squat or curl or do rows, we aren't loading our fascia in a way that it will remember when we go to hit the ball.  We need to prepare and then repetitively load the fascia in a way that will translate to the golf swing.  
 
Here are some examples of Fascial Mobilization:

Fascial Mobilization

Having trouble with upper and lower body dissociation?  This exercise is a great way to mobilize your abdominal fascia and increase your spinal range of motion.

Place a firm ball under your torso to one side of your belly button.  Roll your abdominals over the ball, looking for tension 

Open up your lats and improve your torso rotation by rolling side to side on a foam roller.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After some fascial mobilization, now we need to create memory!

In half kneeling, reach across your chest to actively stimulate your fascia.

 

We can stabilize our upper body and drive our lower body to the left to create lower body acceleration.

 

As always, hit 'em long, hit 'em straight, and optimize your body to optimize your game!