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Yoga is an excellent tool to improve key golf performance indicators.
For most of us, it’s been preprogrammed and honed through years of conditioning to value or measure our training progress with external outcomes or results.
To define a successful golf fitness training program with important benchmarks and key golf performance indicators like:
How much range of motion has been gained?
What are the specific before and afters on internal- external hip mobility?
How much increase in clubhead speed has there been with your driver?
What are the new deadlift, squat, and push up records? OR
The Whoop % numbers on recovery, HRV and sleep.
And while these numbers are all super important and incredibly valuable, for both the amateur and professional athlete golfer, I sometimes find myself thinking and wondering ….
Do we even know what’s going on inside?
Like really what's happening in the body?
Are we even aware of how training affects us internally?
Do we even have the ability to engage in that level of awareness,
To look within and really observe the physical sensations in great detail,
Especially when it comes to our breath?
What it does to our mood and mental wellbeing?
Do we even practice movement awareness anymore?
Can we even be content with our training (journey/progress) without the confirmations of the analytical mind aka the stats and number game?
This isn’t a motivational training tip. It’s an exploration I would encourage each and everyone of you to start doing. And to practice this very necessary ground work, Yoga is an excellent tool to accomplish that.
It’s one of the reasons why I love it so much – connecting to the body and breath.
And yes, my golf yoga method applied correctly also improves key golf performance indicators.
In golf, we can also practice this. I implement these elements in my One on One coaching and during my Golf Yoga Retreats.
Another way I implement this into my coaching program is when it comes to strength and conditioning for my athletes, through 23 minutes of movement flow. We decide on a movement, and depending on the athlete, a suitable exercise, that they can easily manage to do for 23 minutes.
The set up is as followed:
No screens, no music, no talking, no time.
Nose breathing only.
Maintaining a closer link to the body (and having no external stimuli) while moving allows for natural movement to occur more effortlessly and flow to take place. It’s training with awareness. It means we cease zoning out, and we can start to 'get in the zone'.
It means we practice what we would like to experience out there during those big tournaments, from the first tee shot to the last putt on the final day. It improves focus, brings fulfilment, and increases a sense of connection. It’s on the other end of the spectrum to high performance achievements and excellence that is of equal importance — It's unquantifiable.
Yet, the paradox is that it's one of the routes in which stagnant fitness gains, constant overtraining, feeling mentally drained, and the occasional soft-tissue injury can be prevented and diverted. And that in turn, will be reflected in quantifiable numbers and stats. Coaching experienced golfers on their body-mind-game while maximising lasting high performances is something that brings me so much joy!
If my vision inspires you or you want to implement it, there’s an open application form for my High Performance Program. This open international application form is the first step if you want to explore working with me One on One.
Liesbeth Pauwels
is passionate about modern sport psychology and ancient eastern philosophy, she continuously moves towards re-establishing balance in the body and mind, for herself and for her clients.
Her mission is :
"to develop a strong healthy golf community that plays golf forever"!
With a decade over professional experience as a golf movement coach, she also has worked with Jason Glass, the Dutch Golf Federation, the PGA of Holland, GOLF.NL and helped thousands of golfers all over Europe.
She graduated from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada with a degree in Kinesiology - the study of human performance. She is a Titleist Performance Institute Certified Fitness & Junior Level 3, SuperSpeed Golf Certified Level 3 & is also a registered certified Yoga Teacher.
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