The following article is a conversation between a chiropractor and a leading
golf professional.
Ted Fort is the director of instruction at Legacy Windy Hill in Smyrna, Ga.
He is extremely knowledgeable about the physics of the golf swing and how it
applies to the body. He gives over 1,600 lessons a year and is able to relate
to anyone, from beginner, to tour professionals. He has been teaching golf for
10 years.
Dr. Joe LaCaze is a partner in a performance based chiropractic clinic. He is
also a Performance Enhancement Specialist through the National Academy of Sports
Medicine and taught spinal biomechanics at Life University for three years.
He is presently on Life’s postgraduate faculty and teaches athletically
based seminars.
The two sat down recently to discuss case studies, chiropractic’s effects
upon golfers and the benefits that can appear when performance coaching aligns
with chiropractic.
Dr. LaCaze: What do you think are the most important parts of the swing
and can you explain the swing in physics terms?
Ted Fort: Our goal in a full swing is to impart as much energy on the
golf ball as possible while keeping the clubface facing the target. It is important
to first understand the relationship between the ball and the club as they make
contact, and secondly, to find a way to make the body conform to those necessary
motions. The precision that is required in golf can frustrate even the most
seasoned athletes.
Our bodies are designed to accomplish many tasks. Each has the ability to move
in ways that are beyond what is necessary for the mechanical precision required
in golf.
In physical terms, the body has to be viewed as a machine that stores and uses
energy. With the consistency that is required to hit a golf ball, balance becomes
a necessity. In physics, angular momentum can only exist through fixed axis
rotation. Our human axis is our spine. It is around that spine that our arms,
hands and golf club rotate. Around the spine, the body creates a centrifugal
motion for the club to follow.
Dr. LaCaze: It is really refreshing to hear a golf professional talk
about more than just swing mechanics or golf equipment. When you look at the
new super pros like Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, David Duval and the like, it is
very obvious that they pay a lot of attention to their bodies. When you talk
about the fixed axis rotation, and swinging the club around our spines, it is
imperative to have a healthy, freely moveable spine in the first place. Then
proper muscle balance around the spine is necessary to perform a proper motion.
Can you explain a little more about fixed axis rotation?
Ted Fort: Imagine a spinning top on a table. The top could move very
fast if the axis remains constant. The top will not spin for any length of time
if the axis is not stable. Bump the axis and the top has a wreck. The momentum
is lost. If you give 1,600 lessons a year, you’re going to see lots of
tops having wrecks. But players that use their bodies well look effortless,
just like the perfectly spinning top.
Dr. LaCaze: Now that we are learning a few facts about the correct mechanics
of the swing, what are some of the common misconceptions you find that people
have about the golf swing?
Ted Fort: I have considered getting a cattle prod to carry with me to
work for the next person that says you have to keep your head down during the
swing. I think a good electric shock would keep them from giving faulty information.
It seems logical that keeping your head down would be a good cure if your head
kept popping up. But in reality, it is a total posture issue. By keeping your
head down, it places your chin close to your chest and causes excessive curvature
in your neck and upper back. This advice could be devastating to your spine
and your golf shots. The body works best with the spine in a neutral, athletic
and balanced position.
Dr. LaCaze: I like the idea of the cattle prod. Maybe you could just
give a little zap to the people with obvious postural problems and mechanical
faults who spend countless hours hitting golf balls with the goal that they
are going to get better. The chances they will get better are slim, and in the
process, they will probably do some damage to their bodies. In biomechanics,
there is a term called hysteresis. It means that if you repeatedly stretch a
ligament or spinal disc material to its limit, it will begin to deform and eventually
start to tear. If the body is not in the correct position to swing a golf club,
hysteresis is much more likely to occur.
Maintaining the spine angle has been an important rule in golf for decades.
What is the spine angle?
Ted Fort: For a hundred years, maintenance of the spinal tilt or spine
angle has been imperative and is evident in photos. Static posture is analogous
to the posture that a linebacker in football assumes before a play. When the
head and upper body is tilted forward, it is necessary for the hips to move
backwards to maintain balance. If the upper body moves forward without compensatory
balancing, you will find yourself with your nose planted in the turf. Dynamic
balance in golf is very similar to skipping a rock across a lake or throwing
a baseball side-armed. Balance can be maintained while the body rotates around
its own axis.
Dr. LaCaze: Do you deal with people that cannot perform what you are
teaching them because they are unstable, inflexible or have poor balance because
of bad posture?
Ted Fort: Most certainly. I have many that are unstable and inflexible.
I’ll ask most of my students, “What is your primary goal in golf?”
They always say, “I’m trying to hit the ball straight.” I’ll
argue that is not true. Everyone’s primary goal is to not fall down and
hurt themselves. Balance is always primary; other tasks become secondary.
Dr. LaCaze: That is such an interesting point. I’ve never heard
it put just quite that way, but thinking about it, I can think of no sport,
or activity for that matter, where balance is not paramount. I would guess that
figure skating would have to rank as the one sport that would drive home your
point.
I’ve heard you talk about the “5 Ps.” Could you explain those
for us?
Ted Fort: This is a very simplistic model for building a golf swing.
I have to first give credit to my mentor, George Kelnhofer. He is due most of
the credit in my development as a teacher and is one of the most respected teachers
in the industry. The qualification of each of these terms comes from George
and my own personal experience.
POSITIONS—This category can encompass many things: the position of the
hands (or the ‘grip’), the position of the feet (or the ‘stance’),
and the position of the ball for various clubs.
POSTURE—I would break this category into two parts: static posture and
dynamic posture. Static posture is the original address position that enables
the body to accomplish the task of swinging the club. Dynamic posture is simply
the maintenance of the golfer’s axis throughout the swing.
PIVOT—The pivot is the measurable distance in between the hips and shoulders,
after you have completed the backswing. The winding of the body is analogous
to the winding of a rubber band.
PLANE—The plane can be understood in viewing a Ferris Wheel. From the side,
the ride looks like a giant wheel. From another perspective, directly in front,
it looks like a vertical line. Imagine that this vertical line has to be tilted
at an angle to let the people off in a different location. This is similar to
a golf swing. The golfer is the axis to the wheel and the wheel represents the
path of the golf club—or the ‘plane’.
PULLEY—The golfer creates a lever system between the left arm and the club.
Most golfers have the misconception that they have to make the club head travel
very fast. Actually, they have to make the club handle travel fast and the club
head will follow. The club should lag behind. The lag of the club is measured
in pulley length.
Dr. LaCaze: That gives us a lot of information about the swing and some
good mental pictures for better understanding. I know that you are one of the
best teachers I have ever had the pleasure of learning from and I feel honored
that you would take the time to share this information with us. I am sure that
golfers at all levels with be able to gain some knowledge from what we have
talked about so far.
Now I would like to change gears just a little. I want to get your perspective
on what you think chiropractic and having a powerful, healthy body will do for
a person’s golf game.
You’ve been working with [LPGA golfer] Lori West. How long have you worked
with her?
Ted Fort: I have worked with Lori for almost four years. In our first
six months, she had immediate success and had a fourth place finish on the LPGA
Tour—her best finish in seven years. Recently, she had her first professional
victory on the Women’s Senior Golf Tour and became the leading money winner
for that Tour.
Dr. LaCaze: You know that I was working with Lori at the same time to
improve the structure and the function of her spine. 
Did you notice that her improved posture helped her swing or improved her game
in any way?
Ted Fort: Only infinitely! I think Lori is in better shape now than in
the last 18 years on tour.
Dr. LaCaze: To me, that is a perfect example of how our two professions
can work together to achieve special results. Here you have a wonderful lady
who had been on tour for 18 years. Frankly, when we both met her, she was just
about ready to give up the game. You taught her what you normally teach anyone
else and I worked with her just like I would have worked with any other athlete
in my clinic. I think the key is that it happened at the same time. Then she
goes out with her new swing and her new body and wins her first tournament in
18 years. To me, that is remarkable.
We are now working with your body to make improvements in your skeletal posture
and your balance. From a golf professional’s perspective, what do you want
to accomplish?
Ted Fort: I would like to reach my potential. I feel like my potential
is not being realized because of flexibility issues that affect my stability.
I cannot optimize my performance if I have posture problems or muscle groups
that are not listening to the orders that I am giving them.
Dr. LaCaze: I agree that those are your main detractors from your goal.
If the readers could see your swing, they would agree that you swing the club
as well as you possibly can for your present body condition. There are not many
people who wouldn’t want to trade swings with you. You hit it unbelievably
long for your height and weight. We’ll get to that in a moment, but first
I want to cover the chicken or the egg thing. From the golfer’s viewpoint,
I agree that flexibility and stability are equally important to the golf swing.
But I think we need to address the stability issue first, especially at the
spinal level.
If your body is tight, because of inflexible muscles, it will definitely cause
mechanical problems in the swing for obvious reasons. But the issue of stability
is much more profound. For example, if you have a bone that is not in the correct
position or have instability in the lumbar spine, you will have a mechanical,
as well as a neurological deficit. The brain definitely does not like for the
spine to be unstable and it will protect the spinal column at all costs. It
protects it by stabilizing it.
Simply put, this is how it works. Every time you make a movement, the brain/motor
system will attempt to stabilize the spine by contracting the very innermost
core muscles. The main stabilizers are the transverse abdominus, the inner oblique,
the multifidus and the transversospinalis. If these muscles are not ready for
action because they are too tight, too weak or atrophied, that is where we run
into problems. The motor system will stabilize the spine, but now it has to
use the more outer muscles that are more for the function of movement than stabilization.
When muscles like iliopsoas, tensor fascia lata, lateral quadratus lumborum,
and rectus femoris get involved in stabilization, the mechanics of the body
are completely upset. That is when we encounter the injury cycle—tissue
overload, inflammation, pain and altered neuromuscular control.
Ted, how much do you weigh, and how tall are you? How far do you hit the ball?
Ted Fort: I am six feet tall and weigh 178 pounds. I am capable of hitting
a driver 280 to 300 yards. I hit a five-wood 240 yards, an eight-iron 160 yards,
and a pitching wedge 140 yards.
Dr. LaCaze: Those readers who know about golf should find that impressive.
How can you hit it so far for your size?
Ted Fort: I use maximum leverage and centrifugal force. I know that I
have almost achieved optimum performance levels in that respect. The only way
that I can achieve greater distance is to become more powerful, flexible, and
like you just explained, more stable.
Dr. LaCaze: How important do you think balance is to your swing?
Ted Fort: It’s about as important as water is to sustain life. You
can’t live without it.
Dr. LaCaze: Great answer. If you accomplish what you want as we work
together to improve your body, do you think it will improve your score in any
way?
Ted Fort: I think my scores should improve, but I think the greatest
effect will be the consistency in scoring well. I know that I have lost good
opportunities for low scoring rounds when I’ve become fatigued.
Dr. LaCaze: I think I have a good analogy in which most people will be
able to relate. A baseball pitcher uses specific muscles to throw a ball. If
those certain muscles become fatigued, other muscles will automatically start
to help out. Not only are they the wrong muscles for throwing, but as they begin
to work, they actually change the structure of the body in relation to the throwing
motion and the body can no longer perform in a mechanically correct manner to
throw a ball. I used to be a baseball pitcher and I can tell you that throwing
a baseball to a target is infinitely simpler than hitting a golf ball to a target.
What do most of the people that work with you want to accomplish when they come
to you for lessons? For example: more distance, more consistency, more accuracy?
Ted Fort: Most of the time, all of the above. Most of my students come
to me with low expectations that I view to be too low. My goal is to always
change their expectations. I want them to reach their present goals and then
raise the bar.
Dr. LaCaze: We are even more similar in our professions than I thought.
It is the same in my clinic. Most people originally come in for some type of
pain issue that they want to get past. As I work with individuals, I try to
make them see how important their body is to their life and do my best to inspire
them to use it to the fullest. After all, it is our most useful tool.
A leading golf professional has advocated that he thinks the swing of the future
will begin from a static position at the top of the swing and will not include
a backswing. Do you think that will happen?
Ted Fort: It can’t happen. I’m no doctor of biomechanics, but
I know that muscles have to be resilient. You can’t stretch a muscle to
its length, let it become stationary for a moment, and then try to get it to
fire at will. There has to be a transition from storage to usage of energy,
or it will not be as efficient. I think it would be impossible to try to do
the same weight on a bench press if you started with all the weight resting
on your chest.
Dr. LaCaze: That’s a simple explanation that anyone can understand.
The biomechanical explanation is not quite as simple, but interesting nonetheless.
During the backswing, you are stretching the muscles that you will use for the
power to hit the ball. Inside the muscles you have something called muscle spindles
which monitor both length of the muscles and the rate of muscle length change.
As the muscles are stretched to their full length, those muscle spindles become
very excited and want the muscles to go back to their original length. They
are the trigger to start the downswing. They are sort of like the catapult on
the deck of an aircraft carrier. It gives a very powerful jet aircraft the power
that it needs for takeoff. Without the extra push, the jet would really labor
to generate enough power to get airborne. So back to the golf swing, I very
much agree with you. It is not possible to generate enough speed from a static
position, because the muscles are not ready for action.
Ted, this has been a lot of fun and definitely informative. Thank you for spending
your time with us to teach us what you know. We have been working with you on
some stabilization exercises that have definitely helped your posture and your
ability to stabilize your spine while you are swinging a golf club. I want to
share the most elementary of those exercises with our readers.
This first position will help someone become familiar with the inner muscles
of the core—the ones that stabilize the spine. Start from an all-fours
position, wrists directly under the shoulder joint and knees directly under
the hip joint. Find the position of your pelvis that puts it in a neutral position.
If you are sideways to a mirror, your lumbar spine will have just a very slight
amount of curve. From this position, bring the lower abdominal muscles, the
ones below the navel, toward the spine. As you do this, be aware of your low
back muscles—the position of the lumbar curve should not move in the least.
Hold this drawn in position for about 10 seconds. Relax for 10 seconds, then
repeat the cycle 10 more times. Note: you should be able to breathe normally
in this position. If you can’t, you are probably using too much of your
rectus abdominus, the outermost muscle of the abdominals.
Once we activate the spinal stabilizers, we need to use them while they are
under a load. Lie on your back with your knees up and feet flat on the floor.
In that position, your hips should be flexed about 45 degrees and your knees
should be flexed about 90 degrees. Draw your deep abdominals inward toward your
spine—the muscles that are below your navel. Now just slightly pick up
one of your heels and gently slide it out until your leg is completely straight.
The heel should stay within about an inch of the floor, but not touch it. Bring
your heel back to the original position and set your foot down very gently.
All the time you are sliding your heel, your inner abdominals should stay tensed.
If you can do this exercise without moving your hip joint or flexing/extending
your spine, you have strong inner abdominals. If not, continuing to do these
two exercises will help you to strengthen them.
The two exercises that I have explained here are given to all of our patients.
From the grandmother who wants to move more easily, to the world-class golfer
or athlete, we find very few people who can sufficiently stabilize their spine
when they first come to our clinic. These two exercises are a good start to
create more stability so the body can release the outer muscles and allow them
to work as they were designed.
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