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Fighting 'Father Time' with Neil from No Laying Up
One of the biggest mistakes a golfer can make is to wait for pain to be the signal that it might be time to assess their movement capabilities or swing mechanics. If we want to develop durable golfers, we need to identify where to add capacity or alleviate stress BEFORE it becomes a problem.
This was one of our goals when we met No Laying Up’s Neil Schuster. Neil came to TPI with three wishes: 1) improve swing efficiency; 2) swing less over-the-top; and 3) help "fight Father Time."
A former college football player, one-time charity boxing match participant and occasional mountaineer, Neil is a terrific athlete, but the desk-bound 9-to-5 of a podcaster and Merch Czar isn’t necessarily developing physical capabilities that complement his swing.
We often talk about evaluating a golfer’s Body-Swing Connection as trying to solve a murder mystery. Neil even compared Dr. Rose to Daniel Craig’s character from “Knives Out.” We’re trying to identify what “killed” a golfer’s efficiency.
Neil's "investigation" revealed an extremely common Body-Swing Connection. Two of the most glaring physical limitations we identified in his physical screen were lack of mobility in trail hip mobility (and, potentially, a torn labrum) and issues with core control, specifically moving his lower body independently of his upper body.
In our Level 1 course, these are some of the most common physical limitations we associate with Reverse Spine Angle and Over The Top, two swing characteristics Neil presented with. Let us explain.
There are a number of reasons why a golfer might come Over-The-Top, but golfers who can’t rotate their lower body independently of their upper body often like to initiate the transition with their torso, not their pelvis. This can create a path that is excessively out to in.
Dr. Rose explains:
In addition to contibuting to an Over The Top swing, this probably affected his "efficiency," as well. Neil first wish was to improve driver efficiency, meaning he wanted to produce more ball speed without having to increase clubhead speed. This can be accomplished by improving his smash factor. A common complaint of golfers who have an excessively out to in club path is that it produces a more "glancing" blow, resulting in higher spin, potentially lower smash factor and less distance potential.
Improving the ability to separate his upper body and lower body can not only help fight an over the top swing, but create a more neutral path and more optimized impact.
One of the other screens that Neil struggled with was the Lower Quarter Rotation test.
When a golfer like Neil fails our Lower Quarter Rotation test, we're especially attentive to how that lack of mobility might show up in their swing. Internal hip mobility is one of the most important physical capabilities an avid golfer can develop. As PGA TOUR player, Ben Crane, once put it: "I internally rotate for a living."
We always say that a physical screen doesn’t tell us what a golfer can and can’t do, it just helps explain why they do it the way that they do. Movement patterns tend to be built around physical limitations and results from a screen help idenitfy if a swing characteristic is more likely physical or technical.
Since Neil doesn’t like to rotate into his trail hip, it makes sense that he'd learn to compensate to make a full turn. In his case, he made up for limited rotation by arching his lower back excessively to get to club to the top.
Though we believe there are infinite ways to swing a club effectively, that doesn’t mean all mechanics maximize a golfer’s durability. As Greg describes in the video, golfers typically move from 35° flexed at addressed to 1 - 2° flexed at the top of the backswing. These are the averages in our database of professional golfers, meaning some will be more extended and some will be less. Typically anything over 3° EXTENDED is something we'd red flag as concerning. Neil was 12 - 15° extended at the top of the backswing, indicating fairly severe Reverse Spine Angle.
In our experience, this is the swing characteristic most-highly associated with lower back pain. In fact, when we meet a golfer complaining of LBP, it’s the first characteristic we look for.
While it's completely possible for a golfer to have a healthy career with Reverse Spine Angle, the position creates additional stress in the lower back. If we want to help a golfer maximize durability, we want to not only improve capacity (e.g. strength and mobility), but reduce stress, if possible.
For a golfer like Neil, we want to help him make a turn without needing to arch his back. We can accomplish this by either improving mobility in his trail hip or modifying his swing (such as fanning his trail foot), or both.
This experience with Neil is an example of why we are so adamant about the importance of physical assessments. By investing just a few minutes in evaluating Neil's movement capabilities, we identified several areas for improvement that could have a drastic impact on his performance and durability.
It was not a complex Body-Swing Connection, either. Anyone who has taken our Level 1 course would be capable of identifying it.
While the interventions certainly won't represent the entirety of Neil's training program, focusing on these areas increases the likelihood that the work he does on his body will result in a meaningful impact on his game.
If you are a coach, fitness or medical professional interested in learning more about how to help golfers determine if their body is affecting their swing, check out our newly updated Level 1 online course.
View TPI Level 1 Online Course
If you're a golfer interested in a physical assessment, you can connect with a TPI Certified expert via our Find an Expert page.