Can you train a swing change in the gym?

[GGTTH]

Just kind of curiosity led me to this question,

 

Say for example. Golfer has lesson, lesson takeaway was to work on a movement pattern within the swing, say for this example, maybe the takeaway. Could this person, alongside range practice, practice this movement in the gym using a cable machine, to help ingrain the change? Or is that a stupid idea?

[Krt22]

Do you use a cable machine at the course?

[KD1]

I mean... it wouldn't be hard to throw a band in the bag that you tie off on the cart's roof.

[bluedot]

You can speed the process if the gym work is the right stuff. 

[stryper]

Not sure about swing “change”, but you might want to look into the GolfForever stuff and/or the TRX Rip Trainer for ideas that could mimic and enhance swing characteristics.  I’m fortunate enough that the gym I train at has the Rip Trainer and TRX bands that I can use regularly.  And after having used them for some time now, I would absolutely get my own for home use if the gym ever shut down.  

[Chunkitgood]

One problem with the way golf is taught is that it is taught as a set of discrete motions, than holistically or at least in chunks that fit other in a whole, which in effect means that isolated parts are by necessity taught wrong.

 

So, is there a weight machine that trains for a whole swing or useful chunk?
 

Doubt it.

[phizzy30]

What I did before I got speed stix is I would use the PVC pipe that the gym had available for my light stick and a 2.5 and 5 pound db to swing.  This of course mimics the golf swing and works Type II fibers(fast twitch) which can increase distance.  I also do these on the cable machine that Ryan Steenberg does.  I also do these movements with a medicine ball and use a plyo box as a barrier. 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by phizzy30

[skraly]

I don't think any gym equipment will allow you to exactly replicate a good golf swing.  On top of which you are not duplicating impact and you can't see the ball flight.  Which in the end should be all you care about.  I'm dubious of any instruct that doesn't allow one to experience impact and see the ball flight.  That is why I believe indoor swing training is of limited value.  I'm not saying it's totally useless, but just of limited value.  Working out in the gym certainly has value.  But only as an adjunct to improving over-all strength and fitness.

[baudi]

Swing changes start in the head. So the answer is yes.

[Righty to Lefty]

On 10/19/2022 at 11:35 PM, GGTTH said:

Just kind of curiosity led me to this question,

 

Say for example. Golfer has lesson, lesson takeaway was to work on a movement pattern within the swing, say for this example, maybe the takeaway. Could this person, alongside range practice, practice this movement in the gym using a cable machine, to help ingrain the change? Or is that a stupid idea?

Sure..you could retrain a movement pattern without ever hitting a ball. Hitting shots is what will develop trust in the change over time. 

[bluedot]

Instructors give their students all sorts of drills that aren’t complete golf swings and don’t necessarily even involve hitting a ball to speed the learning process of a swing change.  Using cable pulls or medicine balls or the like in a weight room is no different.  If a player has poor hip or shoulder rotation, there are lots of things available in a workout to help with that, and some of them might work more quickly than just hitting golf balls.

 

The title of this thread is a bit misleading; if you read the OP, he’s really asking about PARTS of the swing, and done alongside the practice range.  I don’t think anybody would say that you could make a wholesale swing change ONLY in the weight room, but that wasn’t the question he was really asking anyway.

 

And if you think the weight room can’t help with your golf swing, either as it is now or during a change, then you just don’t understand the weight room.

[FormerBigDaddy]

I actually think that cable rotations are a great way to feel proper rotation if you ask me.  If you're doing cable rotations level to the ground (cable set around chest height) it's quite hard not to turn around your spine back and through. If you were a chronic over the topper or dipper I do think over time this would be a good thing to do in the gym and obviously can contribute to your game strength wise if incorporated in to a good routine.  Low to high rotations and wall slammed would also be good in my opinion.  

[i*windows]

its a great Idea. there is a video of Pete Cowan talking about some of the changes his guys did, and it was nearly all in the gym. Get the movement patterns correct doesnt need a club

[MountainKing]

You can work on strength and flexibility, but if the gym was useful for making swing changes, you'd see all the guys on Tour in there working on their swings instead of on the range. 

[bluedot]

9 hours ago, MountainKing said:

You can work on strength and flexibility, but if the gym was useful for making swing changes, you'd see all the guys on Tour in there working on their swings instead of on the range. 

Go back and read the OP; he asked about “movement patterns”.  It’s entirely possible to work on something like that in a gym; lots of us do just that.

 

And Tour players, of course, use both the gym and range to work on their games.  It’s their livelihood, their careers don’t last forever, and they didn’t get where they are by not taking advantage of every opportunity.  And weight training is an opportunity.

[DaveMc82]

14 hours ago, MountainKing said:

You can work on strength and flexibility, but if the gym was useful for making swing changes, you'd see all the guys on Tour in there working on their swings instead of on the range. 

The guys on tour are already in a position where they don’t need this. Either their fundamentals are good enough or they’re committed to working with their ingrained natural patterns. 
 

To the OP. A battle rope is the best thing in the gym IMHO when used correctly for the golf swing. Bands are a close second for learning correct rotation and when combined with a slam ball can be great for transition sequencing. 

[hammersia]

On 10/20/2022 at 11:50 PM, phizzy30 said:

What I did before I got speed stix is I would use the PVC pipe that the gym had available for my light stick and a 2.5 and 5 pound db to swing.  This of course mimics the golf swing and works Type II fibers(fast twitch) which can increase distance.  I also do these on the cable machine that Ryan Steenberg does.  I also do these movements with a medicine ball and use a plyo box as a barrier. 

 

 

Most gyms would throw you out for treating the equipment like that.

[phizzy30]

2 hours ago, hammersia said:

Most gyms would throw you out for treating the equipment like that.

I've seen people do worse. 

[stryper]

7 hours ago, DaveMc82 said:

The guys on tour are already in a position where they don’t need this. Either their fundamentals are good enough or they’re committed to working with their ingrained natural patterns. 
 

To the OP. A battle rope is the best thing in the gym IMHO when used correctly for the golf swing. Bands are a close second for learning correct rotation and when combined with a slam ball can be great for transition sequencing. 

I agree on the bands, but what do you do with the battle rope?  🤷🏻‍♂️

[chigolfer1]

On 10/19/2022 at 3:35 PM, GGTTH said:

Just kind of curiosity led me to this question,

 

Say for example. Golfer has lesson, lesson takeaway was to work on a movement pattern within the swing, say for this example, maybe the takeaway. Could this person, alongside range practice, practice this movement in the gym using a cable machine, to help ingrain the change? Or is that a stupid idea?

 

Not sure why it has to be combined with the gym.  It seems like your question is more just, can you train a swing change doing off course drills of some sort.  I'm of the mind of, especially with set up and backswing, you definitely can although I'm sure some will disagree.  But, I know just on set up and backswing and recentering alone, "praticing" that off course has definitely seeped into on course real swings.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2022 by chigolfer1

[Dufferonius]

42 minutes ago, chigolfer1 said:

It seems like your question is more just, can you train a swing change doing off course drills of some sort.  I'm of the mind of, especially with set up and backswing, you definitely can ...

Sure you can.  That is the way I'm rebuilding my swing entirely, training with True Motion Golf Academy.  Thousands and thousands of reps of what they call "micro-motions."  They're ultimately stitched-together to form complete motions.  Then thousands of reps of the complete motions.

 

The goal behind endless repetitions of motions is to ingrain them.  Create so-called "muscle memory."  Then, when you're out there playing, you just swing your swing, without "swing thoughts."  And you swing it well, that way, because it has become your swing through all that repetition.

 

Does it work?  It appears it has for me.  Even completing just the back-swing portion of my training, and even without the motions really being all that thoroughly ingrained, yet, my ball-striking improved vastly in both accuracy and consistency.

 

What you can't do, or, at least, the vast majority of us cannot do, is be taught a new motion, repeat it a mere few dozen times, and expect it to stick.  That's how you hear stories of golfers who learned something new, it worked for a while, then didn't.  Without thoroughly ingraining the new motion, the ingrained motion it is meant to replace will nearly always eventually re-assert itself.

[Barfolomew]

Its not a stupid idea at all.....

 

Cause the more you imitate the new movement the more you are grooving your mind to think that movement.  So it will impress on your body and mind.  Besides the fact that you are strengthening your body for that movement when playin.  Just keep the cables or bands light at first to not pull something

 

Do you ever think a movement when you're not at the golf course..... same thing but with more structure

[Shushwap]

My gym has a room with mirrors all along the wall ...it's fantastic for working on my takeaway as I can see exactly what I'm doing not what I think I'm doing 

I use the cable machine as well as it has a clear path to the mirror as well 

There is nothing better then actually seeing what u are doing 

I have a buddy he's a single digit cap... the guy is the worst putter i have ever seen 

I took a video of him putting the other day he was shocked at how his upper body rotated when he putts 

I have been telling him for awhile he rotates when he putts..

Seeing Is believing.. we played yesterday and his upper body rotation was much better and he took my money..I shouldn't have taken the video 😒 

[MK7Golf21]

On 10/20/2022 at 5:50 PM, phizzy30 said:

What I did before I got speed stix is I would use the PVC pipe that the gym had available for my light stick and a 2.5 and 5 pound db to swing.  This of course mimics the golf swing and works Type II fibers(fast twitch) which can increase distance.  I also do these on the cable machine that Ryan Steenberg does.  I also do these movements with a medicine ball and use a plyo box as a barrier. 

 

 

 

Only problem in normal gym you don't look right doing this type of stuff. People wonder what the heck you are doing.

[Dufferonius]

1 hour ago, MK7Golf21 said:

Only problem in normal gym you don't look right doing this type of stuff. People wonder what the heck you are doing.

Guess it depends upon the gym.  Didn't happen at mine.  Wouldn't have cared if it had.

[MK7Golf21]

27 minutes ago, Dufferonius said:

Guess it depends upon the gym.  Didn't happen at mine.  Wouldn't have cared if it had.

 

Ryan Steenburg is using a 1080 quantum machine in that video which is designed for golf swing motions etc and cost 30,000. I'm sure he has permission to use it that way as well. Getting on a normal cable machine and ripping it around I'm going to say probably isn't the best idea, draw attention to yourself and you could possibly break the equipment because its not really designed for that. Staff has every right to ask you not to do that.

Edited October 26, 2022 by MK7Golf21

[mikpga]

You can train a new motion pattern for sure, that’s helpful, but not complete imo…