Swing Strong: The Power of Fitness and Pre-Round Prep

In this episode, Dan Weedin and Coach Brett Clark dive into the essential role of fitness and proper warm-up routines for golfers, especially as we age. 

They break down how targeting key muscle groups like the quads, hamstrings, and glutes can prevent injuries and elevate your game. Learn how to fuel your body and stay hydrated for long rounds, whether you're walking or riding the course. 

Plus, they discuss fitness programs tailored for modern adults, focused on lifestyle improvements rather than aesthetics, and how you can access them virtually. Get ready to enjoy golf pain-free and perform at your best!

Tune in for expert insights on golf fitness, preparation, and overall well-being!

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Transcript

Brett and Dan Pod Transcript

Tue, Sep 17, 2024

Dan Weedin 

Well, you know, and, and we, I want to help golfers in all manners and ways. Now, as a golfer, I know that my ultimate goal at the end of every round is to have the very best possible score that I can. That's the ultimate goal. Whether I'm playing nine holes or 18, I'm going out there to try to score my best. But you and I both have talked about this amongst ourselves ad nauseum, and now we're going to talk about it to everybody else. To walk off the course and not feel like a wreck, right?

Coach Brett 

Man. And see, that's, that's absolutely right about that, Dan. That's the, there's a lot of truth to that. Golf is a complex series of maneuvers followed by a long walk where you stop and then you do a series of There's a couple of holes.

Dan Weedin 

There's a couple of golf holes in my world where I have to say, and I consider myself to be in pretty decent shape, but there's a couple of holes that I have to actually pause and almost go down to my knees and catch my breath. And then I find myself in the sand trap and, and it's all I can do to get out. But I want to talk about those complex maneuvers. I want to talk about those complex maneuvers. I want to talk about those complex maneuvers. Maneuvers a little bit in greater detail today, Brett, because, you know, I've been playing golf a long time and I've done this myself. And a lot of people will will hear this and say, yep, that's me. A lot of times I'll pull up in the parking lot. I'll get my golf bag out. And I'll put it on my golf cart, my push cart, and I've got, I don't know, seven minutes before my tee time and I'll jump on of the range and I'll hit a few balls and I'll do a couple arm swings and things like that. And I'll talk to whomever I'm playing. Then I go off and play. And the bad thing about that for your golf score is you're not in a position ready to score. So if your ultimate goal like mine is to score well, you're off to a pretty bad start. But I want to talk about the physical aspect. I want you to maybe talk a few minutes, Brett, about those, what do you call them? What kind of maneuvers? Complex, complex about those complex maneuvers, and why it's important to have the right type of free, free game workout.

Coach Brett 

Yeah, well, just like you said, you know, a lot of times people drive up, they go, they go hit, hit that half dozen balls, you know, maybe, maybe do a little this and a little this before they get going and they're ready to go. But it's kind of like a car. You don't jump in your car, a cold car, and then stomp the gas right before you go. You gotta let the thing warm up a little bit. And that's a lot of what warm up is. It's literally warming up the body. It's warming up the body temperature. It's creating blood circulation, creating elasticity. Elasticity is such an important component because you want to make sure you can get through those full ranges of motion.

Dan Weedin 

Let's talk about that, Brett, because you've seen a golf swing, you've swung a golf club, you know that there are unique muscle groups involved in a properly sequenced golf swing. For those golfers out there listening, if you have a limited amount of time, and let's just say you you have under 10 minutes. What are the areas that we as golfers should all focus on to get warmed up and prepared and ready to not only hit a golf ball, but probably to walk the golf course?

Coach Brett 

Yeah. You know, ultimately, you know, it's, uh, uh, most people are going to think, boy, I got to get them shoulders warmed up because those shoulders are going to be, those shoulders are going to be work. I'm going to get a workout with those shoulders. But Dan, you and I know, in, like you say, the most efficient swing, shoulders shouldn't be moving a whole lot. So a lot of times when I want people to focus on stretching or I want people to focus on warming up, we're going to be talking about from the ankles to the hips. That's where I really want to see is to start seeing people working on that flexibility, getting those quads warmed up. We're going to use the quads a lot. We're going to use the hamstrings a lot. Glutes a ton. We talk a lot, Dan, when we talk about golf, about how important the glutes are, you know, as you say, as you say, the glutes are the king. And so, you know, we got to work on those glutes and, and working on that, that rotation at, at the waist, where you can disassociate the upper and the lower body without challenging your lower back too much. You know, that's, that's ultimately what it is, is that, you know, as you go through this, we want to get that level warm through those body parts so that we're not taxing them. Because I mean, when you when you hit the tee box on the first tee, your first thing, your first thing is a massive drive. I mean, that's the very first thing you're going to do when you when you start start your round is hit a massive drive.

Dan Weedin 

Yeah. And it's and it's a big swing. And, you know, I think about as you're talking about it, you know, I played basketball. You are a soccer player. I watch football. On TV, there's not a sport, whether conducted at a professional college or high school level, where you see those athletes literally jog onto the floor without having done any level of warming up and stretching. And I'm not talking about static stretching, you know, we can talk a little bit about that. I'm talking about the dynamic type of stretching that gets the blood flowing and gets you know, the, the, the hips and the, and the glutes. And yeah, the shoulders are, are an important part of that to get some mobility, but to get that entire body kind of lubricated and ready to go, uh, nobody else does that. Uh, you know, so why are we just that lazy?

Coach Brett 

You know, I think probably what happens, Dan is people are just running late. You know, you got it. You got a 12, 15, time you get in there at 12 Oh seven. You know, you're going to hop on and you got to get going. But, you know, it's everybody wants to have a great round. I mean, that's that truly that's what it comes down to is everybody wants to have a great round. And, you know, you just there's just so much involved, even in that stretching, Dan, you know, not only talking from from the ability to, you know, to warm up the muscles, warm the ligaments and warm up the joints, but also to warm up the mind, to get yourself mentally ready for that game as well. So that you're going through that process. I think a lot of golfers don't see golf as a physical sport. Some of them might say, okay, I'm, I'm just riding the cart. I'm not walking, Dan. I don't, I don't know how to play golf. I don't know how to play golf. I don't know how to play golf.

Dan Weedin 

I don't know how to play golf need to do all of that. But let's even address that. So maybe you're in a tournament, maybe you have to take the cart for some reason, or maybe that's just the way you want to go if you're taking a golf cart each time. The actual movement on the golf swing, though, can cause injury. Especially as we get older, as we're walking the back nine of life, I don't care what kind of shape you're in. Talk a little bit about the concern around injuries and where you would anticipate somebody getting injured. Didn't take the proper time to get warmed up.

Coach Brett 

You know, where typically where you're going to see it most, and I've heard all kinds of injuries as a result of golf, but it was really the lower back. Um, you know, I, I see that a lot of times, um, people don't have the strength, you know, we're, we're, we could do a whole, we should do a whole nother podcast on strength, but we're doing a podcast on

Dan Weedin 

stretching and we will, we will be doing a whole, we will be talking about strength.

Coach Brett

Absolutely.

Coach Brett 

But a lot of that is because we have limited strength, but also limited flexibility in that lower back and those glutes. And when we have that, you have that compensation. So your body's gonna overcompensate because you can't get into that full rotation. You and I went out to the range the other day and I was doing the exact same thing where I wasn't putting my body in the correct position after we warmed up, of course, but I wasn't putting my body in that correct position. And that's what happens when you're on the course. But if you've done that, and you have it warmed up, now we're looking at issues, rotational issues. Rotational issues coming out of there. You know, we see some out of the knees, but for the most part, I think your passion and my passion are the same, Dan, is to help people play more efficient golf, but to have golf be more enjoyable. And golf is gonna be truly more enjoyable when you don't have to take handfuls of Advil, like Tic Tacs, just to get through the back night Well, and I want to expand on that a little bit because we really

Dan Weedin 

focus on what we, I got the term from you, a modern adult, somebody who is, is, you know, walk in the back nine of life. And, and it could, I'm saying people who are in their forties, 45, 50, 55, I'm 59. We've all got a little legit scar tissue, not, not just in our head scar tissue, which is a subject for another day when you, when you've hit some poor shots and those come to mind. But some real scar tissue, whether we've had some sort of a shoulder injury, which is not uncommon in people in their 50s. Maybe we've had some sort of a back injury. I had back surgery 20 years ago when I was in my 30s. Knee injuries and all sorts of things. Talk about the importance of, okay, so our bodies have a few miles on them, it's even more important, isn't it, to get warmed up? Why is that?

Coach Brett 

Unfortunately, I think a lot of times we're perpetually 35. I think a lot of times we eat like we're 35, play like we're 35, but we don't recover like we did when we were 35. Where maybe back in the day we could have just jumped out of the car five minutes before tea time. And been okay, but definitely at the, you know, the older ages where we're looking at, you know, maybe more inflammation, you know, we're looking at a lot of times, you know, for a lot of us, a lifetime of sitting down in our professional life, you know, so we have a lot of those areas that are weakened, a lot of those areas that are a little on the dormant side and, you know, just the need to increase increase that blood flow and just get things warmed up and get things going before you get on it. But those are really the key ingredients, especially as you get older, because we don't bounce like we used to.

Dan Weedin 

No. Brett, I'm going to tell you, I think you are being generous. I think we're all perpetually 25. I think we might even add another 10 years back on that. Last part of this that I want to comment, and Brett's going to be a regular, I'm a regular contributor here because we are about golf fitness, you know, and I recently wrote for the newsletter on on being prepared with not only hydration, but food and fuel. I guess I'll say fuel and hydration. You know, I have no issues with no issues. I think it's fine for somebody to have a beer on the golf course, a drink of some sort, that's all fine. But the reality is if you want to play a you want to be strong till the end, fuel and hydration play a large part of that, even if you're just out there to to casually have fun and you don't even care what you shoot. But just to be healthy. Talk a little bit about what you think from a physical sport, a physically demanding sport. And again, whether you're walking or riding, How should you be prepared from a fuel standpoint?

Coach Brett 

You know, just like just like any sport, really, I mean, but but think of how long you play golf. You probably, Dan, your rounds are probably a lot shorter than mine because I get my money's worth when I get on the course. But, you know, you're going to you're going to be playing, what, for three, three to five hours.

Dan Weedin 

Probably four to five hours, probably four to five.

Coach Brett 

I figured you did it in three. No, no, no, no. That's my that's my front nine.

Dan Weedin 

So, you know, four to five hours, especially if you're on a course, it's very busy. You're out there for a while.

Coach Brett 

Yeah. And so that's the idea. You know, you're going to be undergoing physical activity for for a long period of time. You're basically going on a hike. You're going on a on a exceedingly long hike. And I recommend that people I recommend people walk the course who are truly, truly, you know, want that fitness aspect of it. The carts are great. Especially as you get older and you still want to enjoy the game, I think it's good. But you're on this great hike, you're doing these complex maneuvers, your body needs that fuel. Especially the hydration, especially because a lot of times you're going out and it's a sunny day. You're going to be sweating, you're going to be perspiring, you're going to be burning that. But then just the fuel that you need, the food that you need, energy. It's about energy in and energy out and getting that enough energy to go in. It's more than just, and I read your blog, Dan, about the hot dog, and you're going to have a hot dog after the 18th hole, but you don't have it at the turn as much as you used to.

Dan Weedin 

Yeah, no, hot dogs are no good. I'll do a lot of other, but I'm not, I'm a little stitious. I'm not superstitious, but I got some stitious in me. What I will say, Brett, and I think you'd agree with me, and you and I have actually worked with our clients in this business that we've got working together. Who because of mobility and health challenges have to use a golf cart, have to ride in a golf cart. And that's cool.

Coach Brett 

I love that. I love it.

Dan Weedin 

I do too, because you're still, you're still out there and, and you're, you're playing golf number one in a, in a, in a way that you're able to. And I highly, highly recommend that. Uh, but I, the thing that I want to make sure that I pass on and that you're passing on is you're still swinging a golf club. You're still doing a highly, physical thing. And the best way to make sure that you're playing pain free, not hurting yourself and enjoying the game is is to be prepared before you walk on. And in fact, what I'd say, Brad, is it's more important to invest that five minutes in stretching rather than even hitting a golf ball, because it's going to pay more dividends.

Coach Brett 

I agree. And I think, you know, we talked about before, Dan, I think if you want to play better golf, Um, it really starts with the, with the preparation of, of how you arrive, um, you know, how, how you, you react, uh, to what you're, what you're going into and taking that mental mindset that I'm going to play a difficult game with complex maneuvers, uh, that are going to involve your whole body. Um, and I think once, once you do that, I think you'll, you'll, you'll get that mental focus, get that mental mindset going towards your game a whole lot more.

Dan Weedin 

Yeah. You're going to be back, I know. And again, you're a great sponsor of the show. We appreciate it. Before we go, anybody who's still stuck around and listen to us to the end, tell us a little bit about what happens at BC Fitness and TechFit Studios. Talk a little bit about what you're doing there.

Coach Brett 

Yeah, for sure. So TechFit Studios and BC Fitness Studios are private boutique fitness facility, meaning we work directly with clients on fitness goals. So it's an exclusive space, an inclusive environment where people can come and we strategize on better ways that to health. So that we, you know, we work with, you know, Dan, you, you alluded to that modern adults, you know, a large group of the clients we work with are people that are 50 and older. Because, because when we develop that, Dan, you and we've been we've been exercising for you know our lives you know we've been in sports what we did in our 30s does not translate to what we do in our 50s and into our 60s and you need you need the people you need the talent you need the fitness uh coaches that understand that that are not aren't trying to create you know aesthetics but are trying to create um lifestyle uh changes you know for what we call in the modern adult the three g's of the modern adult, gardening, grandkids and golf. And so Dan, I know you knock two of those down. I don't think you have the green thumb, but that's, that's, this Weedon is ain't doing any Weedon in his garden.

Dan Weedin 

There's none of that going on. And, and by the way, you can do this virtually too. I was just, I was just off the phone with, we have a client of ours, a mutual client that I, I refer to, he's up in Alaska and he's, I know he's still working with you. And so you, have the ability to do this with anybody anywhere?

Coach Brett 

Yeah, all over the country. No geographical regions for us. You know, we're in Florida, we're in Texas, we're in Oregon. You know, just the passion for helping people is is high for us. And, you know, that's ultimately what we want to provide is we want to provide a sustainable lifestyle changes for folks.

Dan Weedin 

Excellent. Well, Brett, thanks for being on today. I know you'll be back. We'll be talking more fitness and golf. Thanks a lot for being on and we will be talking to you the next time. Everybody, thanks for joining us. For now, go out and play some golf and have some fun and do so without the pain. We don't need that at all. So go out and enjoy yourself. So long.

Dan Weedin 

And that'll be it. And then I'll do, I might actually cut that last part because I have a better ending. So we are good to go. I'm going to end the record. Let's see. Pause and stop recording. Okay, good. Hey, thanks, man. I'm going to work on this today. And my plan is to have it out tomorrow.

Coach Brett 

Perfect. Anytime you need me, let me know. I'm always in.

Dan Weedin 

Okay. Thank you. And I'm working. One of the things I'm working on the stuff we talked about, um, uh, probably have that to you when I get back, but, uh, I'm working on that too.

Coach Brett 

Excellent.

Dan Weedin 

Take care.