The Greatest Show on Grass, The Greatest Show on Astro-Turf, and Ron Mon

Play has begun at the FBR Open this week in Phoenix, and let me tell you this is quite an event. I still pose the question; “would you rather be in Detroit (30 degrees and watching football on astro-turf) or in sunny Phoenix?” It’s a no-brainer for me.

I think the crowds at this tournament will be in excess of 500,000, quite a lot of people to pack the course at the TPC of Scottsdale. The atmosphere of this tournament is different than any other on the PGA Tour. The fans are loud, boisterous, and at times a little out of control, fine by me. It makes for quite a fun weekend.

And if you have never seen the 16th hole at the FBR it is quite a site: A simple par 3 for the players, but bleachers enclose the entire hole. The fans are loud and if you didn’t know it you’d think you were at a football game. Fun is the name of the game at this tournament for the galleries.

I have to say it is nice to hear the joy fellow blogger Ron Mon is receiving from the exercises in my book. Keep up the great work and keep me in the loop on your progress. From what I have heard he is seeing some great improvement in his flexibility, and the connection between your flexibility and golf swing is of great importance.

Flexibility and the golf swing: A common connection that many of us have heard about. But do you know why it is so important to the swing? I am sure most of you have seen Daly swing a club, and I have to say it is amazing. When he hits driver it looks as though his club head is going to hit the ground on his back swing. Amazing flexibility if you ask me (especially for a big guy).

So I was thinking last night, do most amateurs know why flexibility is important to their golf swing? Take a moment to answer that question and then keep reading.

First off let us quickly define flexibility. Flexibility is the ability of your body to move through the “required” range of motion to perform the activity at hand (a simplified definition but it work it for us). Knowing this definition and combining it with what you know about golf swing mechanics. We can come to the conclusion that in order to swing a club on the correct path, the body must have the required flexibility parameters to move that club on the correct path.

Pretty simple, but let me ask another question’ “what happens if you do not have the flexibility in your body to swing the club on the correct path?” Well, I can tell you that your body will still swing the club, but it compensates along the way. These compensations will result in changes in your swing path. And what happens when you change your swing path? You will shoot the ball all over the course, and your scores will go through the roof!

Now here is the interesting thing about flexibility and the golf swing. The greater range of motion you can get the club to move through in relation to the swing plane (remember, range of motion is contingent on your bodies flexibility), the greater amount of power you can develop. That is one reason as to why Daly is able to crush the ball off the tee. He has so much flexibility in his body allowing him to move the driver through a huge range of motion.

So ask yourself, “Is your golf swing lacking some flexibility?” If so, it might be a good idea to introduce some flexibility training into your practice routines.