WITW: AD's Training & Golf Journey

[Albatross Dreamer]

Hey all, we have a bunch of WITB threads and thought it'd be fun to do a WITW: What's In The Workout one. I have a background in training & sports performance so this will be a mix of my own personal training and exploring different training topics. And hopefully some discussion if anyone is interested. I don't have all (or even most) of the answers so always like to chat about things.

 

First the disclaimer (because this is the age we live in)- this thread is not meant to be medical or training advice, but is for informational purposes only. As always consult your doctor & any other training professional before starting a workout program. Also, none of the things mentioned in this thread are meant to be personal recommendations for you the reader.

 

Now back to the fun stuff. My background- played sports a long time, including volleyball in college and after. Been lifting 20ish years, with some breaks. Personal best were Olympic squat 440, Deadlift 575, Standing vertical jump 35.5"ish. No where near those numbers now though. Lifting has been off and on the past 7 years or so, just started being consistent again a few months ago. Started playing golf more seriously last year. I don't keep a handicap or anything, but would say I score mostly 80s right now, partially as I've been working to change swing a bit for better long-term consistency. For golf numbers would say driver carry is in 270-280 range on decent days, maybe catch one here that's longer. Will try to get on Trackman at some point for a firmer baseline.

 

Goals- Would like to get vert back to 32+" to start, would guess I'm high 20s right now. Don't have any specific lifting numbers as that's not my focus. When off-season comes will have a few I'll perhaps aim for. Golf would love to first get swing speed to 120s, then maybe make a run at the 130-140 range for fun if possible. But that's not a near future goal.

 

Below is roughly what my 2 workouts look like each week. I'll change exercises at times if I feel like doing something different. Most weeks I lift 2x, play 1x. But some weeks lift 3x. Off-season will lift 3-4x. As a heads up I'm not going to get into extreme details with workouts or post every single day I do.

 

Day 1

1a- Seated box jump 3-4 x 6

1b- Plyo push up 3x6

 

2- sprints 5-10 yards- number depends on the day

 

3a- Explosive trap bar deadlift- sets of 5-6

3b- Depth Jumps- sets of 5

3c- Single arm dumbbell press- sets of 10-15

 

4a- Single leg glute bridge- sets of 10-12

4b- Single arm lat pull- sets of 10-12

4c- Body saw- set of 10-15

 

5a- Cable chop- set of 10

5b- Shoulder circuit- 1x20

5c- GHR- 1 set

 

Day 2

1a Rotational Box Jump- Sets of 4 each way

1b- MB windmill- sets of 5-6 each side

 

2- Rolling sprints of 30-40 yards

 

3a- Rear Foot Elevated Split Squats (will do offset load or DBs in both hands)- sets of 10-12

3b- Box Rebounds- sets of 12

3c- 3 point row- sets of 10-15

 

4a- Rotational Landmine Push Press- sets of 5-6 per side

4b- Slideboard hamstring curls- sets of 10-15

4c- Bench Side plank- Sets of 20-30s

 

5a- Low to high cable chop- sets of 10

5b- Rope tricep & biceps- 1 set of 20

5c- Bar hang- 1 set ALAP

 

As mentioned above I don't necessarily strictly adhere to all the exercises there, as sometimes I feel like I need more of something else or will change depending when I'm going to play. At some point I may, and definitely will in the off-season. Right now my focus is more on the explosive exercises, as I'm trying to maximize rate of force development. Still give effort on the strength exercises, at times maybe too much, but not all out or going crazy with number of sets.

 

Some things I'll prob talk about in future include: training philosophy, why I have certain exercises in there, progression of training from beginning to advance, triphasic training, strength vs speed, building workouts, rotational factors. Will also throw in golf game stuff as well as it comes up. Let me know if there's any things you have questions about!

 

Alright, that's quite a lengthy post. We'll see if this ends up being helpful for anyone, including myself, or not.

[KD1]

How much time do your workouts take?

 

Since you mentioned increasing swing speed as a goal will you make room for swing speed training directly?

 

Do you have time for the range for skill development? I'm curious about your thoughts on balancing this.

[Albatross Dreamer]

1 hour ago, KD1 said:

How much time do your workouts take?

 

Since you mentioned increasing swing speed as a goal will you make room for swing speed training directly?

 

Do you have time for the range for skill development? I'm curious about your thoughts on balancing this.

Good questions.

 

My sessions usually take about 60-75 minutes depending on how much I lollygag. Sometimes take golf swings in between sets as well. Typically I roughly follow the brackets below:

-Warm up 5-10 minutes

-Explosive (sprints, jumps, throws, etc) 10-20 min

-Main weight lifts 20-30 min

-Accessory lifts 5-15 min

-Conditioning (not doing any now) 5-15 min

 

For rest it's typically 1-2 minutes between larger exercises, 30-60 sec for smaller

 

I will be doing more direct swing speed training in the winter and next spring. This year have focused more on getting back into lifting consistently and swing technique as I'm still relatively new. Plan to get a monitor before starting as well since I want to be able to track it more directly. As for protocol I'd do 3-4 swings then taking 60ish seconds off or doing something light like chipping for a total of 4-6 sets. It's very easy to overdo and people can overestimate the stimulus needed to see gains. 2-3 sessions per week would be fine, ideally on the same days as your high stimulus weight days (I could write more about this area at some point, specifically the hi/low model or organizing training)

 

I do live close to a range and can use it whenever. As far as balance I think it depends on where you are in terms of your game and your physical fitness. Nothing can replace actually hitting a club, but there's a point of diminishing returns for each of us. The good news is you can maintain strength levels with a fairly low volume of training, even 1-2 sets of a reasonably amount of effort. If it helps here's a hypothetical schedule that sort of matches what those of us that live in cold weather places might experience, using 4 hours per week outside of actual rounds 

 

Nov/Dec to Feb- Little to no range time, 4 hours lifting

March to May- Slowly ramp up range time, taking lifting down to maybe 2 hours by end of May

June to Oct- Keeping that 2 hours of each but shifting 3 to 1 either way depending on needs and how body is feeling.

 

This is also with purely golf in mind, as I enjoy lifting too so don't know I'd go as low as I would if golf was the only priority. If you have more than 4 hours available I'd say dropping down to 2 hours lifting is a good spot as you could do either 2 hour long sessions or 3 45ish minute ones.

 

Does that help and/or any questions about anything I wrote?