Tag Archive: thomas kurz

1. Jigsaw Training won’t help you win the US Open

   15th June 2012 10:10 am Leave a Comment

   Focus on the picture not the pieces

   Golf fitness training is a boom industry. There are umpteen “golf specific” exercise dvds, books, apps and courses you can attend.

   Taken out of context, the exercises and “tests” could lead to your game actually getting worse.

   I have been discussing this over several months with Golf Coach Stuart Wells. He wants his golfers fit enough to be able to address the ball and strike it well throughout the tournament.

   That makes sense to me and is a reasonable goal.

   How do I test for Golf fitness?

   Is what Stuart has been asking me. He is not interested in how far a golfer can do a standing long jump.

   I am not interested in doing isolated body tests such as the static leg raise (pictured right). 

   These give isolated information, completely out of context. They assume that the athlete is broken, and that we can rebuild them piece by piece.

   (In fact I came across some tennis coaches looking at this test, who really should know better, telling me that it helps predict tennis playing ability!)

   What we want are simple measurements that look at the golfer as a whole, but give us specific information to work on.

   I use a 5 point assessment with all my athletes that give a starting point on how their body works as a whole. This information allows the golfer to know their own body a bit better, and how it works.

   The golf swing is a massive connection of the kinetic chain. Trying to isolate parts of it and put it back together will just make it an omnishambles

   Don’t train to the test.

   There is a danger when “testing” to just practice the test in order to “show improvement”.

   This is a danger when coaches are trying to justify their own worth. It is “scientificy” rather than proven science.

   The most important test is on the golf course. When we work with golfers we look at their overall athleticism and improve that.

   They can all hold their positions throughout a tournament and hit killer drives.

   Athletic Development is more than shuffling isolated puzzle pieces around. 

   It is looking at the complete picture and working with golfer and coach alike.

2. Making not breaking young athletes- Diary of an intern part 10

   16th December 2010 10:59 am 1 Comment

   How proper screenings can help prevent injuries Jason Slade

   Having been coaching with Excelsior now for a couple of months, I was given the opportunity to work some different athletes on the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) based in Devon and to assist in a number of athlete screenings, with Ocean Physio, both of these opportunities have been beneficial to my personal conditioning development and provided positive learning experiences.

   It was great to work with different athletes, in sports that I don’t know much about, and not comfortable delivering specific training, as I might have limited experience and knowledge in the physiological and bio–mechanical movements required in the sport, an example of this is dinghy sailing. I have never been sailing so I couldn’t imagine the work and movement this type of athletes complete. It was Sophie’s first conditioning session with Excelsior and as she completed some basic movement patterns and completed a medicine ball workout, both myself and James were surprised by her movement and exercise technique. She had a great attitude towards training and worked hard.

    

   On the other hand I did help condition another athlete who was the complete opposite, clearly very strong and powerful, but struggled to lift anything over his head, without causing back pain. The conditioning he used to complete was just aimed at stats, how much can you bench and deadlift? Being a common question most gym goers get asked. So the conditioning James has put in place in all about movement, and corrective exercises to increase his mobility, and reduce his pain in his thoracic spine.

    

   Since joining Excelsior the importance of correct posture and efficient movement have been bought to my attention as a foremost aspect of conditioning, and this was backed up when I was assisting in a number of athlete screenings, (a female England cricketer, and a GB wheelchair tennis player) which I had just been inspired by.

   The screenings are completed by Dave MacLellan at Ocean Physio, and James. The amount of detail these professionals go into was incredible, assessing everything about the athlete’s lifestyle. The screenings start off by an athlete consultation, just asking questions you find out so much about your athletes lifestyle and habits.

   The screening also consist of standing postural analysis and movement analysis and this is an area that I would like to get more experience and knowledge in as it is so important and interesting. Each athlete is complete different, different lifestyle, habits and correcting these habits, such as leaning, or sitting in an incorrect position may in the future impact a negative performance factor.

   In the words of James Marshall “All athletes are very different, all of the screened athletes were within 1 year age gap and generic programming not possible”! I am learning so much, and really enjoying working for Excelsior and with James, looking forward to developing the company further.

   I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a pleasant New Year. Don’t eat too much!