Matt Palazzolo is a National Independent Performance and Movement Specialist, formerly of Golf & Body NYC in New York, New York.
When I worked in Manhattan, my clientele consisted of busy executives who spent the majority of their days behind a desk or in travel. In fact, there were times when I’d see many of these individuals two or three times per week and then not again for a month – that was the nature of our relationship and what their schedules permitted.
With such a unique and scattered timetable, I strove to maximize the effectiveness of our time together and leave them with ideas and concepts they could apply at home and on the range. Keeping the engagement active within their schedules would prove beneficial when considering client retention for the long-term.
I streamlined some general mobility and flexibility concepts that students could use when time was limited, and that started with proper awareness in ground force, as well as where they should feel their lower body in relation to their upper body at certain stages of the golf swing. I would prescribe drills to work on awareness and adequate width into the backswing and takeaway; proper upper and lower body dissociation specifically into the backswing; and lead side pressure in transition, specifically at shaft parallel.
To facilitate these measures, I used a lot of resistance bands and a resistance trainer to get them into a position that should feel like their backswing and subsequent transition downward. I would try to break a lot of the unfavorable movement patterns that people have.
Having access to a facility with a variety of equipment will always be more beneficial than a few simple bands at home. Yet, the point of what I was doing with this set of clients was to build onrange routines, pre-shot routines and things they could do before heading out to play. Warming up for a round used to mean hitting a bucket of balls – now we need to ensure they really stretch and adequately prepare prior to doing that. This vital awareness should be communicated to golfers on a consistent basis. Of course, COVID-19 has thrown many of these relationships for a loop, but with innovative technology like FaceTime and Zoom, I am able to engage many of my students virtually like never before.
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