Golf is a sport that asks a lot from its players, including time, energy and expense. Golf demands years of practice and coaching to achieve any semblance of skill, and that work to improve costs money.
Of course, some golf instruction and playing venues cost more than others. No one walks into Golf & Body New York expecting to gain admittance and receive top-shelf instruction for the cost of a bucket of balls. But, for those well-heeled members of Manhattan’s top indoor country club and coaching facility, a higher investment can produce quicker results.
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To put that concept to the test, this writer subjected himself to a physical evaluation and high tech coaching session at Golf & Body New York to see what results even a single such lesson could produce. The Golf & Body Assessment tests a body’s capabilities and limitations to discover strengths and weaknesses that effect a golf swing.
The process begins with several forms and an examination of injury history. I’m proud to say the staff on hand couldn’t remember a more extensively damaged corpse than mine from years of athletic foolishness: Broken right shoulder; broken right ankle; all 10 fingers broken; broken jaw and two rebuilt knees (ACL, MCL and meniscus).
With that bloody history in mind, I headed to the club’s fully equipped exercise room. There staff trainers and physical therapists ran me through a series of tests to evaluate and measure how well I move in relation to a good golf swing. Do my shoulders rotate? Do my hips open up? Are my wrists stable? Does my head slide back?
The results of that examination traveled with me to the golf instruction area and the TrackMan hitting bays. I would hit balls with my own clubs while the TrackMan recorded my swing speed, club face positioning, hip alignment, etc. The goal is to line up the physical examination with the golf performance to see what training and coaching elements need to come together to improve an individual golfer’s game.
Of course, my experience there was a test to see what immediate impact the Golf & Body system could produce. My primary golf challenge is an occasional severe slice with the driver. If I’m not careful, I’ll boomerang the ball to the right and lose it forever. That costs me plenty in strokes and golf balls.
The Golf & Body assessment discovered I have a post-injury tendency to lean in my swing and resist shoulder turn — leaving my head too far back and forcing my club face open. I need to focus on finishing my shoulder rotation as it gets my momentum forward again and close the club face.
That was the main suggestion from my training session, and it stuck. By focusing on that simple change in movement, my slice is disappearing into a pretty and controllable fade. There is no question Golf & Body accelerated that discovery and improvement in my game. I’m left to wonder all of the good they can do for their NYC members.
