Can Muscle Hinder Your Swing?

The announcers for this past weekend tournament were commenting that Tiger Woods may have become too muscular for his swing.  I have been going over this theory in my head and I would have to disagree.  The idea is that if you are too big you lose flexibility and you have to modify your swing to adapt for the size and shape of your body.  I do agree that as you build muscle and your body becomes bigger adaptations must occur.  I do not think that ultimately it changes your swing so much that you can’t play the way you were playing before.

Why do I think this?  If you are an avid golfer your workout routine and golf practice are probably fine tuned.  If you are an avid golfer and you were to miss one or the other, you are probably going to miss your workout to get onto the golf course or the driving range.   That being said as your body adapts to your change in muscle tone and muscle girth, the swing is adapting just the same to your new found muscles.  Your body has the ability to change through the nervous system.   As you start to do any new activity your nervous system is the first system to adapt.  So if you are complimenting your golf swing with a workout routine your nervous system is readily adapting.  As the communication between your brain and your muscles change with size and girth, your biomechanics change relatively proportionally.  With the end result a swing that still works with the body you are modifying.

Also the theory that flexibility is an issue with bigger muscles becomes a non-issue, as long as you maintain a stretching routine.  Flexibility is extremely important as most golfers can attest, when they are “tight” there swing is off.   A core routine of strength training, core training, flexibility, and golf practice is imperative to take yourself to the next level.

Therefore it is my opinion that Tiger continues to be a great role model for all golfers by sticking to a great fitness routine.