Less is more when it comes to power in golf & running

Posted In: Golf May 26th, 2014 divider No Comments »

What a beauty of a weekend and I got out for some golf, among a few other activities. I hope you got to get some vitamin D as well!

Teeing off with some weekend warriors made me look at their swings and the corresponding results. I couldn’t help myself!

The harder they swang, the less pretty the end result was. Unless you have great body awareness and great hand/eye coordination, it’s very hard to smack a small ball correctly at high speeds repeatedly. In order to be consistent, you have to have a golf swing that’s efficient and repeatable.

That’s why some older men can shoot low scores even if they can only drive the ball 150 yards. Straight and in front, or slow and steady, wins the race.

All of the above is true when it comes to running as well. The less I try to power when I run, the more I can enjoy the run and sustain the pace. And my best results to date have all been when I train then listen to my body on race day.

I’m sure some of you who were out cheering or running in this weekend’s races could attest to this, especially if you were in the back of the pack. That’s where you see a lot who look like they are struggling, yet they are continuing.

Because of my build and my background in power sports, I tried to power my way through the ball when I first started golf as well. When I got a hold of it, it went far but most of the time it was just all over the place. Now I might lose a bit of distance but it’s fairly consistent. And I realized it’s all about getting the hips and core to do the work and the rest of the limbs to come along for the ride. It’s much easier on the body and consistent so more enjoyable on the scorecard and the clock.

Before ChiRunning and TPI, I never looked at them at having many similarities except maybe they’re both done predominately outdoors. Now it’s hard to overlook their similarities. Who knows, maybe I can start teaching ChiGolf!