Sports science for golf: A survey of high-skilled golfers' "perceptions" and "practices".

Despite a growing body of evidence on the positive impact of sports science for golf, there is still a paucity of research investigating the "perceptions" and "practices" of high-skilled golfers. Professional Golfers' Association Assistant Professionals (future-qualified coaches; n = 430) were surveyed on their "perceptions" and "practices" of "sports science", "warm-ups", "cool-downs" and "strength and conditioning" for golf. Participants perceived the discipline of sports science as beneficial to golfers but lacked implementation in coaching settings. Warm-up protocols were also perceived to be beneficial to all aspects of golf performance; however, the duration of tournament-based (37.84 ± 20.05 min), warm-ups was significantly greater (p < 0.001) than practice rounds (26.26 ± 18.63 min) and range sessions (13.00 ± 13.38 min). Education continues to be required to raise the understanding of warm-ups for golf. There were mixed perceptions regarding the benefits of a cool-down, with 62.1% of the high-skilled golfers omitting a cool-down following tournament play and practice. Strength and conditioning was perceived as beneficial, with 78.51% engaging in some form of training throughout the year. Results confirm, however, that certain misconceptions around surveyed sports science practices still exist and it is imperative that education disseminates research findings and validated applied practices to coaches and golfers alike.

Relationships Between Highly Skilled Golfers' Clubhead Velocity and Vertical Ground Reaction Force Asymmetry During Vertical Jumps and an Isometric Midthigh Pull.

Wells, JET, Mitchell, ACS, Charalambous, LH, and Fletcher, IM. Relationships between highly skilled golfers' clubhead velocity and vertical ground reaction force asymmetry during vertical jumps and an isometric midthigh pull. J Strength Cond Res 34(10): 2824-2831, 2020-Clubhead velocity (CHV) is a commonly measured variable within golf due to strong associations with increased drive distance. Previous research has revealed significant relationships between CHV and vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) variables during bilateral tasks including a countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), drop jump (DJ), and isometric midthigh pull (IMTP). Asymmetries have been linked to performance outcomes in a number of sports; however, few studies have assessed asymmetries within golf. The current study, therefore, examined the relationships between CHV and vGRF asymmetries for CMJ positive impulse, SJ positive impulse, DJ positive impulse, and IMTP peak force (PF). Furthermore, the level of agreement for asymmetries between protocols was assessed by using Kappa coefficients. Fifty highly skilled (handicap ≤5) male golfers attended laboratory and range-based testing sessions. Positive impulse and PF were measured using a dual force platform system, with CHV measured using a TrackMan 3e launch monitor. There was no significant relationship (r = -0.14 to 0.22) between CHV and each of the vGRF asymmetry measures. Of the golfers tested, 26 had a "real" asymmetry in the CMJ, 18 had a "real" asymmetry in the SJ, 25 had a "real" asymmetry in the DJ, and 27 had a "real" asymmetry in the IMTP. Kappa coefficients indicated that asymmetries rarely favored the same limb (k = 0.06 to 0.39) with asymmetries varying for individual golfers between protocols. As such, asymmetries are neither beneficial nor detrimental to CHV but are inherently individual and dependent on the task.

Acute effects of different warm-up protocols on highly skilled golfers' drive performance.

Previous research has highlighted the positive effect that different warm-up protocols have on golf performance (e.g. Sorbie et al., 2016; Tilley & Macfarlane, 2012) with the design of warm-ups and programmes targeting and improving golf performance through the activation and development of specific muscle groups. This study aimed to examine the acute effects of two warm-up protocols on golf drive performance in comparison to a control condition. Using a randomised counterbalanced design over three testing sessions, twenty-three highly skilled golfers completed the control, dynamic and resistance-band warm-up conditions. Following each condition, a GC2 launch monitor was used to record ball velocity and other launch parameters of ten shots hit with the participants' own driver. A repeated-measures ANOVA found significant increases in ball velocity (ηp2 = .217) between the control and both the dynamic and resistance-band warm-up conditions but no difference between these latter two, and a reduction in launch angle between control and dynamic conditions. The use of either a dynamic stretching or resistance-band warm-up can have acute benefits on ball velocity but golfers should liaise with a PGA Professional golf coach to effectively integrate this into their golf driving performance.

Relationships between Challenge Tour golfers' clubhead velocity and force producing capabilities during a countermovement jump and isometric mid-thigh pull.

A number of field-based investigations have evidenced practically significant relationships between clubhead velocity (CHV), vertical jump performance and maximum strength. Unfortunately, whilst these investigations provide a great deal of external validity, they are unable to ascertain vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) variables that may relate to golfers' CHVs. This investigation aimed to assess if the variance in European Challenge Tour golfers' CHVs could be predicted by countermovement jump (CMJ) positive impulse (PI), isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) peak force (PF) and rate of force development (RFD) from 0-50 ms, 0-100 ms, 0-150 ms and 0-200 ms. Thirty-one elite level European Challenge Tour golfers performed a CMJ and IMTP on dual force plates at a tournament venue, with CHV measured on a driving range. Hierarchical multiple regression results indicated that the variance in CHV was significantly predicted by all four models (model one R2 = 0.379; model two R2 = 0.392, model three R2 = 0.422, model four R2 = 0.480), with Akaike's information criterion indicating that model one was the best fit. Individual standardised beta coefficients revealed that CMJ PI was the only significant variable, accounting for 37.9% of the variance in European Challenge Tour Golfers' CHVs.

Relationships between highly skilled golfers' clubhead velocity and force producing capabilities during vertical jumps and an isometric mid-thigh pull.

Whilst previous research has highlighted significant relationships between golfers' clubhead velocity (CHV) and their vertical jump height and maximum strength, these field-based protocols were unable to measure the actual vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) variables that may correlate to performance. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ) and drop jump (DJ) vGRF variables and CHV in highly skilled golfers. Twenty-seven male category 1 golfers performed IMTP, CMJ, SJ and DJ on a dual force platform. The vertical jumps were used to measure positive impulse during different stretch-shortening cycle velocities, with the IMTP assessing peak force (PF) and rate of force development (RFD). Clubhead velocity was measured using a TrackMan launch monitor at a golf driving range. Pearsons correlation coefficient analyses revealed significant relationships between peak CHV and CMJ positive impulse (r = 0.788, p < 0.001), SJ positive impulse (r = 0.692; p < 0.001), DJ positive impulse (r = 0.561, p < 0.01), PF (r = 0.482, p < 0.01), RFD from 0-150 ms (r = 0.343, p < 0.05) and RFD from 0-200 ms (r = 0.398, p < 0.05). The findings from this investigation indicate strong relationships between vertical ground reaction force variables and clubhead velocity.