Dalian Golf Trip!
The city of Dalian, a famous tourist spot, is a shining pearl situated in the Bohai Bay of China. It is near the mountains and by the sea, with a delightful climate and beautiful environment, which has also contributed to the rise of golf in this city. No doubt, Dalian also contributed a lot of effort to helping the Liaoning Men’s Golf Team to become the champions at the 2013 Thirteenth National Sports Meet!
This time, Dr. Chen’s STaR Studio sent coach Mo Jianbang to participate in the “Junior Golf Open Training Course” in Hongshang, Dalian. Coach Mo is a Hong Kong registered physical therapist, and certified as a personal trainer in the United States, who has provided rehabilitation protection to many outstanding Chinese golfers such as Huang Wenyi, Hu Mu, and Liu Yuxiang. He joined together with the famous Korean Coach Choe Myong-Ho, and gave lectures and guidance to outstanding junior golf players as well as their parents.
On the 7th and 8th of June, Coach Mo gave lessons to family members and gave advice about their moves on the practice course. Even though some of the players were only between eight and ten years old, they had played golf for 4 or 5 years. As for their parents, they were mostly concerned about health issues related to children playing golf, and Coach Mo answered all their questions related to these concerns. He said that it was extremely important, while training the youngsters to play and enjoy the sport of golf, that they make sure not let incorrect movements and practice methods affect their physical development.
Is a crooked waist normal?
The general belief is that after playing golf, which is a sport that engages in mostly unilateral movement, the body tends to lean on one side when standing naturally, therefore, people would see it as a “crooked waist.” Coach Mo wanted to prove that this widely accepted “law” was in fact a great mistake, by conducting functional assessment, guidance, demonstration and comparison of the effects, before and after, with the young players. “We regard abnormal as normal; weak consciousness, coupled with non-scientific training systems, have caused many coaches to have this wrong thinking,” said Coach Mo. Even the world’s top golfer, Tiger Woods, has many issues with his lower back. We should pay more attention to this issue during normal training.
Physical training should actually be the “main course”
After some exchange, we found that some parents had hired Japanese coaches. In most cases, coaching alone would have occupied most of the youngsters’ time, and they pretty much just knew how to swing the club and hit the ball. The incorrect training modes such as “one can finish training after hitting 600 balls,” or “one can go home after playing for two hours” have made few people actually pay attention to children’s physical problems. Coach Mo continues, “The best physical training is ‘rubbing’ in the golf training. We should know that swinging and hitting are part of the training, and that the more important physical training is actually the key.”
For example, during a one-hour golf swing practice, one always swings from right to left, and after so many times, it would cause stiffness in the body and mind, and the golfer no longer realizes what he is doing. So, after hitting 15-20 balls, one should do some simple activities to activate the muscles for better effect, and also, that way the child does not get bored.
After the demonstration on the spot, the youngsters felt much more relaxed physically, and they could swing the club more freely. I am using a girl’s case as an example. Coach Mo had her hold clubs with each hand, and asked her to swing with the left first, then with the right, and she looked very uncoordinated. After hitting a few balls, Coach Mo asked her to hit normally with one club, and all of a sudden, the girl felt her whole body was much more relaxed, and the swing motion looked very smooth and free. The reason for this was that the power of the torso was increased, and so were the stability and the coordination. This actually is the same in all sports. So, the model should be as follows: Golf training as the “appetizer,” and physical training as the “main course.”
Golf, the “Green Opium”
Golf is an unbalanced sport, therefore, with lack of research and without reasonable scientific guidance, it is very easy for it to have some negative effects on the body. Especially for young people, doing this for a long time will seriously affect the normal development of their bodies. But one cannot resist the charm of this sport; it is like the name everybody calls it, the “Green Opium,” for once you get into it, it will become a lifelong addiction.
A good golfer is required to possess tenacious will power as well as strong analytical skills while facing complex weather, terrain, wind directions and natural environment. While being a parent, he lets his child get to know golf from childhood, and the child will undoubtedly benefit greatly from nature, green and sunshine. This feeling of competing with nature is something most other sports cannot match!
However, due to the limitations of many factors, China’s golf industry is still in its early infancy stage. But with the spread of popularity of the culture and philosophy of golf, plus the scientific and rational training methods, the future of the popularity of golf and the degree of recognition will be greatly enhanced. By that time, the sport of golf in China will gradually and inexorably mature. We are looking forward to seeing that day!
Written by Wang Di
Hu Mu
Huang Wenyi
Feng Simin
Liu Yuxiang
Golf biomechanics analysis
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