MOST GOLFERS KNOW THEY NEED TO GET STRONGER

That usually isn’t the problem.
Most golfers I talk to already understand that strength matters.

Especially as they get older.

They know they need to keep training.
They know they need to maintain muscle.
They know strength can play a role in mobility, power, performance, and golf longevity.

But there is a better question:
DO YOU ACTUALLY KNOW WHERE YOU NEED TO GET STRONGER?

Because if you don’t know where your body can produce force...

and where it can’t...
you are still guessing.
You can walk into a gym tomorrow.

Start squatting.
Start pressing.
Do some cable rotations.
Grab a medicine ball.

Follow a golf workout you found online.

Technically?

You are strength training.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean you are building what your body actually needs.

Before we ask:
“What exercises should I do?”

I think we need to ask:
“WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO BUILD?”

​That is what the Impact BluePrint is designed to help answer.

THE GOLFER’S MYTH
“I JUST NEED TO START GETTING STRONGER.”

Last episode, the Golfer’s Myth was:
“I just need a workout.”

This episode takes that idea one step further.

Now the golfer says:
“Okay. I get it. I need to start getting stronger.”

Great.

But stronger where?
Where are you already strong?
Where are your biggest strength deficits?
Is one side producing more force than the other?
Which joint positions are having a harder time producing force?
Which areas may need more isolated work?

Without answering those questions, we can very easily move from:
RANDOM EXERCISE

to:

RANDOM STRENGTH TRAINING.

The exercises may look better.
The weights may be heavier.
But we are still guessing.

The goal is not simply:
Get stronger.

The goal is:
BUILD STRENGTH WITH DIRECTION.

​And that is where the Impact BluePrint comes in.

MUSCLE FUNCTION FIRST

Before we jump into the Impact BluePrint, there is an important question I get from new clients:
“WHY DO YOU START WITH MUSCLE ACTIVATION TECHNIQUES™?”

And:

“WHY CAN’T I JUST START TRAINING?”

It is a fair question.

At Golf MATchanics, we look at strength through two different lenses.

The first is what I call: NEUROMUSCULAR STRENGTH.

This is your ability to create and control muscular contractions.

The second is: CAPACITY STRENGTH.

This is your ability to produce more force, tolerate more load, and perform more work.

I like to think of Muscle Activation Techniques™ almost like a GPS for the muscular system.

MAT helps us look for areas where the muscular system may not be contributing as well as we would like.

Can the muscles contract?
Can individual joints produce force?
Can the isolated pieces contribute before we start asking the entire system to work together?

Because you can be strong in the gym...
and still have individual areas that are not contributing very well.
When that happens, your body may find another way to get the job done.
That is why I like establishing more of the neuromuscular foundation first.

Then we start building more capacity on top of it.

MUSCLE FUNCTION FIRST.

Then load. Then progression.

I LEARNED THIS THE HARD WAY

When I was younger, I did a stint in bodybuilding.

At one point, I was close to a: 500-POUND SQUAT.

And benching around: 330 POUNDS.

So on paper?

I was strong.

The problem was: MY BODY COULDN’T KEEP UP.

Something always seemed to be bothering me.

My back.
My knee.
Something.

And back then, my answer was almost always the same:

Lift harder.
Rest.
Stretch.
Do more mobility work.

Then go right back into the gym and try to train harder again.

That was how I looked at strength.

More weight.
More work.
Get stronger.

Then I became a Muscle Activation Techniques practitioner, and it made me look at training very differently.

I started realizing:

STRENGTH ISN’T JUST ABOUT HOW MUCH WEIGHT YOU CAN MOVE.

It is also about how well the individual pieces of your body contribute.

Can the muscles contract when they are supposed to?
Can an individual joint produce force?
Can an isolated area do its job before we ask the whole body to work together?

That completely changed how I trained myself.
And it changed how I started training clients.

Today, I can still lift heavy weights.
But it doesn’t always feel like I am fighting my own body to do it.

That became a major part of my philosophy:

BETTER ISOLATED FUNCTION CREATES A BETTER OPPORTUNITY FOR INTEGRATED STRENGTH.

Build the pieces. Then integrate the pieces.

WHAT IS THE IMPACT BLUEPRINT?

The Impact BluePrint is a two-day process.

And I break it down very simply:

DAY ONE — THE FOUNDATION
DAY TWO — THE PLAN

Day One gives us information.

Day Two turns that information into strength direction.

That’s it.  Simple.

​But the information we gather is what allows us to stop guessing.

DAY ONE — STRENGTH MAPPING

Day One starts with: STRENGTH MAPPING.

This is where we begin testing your positional strength.
We place you into different joint positions associated with the physical demands of golf.
Then we measure how much force you can actually produce using dynamometers.

We test the left side.
We test the right side.

Then we compare the two.
Golf itself is asymmetrical.

Your lead side and trail side have different jobs.
Your golf swing does not look identical from one side to the other.
But both sides still need the ability to produce force.

So what do I want to know?

HOW MUCH FORCE CAN EACH SIDE PRODUCE?
WHERE ARE THE BIGGEST STRENGTH DEFICITS?
WHICH POSITIONS ARE HAVING A HARDER TIME GENERATING FORCE?

This is where isolated testing becomes extremely useful.

Because:

YOU CAN FAKE A REP.
BUT YOU CAN’T FAKE FORCE.

During a traditional exercise or rep test, your body has options.

You can shift.
You can compensate.

Another joint may contribute.
Another muscle group may help complete the movement.

You may still finish the rep.

But that does not always tell us how much force the area we are trying to examine is actually producing.
When we isolate a position and measure force directly, we get a much clearer picture.

Day One really comes down to three words:

ISOLATE.
MEASURE.
COMPARE.

Then we identify the biggest strength gaps.

​That becomes our map.

DAY TWO — THE IMPACT STRENGTH REPORT

After Day One, you go home.

Then you come back for Day Two.

The first thing we do is review your:

IMPACT STRENGTH REPORT.

This is where we take everything we learned during Strength Mapping and start making sense of it.

We show you:

Where you are producing force well.
Where your force production is lower.
Where the larger left-to-right strength differences may exist.
And which areas deserve more attention.

But there is an important distinction here:

RANGE AND FORCE ARE NOT THE SAME THING.

Your range of motion may not be perfectly symmetrical.

Maybe there are structural differences.
Maybe there are old injuries.
Maybe there are long-term adaptations.
Maybe one joint simply does not move exactly like the other.

That is information.

I am not trying to force every joint to look identical.

What I care about is your ability to produce force within the range you have available.

Again...

golf is asymmetrical.

The lead side and trail side have different jobs.
But both sides still need to be able to contribute force.
We are not chasing perfect movement symmetry.

WE ARE TRYING TO BUILD BETTER FORCE CAPACITY.

THE FLEXSMART PLAYBOOK

Once you understand your Impact Strength Report, we show you your:

FLEXSMART PLAYBOOK.

This is where the assessment starts becoming the strength program.

The Playbook gives us direction.

What are we trying to improve?
What strength gaps are we addressing?
Where do we start?
What comes next?

And within the Playbook, you also have an online training program you can follow between coached sessions.

Because strength coaching is not just about the hour you spend with me.

We want you doing work between sessions.

So every time we get together, we are not starting over.

We are: PROGRESSING.

​The FlexSMART Playbook follows the larger:

FLEXSMART ROADMAP

There are six stages:

Assess Strength
ISO Strength
Dual Strength
Power Strength
Motor Strength
Maintain Strength

Each stage will generally live somewhere within roughly a:

FOUR-TO-EIGHT-WEEK TRAINING WINDOW.

That can change depending on:

How often you train.
How consistent you are.
How quickly your body adapts.
And your training experience.

I break those six stages into three larger phases.

PHASE ONE — FOUNDATION

Phase One starts with: ASSESS STRENGTH.

That is exactly what we are doing through the Impact BluePrint.

We test.
We measure.
We identify the gaps.

Then we move into: ISO STRENGTH.

This is where we begin building more unilateral and positional strength into those gaps.

The progression becomes:
MAT helped us improve the neuromuscular foundation.
Strength Mapping showed us the capacity gaps.

ISO Strength starts developing more force in those areas.

​That becomes our foundation.

PHASE TWO — PERFORMANCE

Once we have built more of the foundation, we move into:

THE PERFORMANCE PHASE.

This starts with: DUAL STRENGTH

Now we begin building larger and more integrated strength.

This is where you may see more:

Bilateral work.
Heavier squats.
Bigger movements.
Higher-load strength exercises.
Three-to-five-rep strength testing.

This starts looking more like what people traditionally think of as strength coaching.

But the isolated work does not disappear.

If we still have areas where we are trying to close strength gaps...
we continue working on them.
We are simply layering larger strength on top of the foundation.

Then we move toward: POWER STRENGTH

Now we take the strength we have built and start asking the body to express it faster.

We can manipulate:

Load.
Speed.
Volume.
Rest.
Exercise selection.

We begin introducing more explosive work.

More plyometrics.
More speed.

The goal is to begin developing a faster rate of force production.

We want the nervous system becoming comfortable producing force faster.

And that leads into: MOTOR STRENGTH

Now we start organizing strength and speed through more complex movement.

This is where we begin adding more:

Sequencing.
Separation.
Coordination.
Speed.
Golf-specific movement patterns.

And more complex movement drills.

For more advanced golfers, Dual Strength, Power Strength, and Motor Strength may overlap more.

If you already have a large training background, we have more information and more capacity to work with.

For someone brand new to training?

We progress more step-by-step.

Build the foundation.
Build the strength.
Build the speed.

​Then organize it.

PHASE THREE — MAINTAIN

The final phase is: MAINTAIN STRENGTH.

As golf season approaches, something changes.

Your golf volume goes up.
You practice more.
You play more.
You may travel more.
Your total physical demand from golf increases.

So your training volume may start coming down.

This is important.

We spent the offseason building strength.

Now we want you to go out and actually use it.

The goal during the season is not necessarily:

Rebuild everything.

The goal becomes: MAINTAIN WHAT WE BUILT.

Keep enough training in place to maintain your strength and physical capacity.
But give yourself enough time and energy to actually play golf.
You did all this work for a reason.

At some point: GO PLAY GOLF.

THE PRACTICE ROUND

Once we have reviewed your Impact Strength Report...
and built your FlexSMART Playbook...

there is one final piece of Day Two:  THE PRACTICE ROUND.

This is where we take your Playbook off the paper...

and put it onto the training floor.

We run through the exercises.
We see how they feel.
We see how they work.
Then we make adjustments.

Maybe the setup changes.
Maybe the resistance direction changes.
Maybe the range changes.
Maybe an exercise looked great on paper...

but it simply does not fit your body very well.

That is okay.

That is exactly why we call it:

THE PRACTICE ROUND.

We test the plan before we start building weeks of training around it.

And any adjustments we make in the FlexSMART Playbook can also be reflected in your online training program.

By the end of Day Two, you should understand:

WHERE YOU ARE STARTING.
WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO BUILD.

And:

​WHAT THE NEXT PHASE LOOKS LIKE.

THE SYSTEM KEEPS BUILDING

And that is really the setup of the Impact BluePrint.

We test.
We find the gaps.
We plan.
We build.

Then we progress through roughly four-to-eight-week training blocks as your body adapts and gets stronger.

And when golf season eventually ends?

We reassess.
We retest.
We see what improved.
We identify what still needs work.

Then we start building again.

Because this is not:

A ONE-TIME PROGRAM.

It is:

A PROGRESSIVE SYSTEM.

And I believe that becomes even more important as we get older.
We need the ability to keep rebuilding strength.
Keep finding areas that need more capacity.
Keep developing our bodies.

And keep giving ourselves the physical ability to play this game for a long time.

The system becomes:

TEST.
BUILD.
PROGRESS.
MAINTAIN.
REASSESS.
​BUILD AGAIN.

THREE TAKEAWAYS
1. KNOW WHERE YOU NEED TO GET STRONGER.
Don’t just train blindly.
Find the gaps.

2. MEASURE FORCE, THEN BUILD THE PLAN.
Testing gives us information.
The Impact BluePrint turns that information into strength direction.

3. STRENGTH IS A PROGRESSION.

Build it.
Progress it.
Maintain it.
Then reassess.