What's up with Keegan Bradley?

[France46]

Originally Posted by Ole_Tom_Morris

If we second guess the value/harm of gym work to golfers, I think Keegan Bradley is the best target right now. New England nerd-type who played great then found weights.

When did Keegan "find weights" and when did he lose his golf game?

While he has missed the cut in 3 of his last 5 tournaments, he also had a solo 2nd last month.  For the year he has won 2.1 M making 12 of 16 cuts and finishing in the top 25 eight times, the top 10 six and ranks 20th in scoring.  In 2012 he ranked 18th in scoring and was 30th in scoring his rookie year when he won twice but only had 4 top 10s to go along with 10 missed cuts.

All in all, he seems like he has been pretty solid all 2.5 years he has been on tour.

[boogielicious]

I think he is pushing too hard lately.  All players have their ups and downs.  In the US Open, it didn't help him much staying up and watching the triple overtime Blackhawks Bruins game either.

[chriskzoo]

He's 12th on the money list ($2.1M) with 6 top 10's in 16 tournaments - there is nothing wrong with him just because he hasn't won yet this year.  Not everyone wins at a 30-40% clip like Tiger.

[Ernest Jones]

Maybe the heavier muscles will be harder to twitch.

[atb5079]

I dont know if there is any merit to this statement, but to me it seems when players put some muscle on their bones, their cames tend to slide. Keegan, Rory, Westwood, even Tiger (slide is all relative speaking of course).

[boogielicious]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Maybe the heavier muscles will be harder to twitch.

No he twitches because he is a New England nerd-type.

[France46]

Originally Posted by atb5079

I dont know if there is any merit to this statement, but to me it seems when players put some muscle on their bones, their cames tend to slide. Keegan, Rory, Westwood, even Tiger (slide is all relative speaking of course).

Maybe...David Duval seemed to slide big time after getting fitter, but I seem to recall Rory being pretty buff when he was ranked #1 and winning.  Adam Scott looks pretty built also.

[newtogolf]

His OCD seems to be getting worse, he's very uncomfortable to watch these days with his numerous starts and stops, club spins, etc.   I get that you need a consistent pre-shot routine but his seems to get more complicated and awkward each week.

[Yukari]

Yup.  Almost like when Sergio had that grip-regrip thing going.  Not quite.  But getting pretty close.

Originally Posted by newtogolf

His OCD seems to be getting worse, he's very uncomfortable to watch these days with his numerous starts and stops, club spins, etc.   I get that you need a consistent pre-shot routine but his seems to get more complicated and awkward each week.

[TourSpoon]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

His OCD seems to be getting worse, he's very uncomfortable to watch these days with his numerous starts and stops, club spins, etc.   I get that you need a consistent pre-shot routine but his seems to get more complicated and awkward each week.

I can't wait for someone to yell, "While we're young"!

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by France46

Maybe...David Duval seemed to slide big time after getting fitter, but I seem to recall Rory being pretty buff when he was ranked #1 and winning.  Adam Scott looks pretty built also.

I think it's just a matter of change in physiology. Unlike football or baseball, getting stronger or fitter isn't necessarily a good thing if it's not done the right way. Several years ago, Carl Pettersson lost a significant amount of weight, and his game went downhill. I think it's because changes in body type can really affect a swing.

[Ole_Tom_Morris]

Another of my off-the-cuff judgments.     I really thought Bradley (or Weekley or Palmer or Harrington) would make a better showing at the Open.

Considering Bradley's career so far, he looks to be in a semi-slump.   Why is open to speculation.   Maybe there is no reason, golf being the irrational speculation-inviting pursuit it is.    Maybe fate or the gods or hubris or pure chance or regression to the mean is involved.  The human mind seeks explanations because we want to be in control and not subject to the fickle winds of fate, even if we have to invent gods as an explanation.

It's open season on those who hit the weights and then suffer a decline.   Cause and effect, right?    But is this opinion valid?

The old idea was that you didn't want to become "musclebound" whatever that was.  You didn't bulk up, even for baseball or even football.

A lot of folks still hold it to a degree, in sports from boxing ("Ernie Shavers is the strongest puncher but can't go the distance"; "the boxer with a smooth non-bulging physique is the one to bet on")  to golf.   Don't know about pool or curling.

The new conventional wisdom is that golfers need to work out, to be stronger at their game and to resist injury.   Every sports guru from Ken Sprague (of Gold's Gym fame back 40 years ago, who has a line of exercise books out) on down touts golf-specific exercises.   (I do some myself, been thinking about rigging up a cable pulley to strengthen the downswing movement.)   From the old restricted movements under weights like deads, squats, bench, curls, now folks are swinging kettlebells at all kinds of angles which sort of resemble the body movements in golf.

But is it good for the golf game?

Think about pentathletes and decathletes.   They have to balance their training, to compromise, to triage.  If they get better in one event, it is often to the detriment of others.   For example getting better in the 1500m run doesn't help the pole vault or even the 100m sprint.

Having used a lot of words saying nothing, I'm gonna cut out the pontificating and yield the floor for comment.

[GaijinGolfer]

He's probably still feeling sorry for himself because of the anchoring ban.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by GaijinGolfer

He's probably still feeling sorry for himself because of the anchoring ban.

I thought he accepted the ban pretty well.  He said he was comfortable with a regular putting stroke and wasn't too concerned about making the switch before 2016.

[ApocG10]

Muscle does not make one a worse golfer. I am far more muscular than ANY golfer (and yes, I admit to the use of Testosterone and IGF), and while im not pro bodybuilder size, I make Tiger and other muscular golfers look tiny. When I lost weight last year due to a series of family problems (cancer in the family, other problems, no time to keep my shape and size up), losing 23 pounds of muscle CERTAINLY hurt my game. Now that im back to my personal happy weight of 246lbs (8-10% bodyfat depending on the time of year), my golf has quickly improved back to scratch from a 2-3hc at the end of last season after the weight loss.

[atb5079]

Originally Posted by ApocG10

Muscle does not make one a worse golfer. I am far more muscular than ANY golfer (and yes, I admit to the use of Testosterone and IGF), and while im not pro bodybuilder size, I make Tiger and other muscular golfers look tiny. When I lost weight last year due to a series of family problems (cancer in the family, other problems, no time to keep my shape and size up), losing 23 pounds of muscle CERTAINLY hurt my game. Now that im back to my personal happy weight of 246lbs (8-10% bodyfat depending on the time of year), my golf has quickly improved back to scratch from a 2-3hc at the end of last season after the weight loss.

Thats not what I meant. But it does cause a change to flexibility and your swing. I think for all my examples I listed prior, the players are just struggling to get accustom with their newer physiques. It does indeed make a difference.

[colin007]

Muscle does not make one a worse golfer. I am far more muscular than ANY golfer (and yes, I admit to the use of Testosterone and IGF), and while im not pro bodybuilder size, I make Tiger and other muscular golfers look tiny. When I lost weight last year due to a series of family problems (cancer in the family, other problems, no time to keep my shape and size up), losing 23 pounds of muscle CERTAINLY hurt my game. Now that im back to my personal happy weight of 246lbs (8-10% bodyfat depending on the time of year), my golf has quickly improved back to scratch from a 2-3hc at the end of last season after the weight loss.

Pics or it didn't happen... Lol JK!

[colin007]

I can't wait for someone to yell, "While we're young"!

That would be hilarious...