Do Not Use a Heavy Club or Weighted Donuts

[mp33 man]

To reiterate the original study that was done by "Sports Science", the problem with trying to build muscle or increase clubhead speed by swinging a heavier bat/club is that the heavier bat/club does not strengthen your fast twitch muscle tissue which is the muscle tissue primarily used for a baseball/golf swing.

That being said, I do use a Momentous training iron both to warm up and when I get a couple of minutes except that I use it to try and prevent myself from over swinging. My issue has never been clubhead speed or distance and I think that the training aid that I use is tremendous for teaching tempo.

[vangator]

I'm not too sure if sit-ups are the best thing you should be doing to loosen up your back .....

Actually, sit ups are great for the back. I strained my back a few years ago and doing situ ps really exercises those muscles. BTW, I played with a guy who had the longest, heaviest club I have ever swung. The shaft on my club is 46". This was at least 4 inches longer and was MUCH heavier. I mean several ounces!

[iacas]

BTW, I played with a guy who had the longest, heaviest club I have ever swung. The shaft on my club is 46". This was at least 4 inches longer and was MUCH heavier. I mean several ounces!

It was illegal, then.

[mvmac]

It was illegal, then.

Yep that would be over 48".

[Tee2Trees]

To reiterate the original study that was done by "Sports Science", the problem with trying to build muscle or increase clubhead speed by swinging a heavier bat/club is that the heavier bat/club does not strengthen your fast twitch muscle tissue which is the muscle tissue primarily used for a baseball/golf swing.

This is broad generalization and a dubious one at that.  Yes, swing speed comes mostly from technique rather than brute strength.  However, muscle strength is still a factor.  The biggest hitters on tour do tend to be the guys with the most athletic physique.  I tried to qualify my earlier explanation of the potential benefits of the weighted club by specifically saying more muscle might help some people.  If you are relatively young and your technique is spot on and you hit all the swing postitions correctly but your forearms are simply too small to release a 46" driver at 110+ mph then I think you could benefit from muscle mass if adding distance is your main objective.

Saying fast twitch muscle tissue is basically everything and is not strengthened with weight training is like saying sprinters and high jumpers don't need to build large leg muscles because they don't use them.  In fact the opposite is true, the fast-twitch events like sprinting require more muscle mass than the endurance events like marathon.

[Abu3baid]

I never bought any of those weighted donuts, but I did buy that yellow training aid (very long with a heavy ball at the end of it)

They claimed that it helped with tempo (I was naive a few years ago and thought this would help), but anyway, I remember I would go to the range and have a good session, and then work with this temp thingy, and then the next day not be able to make any good contact.

This went on for a while, and eventually I realized that I was getting worse after every outing of exercise with this training aid.. I just side lined it and it will never come out of the garage again.  Not sure I want to sell it, I just feel too bad for the next guy that will use it.

After reading this thread, I am convinced of never using these aids again.  Thanks

[colin007]

That's like the one I have but with a different head on it (mine has a solid weighted driver head). To reiterate: this is a weightlifting device , not really a scientific swing trainer.  Treat it as such.  If you spend off-days swinging it with maximum effort, you will build muscle in your forearms, back, wrists, etc, all of which could help you on the course. The question becomes one of whether building muscle in these specific areas will help your golf game.  Some people think weightlifting will screw up their swing.  Some people think a little bit of it is good for your swing.  If you think bigger muscles can help, why not use a weighted club to build swing muscles just like you would use a barbell to build biceps and pectorals?

[quote name="mp33 man" url="/t/78748/do-not-use-a-heavy-club-or-weighted-donuts/30#post_1088718"] To reiterate the original study that was done by "Sports Science", the problem with trying to build muscle or increase clubhead speed by swinging a heavier bat/club is that the heavier bat/club does not strengthen your fast twitch muscle tissue which is the muscle tissue primarily used for a baseball/golf swing.[/quote] Well, to be accurate, my question was about the advantages/disadvantages of using this weighted device to do slo-mo work, prolly with a mirror.

[Vinsk]

Lol. All that's needed.

[mp33 man]

This is broad generalization and a dubious one at that.  Yes, swing speed comes mostly from technique rather than brute strength.  However, muscle strength is still a factor.  The biggest hitters on tour do tend to be the guys with the most athletic physique.  I tried to qualify my earlier explanation of the potential benefits of the weighted club by specifically saying more muscle might help some people.  If you are relatively young and your technique is spot on and you hit all the swing postitions correctly but your forearms are simply too small to release a 46" driver at 110+ mph then I think you could benefit from muscle mass if adding distance is your main objective. Saying fast twitch muscle tissue is basically everything and is not strengthened with weight training is like saying sprinters and high jumpers don't need to build large leg muscles because they don't use them.  In fact the opposite is true, the fast-twitch events like sprinting require more muscle mass than the endurance events like marathon.

To be completely accurate, the "guys with the most athletic physique" may very well have a larger mass of fast twitch muscles seeing as how fast twitch muscles are generally the more prominent (or visible) muscles on the human body therefore larger forearms may very well mean more fast twitch muscle mass. And yes in a movement like a golf swing I pretty much am saying that "fast twitch muscle tissue is basically everything". As far as training in a manner to obtain more fast twitch muscle tissue... I'll leave that to personal trainers. And bringing sprinters and high jumpers into the argument.Track athletes have long since made the claim of having 80% fast twitch muscle mass, proving the importance of fast twitch muscles.

[misty_mountainhop]

Some interesting comment from Mike Dobbyn, particularly around 4' 20" where he suggests a bare shaft as part of a good warm up routine:

[StrayCat]

always wondered if David Duvals slide started with the weighted club he was promoting at his prime.  Probably will keep wondering.  Do like my Orange Whip though.

[golfbarefoot]

always wondered if David Duvals slide started with the weighted club he was promoting at his prime.  Probably will keep wondering.  Do like my Orange Whip though.

This is a very interesting comment. I too have always wondered about this with Double-D. You're exactly right, it wasn't long after he started using and endorsing that momentus iron thing, he dropped so quickly. Maybe a coincidence but it was strange timing.

[mp33 man]

Some interesting comment from Mike Dobbyn, particularly around 4' 20" where he suggests a bare shaft as part of a good warm up routine:

Holy crap that guys tall...

[mvmac]

always wondered if David Duvals slide started with the weighted club he was promoting at his prime.  Probably will keep wondering.  Do like my Orange Whip though.

I'm going with no. He was making changes to his swing because he didn't liked the way it looked and went away from his pattern. Then he got vertigo and a few other injuries.

Holy crap that guys tall...

He is, got to talk with him a few years ago in Vegas. Huge hands and forearms, cool dude.

[colin007]

Amazing to see someone that tall move so athletically.

[sinned123]

What's your view on swinging a power fan, instead of a weighted club?

[mp33 man]

What's your view on swinging a power fan, instead of a weighted club?

I would imagine very similar to a heavier club. Still training a different muscle group than the ones primarily used for a golf swing. BTW I tried swinging a bare shaft (like mentioned above) before my last range session and I have to say that I seemed to control my clubs better after doing so. I don't know if that was the point of the exercise was but that's what I got out of it.

[mvmac]

I think a weighted club is better than a fan.