Power Golf Fitness

Lee Postma
Year Released: 1998

Categories: Sports Specific Training


This review is based on preview for note-taking, and one attempt to do the tape. I love to golf, and was looking forward to learning some strength-building that will help my game. Although I found this tape frustrating in its presentation, it did deliver on that point.

Focus of work out: Flexibility, strength in “ya golf muscles”, muscle memory for the golf swing. The tape is divided into four sections: Warm-up, the exercises, abs, and a pre-game stretch regimen. In this review, I will include the time markers at the beginning of each section or subsection.

The tape starts with brassy cheesy music as background to men and women golfing. Don’t worry--you’ll hear music only a few more times. This was odd; it was as if different people edited the various parts and they didn’t all get the memo on uniformity of production.

Warm-up
He doesn’t do a warm up! He gives recommendations of things that you might do for 10 to 15 minutes to warm up for the exercises. Not good.

Exercises
I’m assuming that anyone interested in this video would have some knowledge of golf swing fundamentals, and would apply them to visualizing the exercises. If there is a known name for the exercise, I give it. If not, I made up a name that describes the move.

Hug stretch for the shoulder turn. (2:28) I was thinking that this was pretty lame at first, but he gives good golf tips, e.g., shoulders following the hips, that you should practice as you work out. I thought it was strange that they showed only the upper or lower half of his body at a time, but later in the tape there are more full-body shots.

One thing that will drive you crazy is there is hardly any counting of reps and little cueing throughout the entire tape. “You’ll want to do about 20 of these”, and he does them with chat only or silence. He does only one side of this exercise, which bothered me because I worry about incurring injuries due to the one-sidedness of the game.

“Water ski.” (4:10) These are toe points with front bilateral dumbbell presses, for forearms, quads and balance. He repeatedly advises not to allow your knees to go past your toes, but you’re doing toe-pointing, not lunges! Weird. In another strange cue, he does several repetitions, and then says, “OK, then, let’s do this exercise now.” Huh? Weren’t we doing it all ready? Again, no counting, little cueing.

Shoulder turns for rotation. (6:22) With one dumbbell held like a club with both hands, shoulder turns for rotation, limiting hip turns for better torso work. Good golf tips. Talks about a modification that can be done against a wall, and I wish he would have shown it. I did like how the hand switch over on the “grip” when swinging to each side encouraged concentration, but I was getting frustrated with having to watch the screen to see what he was doing, because he wasn’t cueing or counting. Bilateral.

Squat, take-away, and the “magic move.” (5:50) To strengthen legs and increase flexibility in backswing and turn. He uses one dumbbell of indeterminate weight, and no guidance for our weight selection but, “Again, get a dumbbell that is suitable to our strength.” Anyway, very good golf posture tips, advice on the backswing, and the “magic moves” is great for remembering to drop the shoulder, etc., but I already have a problem with not swinging through, and practicing stopping at the ball makes me nervous. He does some cueing, then he stops. Silence. Unilateral.

Squat, finish. (11:20) This is the other half of the golf swing--after you hit the ball. It might be useful for the “toss, finish” swing thought. Unilateral.

Load-up stretch. (13:31) A stretch for lats and glutes. Bilateral.

Resistance pull. Uses one arm to resist and work the other arm during the swing. Also helps to train elbows to stay in during the swing. Bilateral.

A note here on presentation: Out of nowhere at this point, music blasts out, and stops just as mysteriously. There are occasional screen cues, such as “repeat for other side,” but they are used inconsistently.

Lawn-mower pulls. Notable for being first breathing cue. Bilateral.

Hip drive. Golf swing with weight held to sternum. Bilateral.

Step and hit. (21:28) He says that this is a way to take out some aggression. I don’t see it, but there you go. It’s basically a swing that starts with the legs together, and then you step out to swing. Kind of like a modified Happy Gilmore swing.

Punches. (23) “Everyone likes to do punches,” and “lovely little upper cut to the right” are the few cues that he makes. Absolutely silence except for a “whooshing” sound that he makes with each rep, which is better than nothing. Done correctly, this would be good for rotation. Bilateral.

Egyptian. (24:30) Rotator cuff strengthening, no weights. He recommends that this be done n front of a mirror. Again, no cueing, no number of reps given, just “keep this exercise going.”

Modified Egyptian. (25:30) Uses dumbbells, turning head and adding hip with arm movements. “Don’t do too many.” Grrr. Can you tell that I’m getting frustrated?

Power swing. (26:53) Here he has a huge arrow with four gargantuan fletches for resistance. He swings it a couple of times, and says to use it. Um. OK.

Abs
Crunches. (27:25) Except for one breathing cue, no number of reps, no cueing.

Weighted oblique twists. (28:35)

Modified bicycle. (30:17)

Upper body side lifts. (31:40)

Rotating spinal erector lifts. (33) No cueing except for first rep instruction. This has annoyed me throughout the tape, but having to look at the screen with your face in the carpet is a bit much.

Mackenzie stretch. (34.14) This must be what the Scots call cobra pose back to child’s pose.

Pre-game Stretch Routine
Neck stretch and forward head rolls. (35:52)
Shrugs and pinches. (37:35) Holding club in front.
Lat stretch. (38:20) Using club.
Side bends. (39) Using club.
Squats. (40) Squat with club, then rotate torso.
Shoulder rotation. (40:46) Rotation with club grip planted in sternum.
Quad stretch. (41.20)
Hamstring stretch. (41:56)
Hip flexor stretch. (42:26)
Calf stretch. (43). Aack! Lee, quit bouncing like that!
Chest stretch. (44) Picture a towel stretch using a golf club. Very nice stretch.
Rotator cuff stretch. (45) Lots of warnings to be careful here. Good stretch using the club.
Forearm stretches. (46) For flexors and extensors.
Torso Rotation. (46:43) Using club.

Total: 49 minutes, with one minute of testimonials tucked at the end for a full 50..

Conclusion: Will I use this tape again? Yes, I will, because I think that it is a good workout, although it is not a great workout tape. However, I will have to make myself a crib sheet of reps and weights used so that I don’t get too frustrated. This tape felt like a demo or instructional tape rather than a proper workout tape. Perhaps I’m spoiled by expert cuers like Kari Anderson. Perhaps this tape is geared toward (men) people who don’t take well to lots of instruction (nagging), and who have a lot of experience with (know everything about) the exercises presented. One of my golf buddies is interested in this tape, and I will ask him to write me a short review in exchange for using the tape.

Instructor Comments:
Tape is shot on a golf course that becomes progressively darker over the first part of the tape. Even though it is filmed outdoors, the audio is very good and so is most of the camera work. Lee Postma wears a green polo shirt and khaki shorts throughout. He has a slight South African accent, which I enjoyed.

Rainy L.

01/01/2004