Be sure to check out the Coaching page for more information on changes to the Saturday morning roll- up sessions for juniors.

http://www.bondhaygolfclub.com/junioracademy/?page_id=272

Following a series of successful inaugural events last year, Golf Factor is back in Yorkshire for 2010.

The free-to-enter competition is open to all junior golfers aged 8-16 irrespective of their level of playing experience: beginner, improver or advanced player.

The first stage of the Yorkshire event takes place the weekend of 1/2 May at the Stadium Driving Range in Huddersfield with the deadline for entries being 31 March 2010.

For further information on the Golf Factor 2 and to find out how to enter visit http://www.johnletters.com/golffactor

A Healthy Body = Healthy Mind

“I believe great physical conditioning me an advantage when I have to play 36 holes in a match play event like the U.S Amateur or the Ryder Cup, or when the weather has forced a postponement.  It gives me an extra gear when I need it.  I needed it during the final round of the 2000 NEC invitational in Akron, Ohio, a real marathon because of a weather delay.  We finished that tournament in near darkness, and I felt just as fresh in the end as during my warm-up that morning.  Fatigue can affect your focus and cause you to make a bad decision.  I never want to lose a tournament because of a bad decision precipitated by my being out of shape.  In Akron, being at my physical best helped me to stay mentally sharp and allowed me to claim another trophy.”

Tiger Woods, 2001

Imagine a scenario where you are on the practice ground, hitting shot after shot, striving for that consistent perfection that every golfer craves.  The harder you try, the more frustrated you become and mental and physical fatigue starts to set in.  Wouldn’t it be great to have the capacity to stay out there for half an hour longer, and hit 10% more shots, working on that technical aspect that you have until this point struggled to get right?

Physical fitness strongly relates to what is known the in the world of physical preparation for performance as “work capacity.”

There are 3 components of work capacity:

1)   The ability to tolerate a high workload.  The key word here is tolerate.  Many sportsmen/ women are capable of doing an occasional high workload but cannot adopt this workload on a consistent basis.

2)   The ability to recover from the workload sufficiently for the next workout or competition.  This is closely tied to the first concept.  If the athlete cannot recover, then he or she risks overuse injuries or over-training.  The athlete will not be able to adapt to the training stress

3)   The capacity to resist fatigue, whatever the source.  Fatigue is more than metabolic; it involves the nervous system and mental capacity.  Resisting fatigue is the refinement of the efficiency and coordination of the cardiovascular, metabolic and nervous systems.

To better understand the concept of work capacity, it is useful to think of it as the components of athletic fitness that, if deficient, would limit the ability to do other training (e.g. Golf) and subsequently limit the ability to perform.

In essence, work capacity can relate to fitness potential.  The more ground work you commit to, the more potential you will give yourself, when you want to go and perform.  In this way, you will be able to do as Tiger claims in the above statement and that is to feel as fresh at the end of the round, as you do at the start.

Example Work Capacity Session;

Exercise Bike

• 30 x 30s hard cycle (level 14-15/ 100RPM)/ 30s easy (level 6)

Guidelines:  If you cannot sustain 100RPM for the full duration of each repetition then you must reduce the level accordingly.  Conversely, if you are maintaining the required pace comfortably for the full duration of each repetition, then you must increase your pace by 5RPM (e.g. from 100RPM to 105RPM).

GOAL: This is a Work Capacity session designed specifically to work at a high intensity in medium length intervals.  A gradual increase in blood lactate will be felt and heart rate will rise and fall as the session progresses.  The intensity of this session is 85-95% of HR Max at peak.  A rough guide to your HR Max is 220-Age (e.g. if you are 20 years old, then 200-20 = 200.  95% of this would be 190 Beats Per Minute (BPM).

Article (c)  David Parker MSc ASCC | Strength and Conditioning Coach & Performance Consultant. | sightlineperformance@googlemail.com

To all juniors that attend Saturday morning coaching with Justin Fores and Rebecca Davies, they will be on holiday on the following dates:

Saturday 10th October 2009
Saturday 17th October 2009
Saturday 7th November 2009
Saturday 14th November 2009

There will be no roll-up coaching available on these dates and it is advised that you continue with the drills and practise routines that you have been taught over the past weeks.

As a special offer on these dates we have arranged for a discounted voucher to be available to ALL juniors to have a chip butty and range token for only £3.00.

Vouchers are available from Michael Ramsden in the Professional Shop – along with free club hire as per normal.

Visit the English Golf Union’s ‘Get Into Golf’ website to discover a variety of information to help juniors and adults take up golf, including details of FREE coaching venues, equipment, costs, membership vacancies, coaching tips and much much more.

http://www.getintogolf.org/

Following the success of the recent Summer Camp Junior Coaching Sessions, Head PGA Teaching Professional Justin Fores and Lady Assistant PGA Professional Rebecca Davies are continuing weekend coaching on an informal basis.

Each session will be held every Saturday from 11.30am – 12.30pm.

Due to the current high interest in these sessions it is recommended that you contact Justin or Rebecca beforehand to confirm your attendance.

Justin Fores once again is supporting the Nestle GO FREE! campaign.

Collect vouchers from valid Nestle products to enable you to have a free coaching session with Justin.

For more information visit the Nestle GO FREE! website.

The ‘Get Into Golf’ National Skills Challenge will be held at Bondhay Golf Club on Sat 8 August 2009.

The GiG NSC has been developed for young golfers and is designed to be challenging at all levels, but above all it is intended to be FUN. The Challenge covers 5 golfing disciplines, putting, chipping, pitching, bunker play & full swing – each discipline has 2 Challenge activities, making 10 in total. Both male and female players, with or without a handicap can take part in the National Skills Challenge. Dependant upon your age you will take part in either the Rookie or Tour Challenge.

If you fancy a go at pitting your skills in the Rookie or Tour Challenge then contact Rebecca Davies or Justin Fores to book your place.

Due to overwhelming demand an extra FREE girls taster session at Bondhay Golf Club has been scheduled for 23 August 2009.

The sessions are open to all, and places are allocated on a first come, first served basis. If you would like to try Golf then why not contact Rebecca Davies our Lady PGA Assistant Professional and come along.

The additional session is scheduled for 23 August 2009 at 6.30pm.