Weight loss/gain - swing differences

[TigerTime]

Think this is an interesting point of discussion and would be keen to hear from others experiences.

I am going through a training/fitness program with a personal trainer just now and have been since around July last year. I've lost approximately 12kg (was 83kg starting point) since then, but because I am weight training I've made strength gains too. My program is not tailored to be golf specific or anything but I am sure there are some benefits.

So basically I had a session on an indoor trackman yesterday, and compared the report from before my weightloss/strength journey began and now. It was fairly interesting to see.
Sort of baseline results across the bag; Clubhead speed - was roughly the exact same on woods but slight increases with irons. Carry - Down on last year with woods by around 5yards on avg. Irons much further but I do have newer irons with stronger lofts. For example my old 7 iron which was 35 degrees of loft and my new one is 29.

Just sort of comparing all the results got me thinking that weight loss can be detrimental to one's golf game in terms of distances. I think the fact I've made strength gains and built some muscle in this time also has perhaps negated the weightloss, so if I hadn't been strength training then I'd have lost even more clubhead speed/distance etc. Eventually in the coming months my weight will be down to 66kg and I am curious to see what effect me being almost another 10kg lighter will have on my golf game. Perhaps that is a good starting point that if from that weight point I see a significant loss of distance that I can then perhaps bulk up again or just tailor my workouts to golf. Is there any direct correlation between someone's weight and swing speed?

Just curious if anyone has any experience with weight loss or strength training and losses/gains in the golf game.

 

[Bazz]

My weight goes up and down all the time, haven't noticed any differences in the swing but I definitely have more energy for the last few holes.

 

[Slab]

Yes I know exactly what you mean

Last year I lost a fair bit of weight, 32kg in 9 months and dropped from 16st to 11st and didn't just lose distance but could barely connect with the ball
Took a few weeks of range balls to learn what I needed to do to hit a ball roughly straight and was down on distance by half a club, maybe a whole club
I joked that I didn't have the 30kg of gut to help as part of the swing speed anymore but didn't really know (or care)
I got a whole lot fitter too and no fatigue during a round but didn't add upper body muscle as part of the diet

Once I got more used to the new shape/weight I started to learn how I could move/swing better than I ever did before and got the distance back and then some.
Driving is a world away from where I was (it was very much arms with naff all rotation) so as a fat lad I couldn't do anything resembling a proper golf swing and while I'm still well short of textbook, it is making progress and I now hit all clubs further than pre diet by nearly 2 clubs (no change in gear)

I've just started working on slowly building some upper body muscles and improving the ones I need for a golf swing with a target of seeing where I can get to before our club champs at end of Oct (gotta have some kind of target date/event )

I put the initial distance loss down to having a whole new swing and not knowing how to use it. It happened to be due to dropping weight in a short time but I guess any big physical changes for whatever reason would have similar impact

My handicap has dropped to its lowest and more to come
I've shot more rounds in the 80's this year than I'd done in total for 10 years play with nowhere near the effort it used to take

Onwards and upwards...

 

[sunshine]

?good effort slab. That’s some achievement.

Were you playing golf during your weight loss programme? Just wondering if it was a gradual evolution of your swing or you came back to golf and realised you were able to swing differently now.

 

[Slab]

?good effort slab. That’s some achievement.

Were you playing golf during your weight loss programme? Just wondering if it was a gradual evolution of your swing or you came back to golf and realised you were able to swing differently now.

Cheers

We had our 2nd lockdown about two months after I started dieting & golf was banned for the next 4 months or so last year, so when I turned up at the range with about 25kg gone at that time and gawd it was awful. Dam near hit an air shot straight off
Naturally you slow everything down to find the swing and of course distance drops like a brick too, but its been fun building it up and seeing it go past where it was

 

[TigerTime]

Yeah great effort that. Based on what you've said pretty much confirms my theory then.

For me, I'm going to drop weight (or in this case fat hopefully) and then try to build some muscle. Hopefully by the end of the season I'll have gained some speed and improved my technique.

 

[HeftyHacker]

I am going through a training/fitness program with a personal trainer just now and have been since around July last year. I've lost approximately 12kg (was 83kg starting point)

Eventually in the coming months my weight will be down to 66kg and I am curious to see what effect me being almost another 10kg lighter will have on my golf game.

Crikey, just out of interest how tall are you?

Making me feel every gram of my username with those figures ??.

 

[Orikoru]

Crikey, just out of interest how tall are you?

Making me feel every gram of my username with those figures ??.

Yeah, never mind his golf game, I'd be worried about keeping his feet on the ground in high winds.

 

[TigerTime]

Crikey, just out of interest how tall are you?

Making me feel every gram of my username with those figures ??.

I'm 5ft 9. Hardly the tallest person. I'm also 31, maybe a bit of a young pup compared to some on here

 

[HeftyHacker]

I'm 5ft 9. Hardly the tallest person. I'm also 31, maybe a bit of a young pup compared to some on here

I'm 30 and haven't been 66kg since I was about 15 haha although I have got 7 inches on you in the height department!

Fair play though, great effort on the weight loss!

 

[Sats]

Yes I know exactly what you mean

Last year I lost a fair bit of weight, 32kg in 9 months and dropped from 16st to 11st and didn't just lose distance but could barely connect with the ball
Took a few weeks of range balls to learn what I needed to do to hit a ball roughly straight and was down on distance by half a club, maybe a whole club
I joked that I didn't have the 30kg of gut to help as part of the swing speed anymore but didn't really know (or care)
I got a whole lot fitter too and no fatigue during a round but didn't add upper body muscle as part of the diet

Once I got more used to the new shape/weight I started to learn how I could move/swing better than I ever did before and got the distance back and then some.
Driving is a world away from where I was (it was very much arms with naff all rotation) so as a fat lad I couldn't do anything resembling a proper golf swing and while I'm still well short of textbook, it is making progress and I now hit all clubs further than pre diet by nearly 2 clubs (no change in gear)

I've just started working on slowly building some upper body muscles and improving the ones I need for a golf swing with a target of seeing where I can get to before our club champs at end of Oct (gotta have some kind of target date/event )

I put the initial distance loss down to having a whole new swing and not knowing how to use it. It happened to be due to dropping weight in a short time but I guess any big physical changes for whatever reason would have similar impact

My handicap has dropped to its lowest and more to come
I've shot more rounds in the 80's this year than I'd done in total for 10 years play with nowhere near the effort it used to take

Onwards and upwards...

32kg!!! That's an incredible achievement feel proud about that!

 

[Crazyface]

32kg!!! That's an incredible achievement feel proud about that!

Agreed. I'm slowly, very slowly, loosing my fat gut, and it's playing hell with my game.