THE QATSPY® Quapaw Avid Tailgate Sports & Performance Reporter
By: Charles W. Boatright, President of THE QATSPY®
BOXING BAG WORKOUT TO STRENGTHEN YOUR GOLF GAME– by Improving your Balance, Stability, Stamina, Muscle Memory, Clubhead Speed, and Power. Trade in your golf bag and golf glove for a boxing bag and Kickboxing Gloves to strengthen your game
I enjoy writing about sports in my articles, not just to report box scores or a team’s performance or lack thereof, but how sports impact our daily lives in multiple of areas. My main interest in sports is in regards to how the athlete prepares, conditions and trains themselves to perform at a high level that is required and that we enjoy watching. Does our team always win, NO! That is why we enjoy sports and how it replicates our own lives in our obstacles that we are face.
The score is just the end results of the athlete’s and team’s perseverance, preparation and processes. We always enjoy reading and learning about obstacles athletes have to overcome, because it allows us to understand the importance of our perseverance, preparation and processes. The sport of golf underlines the importance of perseverance, continued preparation and processes.
A great process to incorporate into our lives and into our workout sessions is BOXING. I’m referring to a boxing bag workout. There are several benefits that all of us, both men and women alike, can gain from boxing bag workout. Five of the main advantages we all can gain for a boxing bag workout are- core strength, coordination, stamina, balance, and stability, just to name a few.
I’m not just referring to those of us under the age of 50, but especially those of us over the age of 50, like I am. HERE IS a startling statistic, the leading cause of death of people over the age of 60, are FALLS due to the lack of stamina, balance and stability. Boxing bag workout is even used in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and to improve a person’s mobility and awareness. Don’t think that the boxing bag is a young person’s workout. But it is a full body workout. You do just 4- minutes on a bag, even if it is done in segments, you are looking for a break.
We hear more and more how both coaches and professional athletes are advising young athletes to NOT be a ONE SPORT Athlete. This goes for your workout as well. Multiple sports and workout elements develop the mind, body, and soul. I picked up boxing bag workout in basic training as part of my hand-to-hand combat.
In golf, we rely on the importance of our strength and clubhead speed, but we rely just as much on our coordination, balance, and stability. This is highlighted in how the medical field is using boxing bag workouts to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Also boxing bag workout is a full body workout that strengthens the core muscles.
My MACS Fitness video below, where I include four 1- minute workout sessions on the bag
Using a Different Type of Bag for Your Golf Game
In golf, as well as in baseball, strong forearms and wrists are essential to improve the golfer’s and batter’s speed, power and distance. I saw an interview that Charlie Rymer had with David Duval on Golf Channel. Both Charlie and David attended Georgia TECH and were on the golf team. During that interview, Charlie kept referring to what David did in his golf swing as ‘That Wrist Thing’.
That Wrist Thing that Charlie referred to as the sync and present technique in David Duval’s golf swing was how I was taught by my grandfather. I was able to demonstrate this Wrist Thing in a video that I did for WJTV-12 Sports Zone back in June of 2021. The station called to see if there was something that I could do to demonstrate my golf swing on their show. Below is a two part video that we did on the same day. I refer to it as my Orange Bucket Challenge:
ORANGE BUCKET CHALLENGE INTRODUCTION
ORANGE BUCKET WALK-THROUGH
ORANGE BUCKET DEMONSTRATION
THE WJTV-12 PROMOTION FOR THEIR SPORTS ZONE SHOW
NOTE: One reason that I included the WJTV-12 Promotional clip is because the producers highlighted where my tee-shots were falling in relationship to the Orange Bucket.
BOXING BAG WORKOUT TO STRENGTHEN YOUR GOLF GAME: By Improving the Wrist Action in the Golf Swing using What Rymer Called That Wrist Thing
If there’s one thing golfers need it is nerve function to enhance their muscle memory and balance. As shown above, I’m in my gym where I have a 80 LB punch bag. Not only does working out with a punching bag help me build my strength and stamina at age 66, but also improve my mental focus to allow me to get into my Strike Zone.
Background to Charlie Rymer’s Interview with David Dual on ‘THAT WRIST THING‘
On Golf Channel early part of 2017, Charlie Rymer interviewed David Duval to look at David Duval golf swing that caused him to be the number ONE golf player in the early 90’s. I would like to share a great exercise and technique that will help you develop a similar type David Duval golf swing technique in your golf swing that I alluded in my Orange Bucket Videos.
It just requires the golfer to trade in their golf glove and golf bag for a different type of gloves and bag. This is a full body workout technique that improves the golfer’s feel for their muscle memory and balance for executing a natural golf swing. This allows the golfer to develop a natural golf swing from their baseball-type swing without having to think about different tips and techniques that you might have tried to learn during practice and/or golf lesson.
You probably find the sport of boxing and golf at two different ends of the sport spectrum
Boxing is an excellent workout for building stamina, strength, and as I mentioned balance in neurological for focus and concentration and how it links with your muscular system for muscle memory. The golfer’s goal is to develop muscle memory and not swing thoughts. I include a boxing bag workout as part of my workout Called MACS (Metabolic Aerobic-Cardio Strength) in my MELIORA DIET & FITNESS Program. This workout program covers how to setup your own home gym that includes a boxing bag workout that is a great golf exercise for balance, power, and clubhead speed. The exercise equipment that is featured in photograph of my gym is all the equipment that I use during my 40- minutes, 6- times a week workout sessions.
My MELIORA DIET & FITNESS Program is so effective that after we did a photo shoot on December 21st, 2023 for our Safari Cockpit Collection & Gear the camera crew challenged me to an AB CHALLENGE, where I removed my shirt and t-shirt in the photograph, below, where I’m featured with my INDIAN Scout Bobber 60 Motorcycle at age 66.
If you select the image with me in our hangar it will link you in with my HEALTH & SPORTS HANGAR
The 2- Key Muscles in the Golf Swing Wrist Action or ‘That Wrist Thing’
I use the boxing bag workout to strengthen two (2) key muscles that help synchronize my hands, elbows with my body and preset the wrists with my entire body. They call this the Kinematic Chain reaction. The two (2) muscles that I key in on are the Palmaris Longus Muscle/Tendon for Palmerflex to Sync my wrists and the Brachio-Radialis Muscle to Pronated, or Preset, my wrists. These two muscles are trigger muscles sync/preset the proper wrist action in the golf swing to develop natural instincts in the golfer’s subconscious mind. This will improve the golfer’s distance, control, clubhead speed, and consistency in their golf game. If I look down after I Preset/Synced my wrists, my wrists should be in what I call the Lock Position, shown below:
How to use a Different Type of Bag, Gloves, and Round to Improve Your Golf Game:
Your subconscious mind that you will depend on for your golf game works off visualization. Our five (5) senses feeds our subconscious mind during training. I use kickboxing gloves to help my students understand what the Sync/Preset The PALMER-PRO Technique. It is quite amazing how the wrists stacked at address than are synced/Preset into the Lock Position, shown below.
Besides boxing being a full body workout for your health and fitness, boxing also improves the golfer’s meditation, balance, and focus. I also found that a pair of kickboxing gloves are also used as an excellent golf training technique to allow the golf students learn how Sync/Preset their wrists in a similar manner that of how David Duval was illustrating to Charlie Rymer on Golf Channel. Charlie Rymer was so impress with this classic Sync/Preset golf swing technique, that Charlie Rymer referred to as “That Wrist Thing.”
That Wrist Thing that Charlie Rymer called allows the golfer to Sync/Preset not only their wrists, but their elbows with their shoulders. This was also demonstrated by Ken Duke on Golf Channel with Lisa Cornwell, both fellow Arkansans.
The kickboxing gloves allows the golfer to better key in on the TOP of the wristbands to naturally engage these two critical muscles. For a right-hander these key muscles are the left Palmaris Longus Muscle/Tendon and the right Brachio-Radialis Muscle.
The two simple maneuvers that Sync/Preset the wrists we have performed since we were kids playing sports, like baseball or softball. So these two maneuvers are already instinctive motor skills to use. We just have to convenience our subconscious mind to use these two maneuvers (Palmerflex & Pronation) in our golf swing.
You Sync/Preset the wrist action in your golf swing you will achieve the two most critical components in your entire golf swing that will allow you to synchronize the your elbows with your shoulders and the shoulders with the torso and lower body. This was so important that Arnold Palmer gave this tip to President Eisenhower before a Pro-AM they were scheduled to play in for a charity.
I demonstrated Sync/Preset Maneuvers in My Organ Bucket Challenge above shown in a promo that WJTV-12 did for their Sports Shown here in Jackson, Mississippi. What was unique about the shooting or filming of this golf demonstration was it was done in the first take to much surprise of the camera crew. They were thinking 5 takes before we had a tape that they could air before the 2021 US OPEN.
The two Wrist Things that Charlie Rymer referred to it in his interview with David Duval is simple. We have done this Wrist Thing playing baseball standing in the batter’s box; but now we are standing on the Tee Box called making a golf swing. If your ever hit a low and inside the Strike Zone sinker you have performed the Sync (Palmaris Longus Muscle/Tendon) and Preset (Brachio-Radialis Muscle/Tendon Technique.
Matter of fact, announcers that are calling the baseball game describes this low inside sinker pitch as a batter hitting a golf shot, because it is low and inside the Strike Zone. The two over head shots, below are of me in my training facility, performing THAT WRIST THING or The GOLFER’S PALMER-PRO Technique. NOTE- Brach is pronounced like the BRACHS candy company’s name:
To help you understand what I’m referring to, I have attached a Bunt-Type Pitch Shot that I perform everyday in my training facilities hitting 100 shots per day following what I call the 4O5-Training Drill. This is a finesse-type golf shot that help builds the golfer’s muscle memory that you will count on from Tee-to-Green:
The Bunt-Type Chip Shot
That Wrist Thing, as Charlie Rymer calls it, allows the golfer to focus more on their wrists in the Strike Zone as if they are in baseball. The golfer can actually feel the PALMER and BRACHS muscles being Synced/Preset, which are key. The more you can focus and learn how to use these two muscles with your (5) senses, the better you will perform and less thinking you will do. These two maneuvers synchronizes the entire golf swing for the golfer to feel proper tempo and rhythm.
As I mentioned, synching the elbows was a key technique that Arnold Palmer brought to the attention of President Eisenhower at a Pro-Am; this article can be found in Kingdom Magazine. Syncing the elbows and Presetting are the KEY elements in golf. Even Bobby Jones in his training films on You-Tube video stresses the importance of properly using the wrists in the golf swing.
The Key Muscles in the Golf Swing
I use the kickboxing glove wristbands in my coaching because it takes full advantage of developing links between my mind and my muscles. I use the two a key muscles as triggers to engage my entire body where I don’t have to have swing thoughts. This not only presets my wrists, but locks the right elbow with my right side and my shoulders where all that power and clubhead speed is generated. Also these two muscles interconnect with my Thenar muscles, they are the ONLY two largest, strongest, and most dexterous muscles that are in direct contact with the handle of the golf club. The Thenars are located in the golfer’s wrists. The Palmer and Brach muscles are probably the most useful muscle in the forearm to produce a consistent golf swing.
Between the Thenar, BRACHS and PALMER muscles, you will have all the muscle memory you need to develop in you NEW TYPE GOLF SWING. These muscles are so unique that if you ever swung a baseball bat before you have are the skills needed to Preset/Sync your golf swing into the Lock Position. This actually allows the golfer to take their golf club to the top of their swing from this Lock Position. David Duval demonstrated a similar golf swing technique on Golf Channel.
The Legend of Bagger Vance
In the Movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance,” starring Will Smith as Bagger Vance and Matt Damon playing Rannulph Junuh, Rannulph told Bagger that, “I lost my swing.” Bagger replies, “Really? Where did it go.” “Well you lost your swing…We got to go find it….Now it’s somewhere …in the harmony.” What Bagger was referring to by harmony was the synchronization or feel between the mind and muscle to develop and maintain muscle memory, or the golfer’s feel. If the golfer can develop a feel of Preset/Sync and their Thenar muscles, the rest of the golf swing is effortless, NO THINKING REQUIRED. Like Matthew McConaughey explained to David Feherty on their interview, “When everything is working together, the golf swing is easy.”
Yogi Berra had a great question that is a part of his numerous quotes- How can you think and hit at the same time? The answer is the golfer can’t. Either you are thinking and practicing, or you are IN-THE-STRIKE ZONE and playing golf. The golfer can’t do both. You can’t serve two masters and play golf also.
Even Bobby Jones who I think was one of the best tactician of the classic golf swing in the history, refers to the importance of setting the wrists. This is indicated in the Preset/Sync to the Lock Position Figure to the left. This is THE MOST IMPORTANT illustration of how the golfer wants to Sync and Preset their golf swing, similar to how David Duval golf swing.
How to Improve Your Mental Golf Game with Meditation
To improve strength, stamina, and, more importantly, the golfer’s focus and concentration in the golf game, learn to trade in your golf bag, golf glove, and golf round for a different type of bag, gloves, and round during your workouts. This is what sports psychologists call playing IN THE STRIKE ZONE.
The more the athlete can learn to mediate, the easier it is to focus on the golf game. The more focus the golfer does the less thinking they can do. This uses the most important part of your capabilities, your subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is where your self-coaching forum and muscle memory reside, NOT in the conscious mind.
The conscious mind is the WHAT component, the subconscious mind is the HOW component! Remember, swing thoughts are a part of the conscious mind; and are totally useless on the golf course. This is deadly to use in making your golf swing. Working out with a punching bag is a great exercise to increase your control over your subconscious mind’s ability in one’s golf game. I personally workout with my bag in between my exercise elements for 2- minutes and I have 15- strength training elements!
So WHY is all this important in The PALMER-PRO Technique? Because it allow the golfer to lock their right elbow with the right side and synchronize with the shoulders. This was the advice that Arnold Palmer was giving President Eisenhower, right before their Pro-Am.
Below are two of my Books that will help you in your health & fitness and your golf game:
