A 12-week strength and conditioning intervention: an individualised case series approach for 3 amateur and 3 professional female golfers

This study utilised an individualised, case series approach to 12-weeks of strength and conditioning (S&C) training, for 3 high level amateur and 3 professional female golfers. Each player took part in a 90-minute testing session both pre- and post- intervention, and two structured S&C sessions per week for 12-weeks. Movement competency assessments were used to help guide exercise selection in each intervention and test measures included: golf shot data, the isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), isometric bench press, and countermovement jump, with a total of 12 metrics across the four assessment protocols. Analysis of individual performance changes were done by using the standard deviation (SD) for each test metric, relative to pre-intervention scores. Collectively, for the three amateur players, 32 out of a possible 36 metrics showed changes > the baseline SD, whilst for the three professional players, 23 metrics elicited changes > the baseline SD. Of note, this collective difference was largely attributable to professional #1, who showed only four ‘true’ improvements in test scores, out of a possible 12. This study has shown that taking an individualised approach to S&C training predominantly elicits meaningful changes in both golf shot data and physical performance – a concept which is essential to understand for an individual sport, such as golf.