Golf Fitness Platform for Coaches

Get to know Astrid Vayson – winner on the Ladies European Tour

Name:
Astrid Vayson

Playing Status:
Ladies European Tour

LET Wins:
1 – 2018 Jabra Ladies Open

Kinexit user since:
October 2018

How did you get into golf?
An odd set of circumstances made me start golf at the age of 15. Firstly, I used to play tennis at a county level and I got an elbow injury serious enough for my doctor to order me a break of several months. Secondly, my parents got divorced and with my mum we moved and rented a house close to an airfield in the suburb of Avignon (Provence) 5 minutes from a golf club. A family friend  paid a visit at the beginning of the summer and he could feel I was  unhappy. That day he suggested to go the golf of Chateaublanc to see what golf was like. We went to the range and my ball strike was already there!! That summer my mum was dropping me every morning at the GC and picking me up at dusk. I was playing with Mr Cohen an 85 year old chap who used to dress like Bobby Jones.  My competitive spirit and my raw talent helped me move to 18 of handicap during that summer, 1 year down the line I was 4. 2 years after I started golf, I was scratch score player. My passion for golf was there for a lifetime.

Photo: @TJonesPhoto

How important is fitness for your golf game?
With my personal health issues and my background as a physiotherapist, I tend to view fitness programms as an injury prevention or injury management factor. For instance, I have multiple lumbar discopathies and Scheuermann’s disease which provoke thoracic rigidity. Exercising daily with stretching exercises at home or at the gym is crucial cause it allows me to golf professionnally pain free almost all year around.

I also have an example how fitness level and swings are interlinked. With the help of my golf coach last spring we decided that the positionning of my pelvis during the backswing was not optimal to produce speed and various trajectories. It was even contributing to my left shoulder pain as the lack of pelvis/lower back mobility was counterbalanced by excessive shoulder horizontal adduction motion. We implemented some static changes at adress with foot flare but I also improved my fitness level to increase the rotational range of motion at the hips and spine. It did work and when you look at before and after photos it is undisputable that change has happened. It was not just change f or the sake of it but to improve golf performance and lower the mechanical stress on my left shoulder.

What has changed since you started using Kinexit
Kinexit has helped me being more focused on my physical preparation programs. You have these daily, weekly, monthly reviews of your activity level  and it acts for me as a reminder of what needs to be done. It also helped me tailored my off-season training a bit more to golf with some dedicaed exercises for golfer.  I did vary my gym routine and added exercises suggested by Kinexit. I like the way Kinexit helps you track your improvement with objective measures of your flexibility for example.