Is Putting on Muscle the New and Improved Way to Play Golf?

With Bryson Dechambeau’s recent U.S. Open victory all golfers and fans alike are questioning what the future of the sport looks like.

If you are not aware, Bryson Dechambeau has begun to take a more scientific approach to analyze the game of golf in order to improve his level of play. And, this approach has begun to prove true, as the U.S. Open is historically known to be the hardest tournament in the world of golf.

With Dechambeau’s scientific approach, he has “bulked up” by putting on around forty pounds (approx 18 kilos) since September 2019. Comparing a picture of him from a year ago to today makes it seem like he is a completely different person, as you can see in the photo below. In addition to gaining this much muscle, he has also shaved all of his clubs to have the same shaft length, besides his driver.

This ideally narrows his swing into the same exact swing path regardless of club, with the only conditions changing being the loft of the club and the ball position in his stance. Using this idea reduces the margin for error in a player’s adjustment for each club based on the length of the club, something that most amateur golfers struggle with. Of course, no golfer has put as much physical fitness and scientific work into the game as Dechambeau has.

With his results proving that he is onto something, it will be interesting to see how his competition responds. Will they too begin to bulk up and add muscle? For now no other player seems to have significantly changed their game to adopt this scientific approach. It will be interesting to watch him continue with his professional golf career and see if this scientific approach adds even more victories to his resume.