braham Ancer recognizes that to have the best execution of his strategy in the field, he also requires an athletic condition that favors his playing qualities.
He spends time at the gym and his physical training, which is guided by Christian Compeán. He waited for medical authorization to recover from a sprained back, so as not to skip the Augusta Masters in April and let almost two weeks pass, to heal and confirm at the Mexico Open in Vidanta 2022.
“Having an athletic background catches my attention and for that Christian helps me stay injury-free, every day I have something planned with him to work on more speed, strength or flexibility. There are many aspects in golf such as the physical and I have put a lot of emphasis on it. We don’t have free time, we finished the season and the next week it starts. Technically, each year is different, at the end of the season I see where I improved or where I was not so solid, that changes every year, ”he explains to El Economista.
Ancer discusses how “about 20 years ago or more, golfers’ physiques were a little different, now they’ve become more explosive, have more power and swing speed. Golfers on the PGA Tour today see themselves as athletes.”
There was a time when golfers smoked on the course, didn’t pursue an athletic body, and everything focused on accurately hitting balls on the course. The change has been radical and now there are stories like that of the American Bryson DeChambeau who gained muscle mass thanks to weight training, or the migration made by Brooks Koepka from his entire gym in Florida to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. They are not the only cases and Ancer stresses the importance of training off the field. In his life, not everything has been golf, even soccer was his first sport, from day to day, until he was 14 years old. He played midfielder and forward, but he didn’t play professionally, only in middle school and high school.
“I no longer play soccer to avoid injuries. Perhaps it is not that the golfer focuses on other sports, but on going to the gym, getting the most out of your body, the strength you have and maximizing it.