Golf has been traditionally thought of as a GAME you take up when you retire. I believe people think this because there’s no running around in golf. But, golf is a SPORT that puts tremendous demands on the body. The level of exertion and muscle activation in the golf downswing is equivalent to that needed for a slap shot in hockey, a serve in tennis, or a boxer’s punch.
It’s just that most people don’t take up those sports later in life because they recognize the high demands they put on the body. Let me explain.
Golf requires every joint designed to be mobile -be mobile. Those joints are: the ankles, hips, thoracic spine, glenohumeral joint, and wrists. (see those parts of the body highlighted in PINK below).
However, as we age we tend to lose mobility (or the ability to move with freedom).
Let’s face it. If you’re over 50 you’ve been sitting in a chair for most of your life.
The only difference is the chairs got bigger and softer and so did you! We are not designed to be in chairs. The more time spent in chairs the less flexible and mobile we become. Adequate flexibility and mobility are needed to get into position for the proper golf swing. The less flexibility and mobility your body possesses, the more likely you will manifest swing faults, lose power, and develop an injury. Until you can get into a position, until you can move the joints the way that they need to move, it will be very difficult to enhance your power and hit the ball with consistency. If we look at most people who struggle with golf, it’s because they lack mobility.
The typical inquiry reads: “Hi – interested in learning more about personal training with an emphasis on functional movement and flexibility for golf & life.”
Sitting in chairs alters the length/tension relationship of the muscles in the front and back of the body. The muscles on the front tend to get short and tight, and the muscles on the back tend to become long and weak. This alters the position of your joints and spine and causes you to adopt poor posture.
Paul Chek, author of The GOLF Biomechanics Manual, says: Improving posture should be the foundation of every rehabilitation and conditioning specialist approach to exercise and improving function. We talk about posture as it relates to the golf swing all the time.
To be an effective golfer you need to possess good static posture at set-up and maintain posture through all portions of the golf swing. The golf swing is all about rotation. The worse your static posture the worse your rotation will be.
“Golfers with restricted rotation will develop compensation patterns that lead to loss of power and injury.”–Brett Cohen
Dr. Greg Rose, board-certified Doctor of Chiropractic and one of the founders of the Titleist Performance Institute states: Flexibility and mobility should be 10% of your exercise program for every decade you are alive. So that means if you’re a 60-year-old golfer, 60% of your exercise time should be dedicated to improving flexibility and mobility.
My Success Formula:
After measuring someone’s static posture and observing movement through various screens the first step in improving a golfer’s performance is as follows:
- Improve tissue quality
- Improve tissue length
- Improve joint mobility
- Improve segmental stability I
- Improve static and dynamic posture
- Incorporate all of the above into relative movement patterns such as; squatting, bending, lunging, pushing, pulling, and twisting (or rotation).
“At age 78 I wanted to reach my fitness limited so I could bring my gol fgame back to where it was 10 years ago. After 3 months of training, I have already begun to shoot my age. I shot a 75, 77, and 78 twice. This has been my goal going back 2 years!”__Hank Cohen
Brett’s Bottom Line:
Until that foundation is in place it doesn’t make sense to do anything else. Move better before you move more. To learn more about my approach to golf condition and my Fit For Golf fitness program download my FREE e-book: My Top 3 Strategies To Achieve Longer Drives, Lower Scores, and Fewer Injuries! GUARANTEED To schedule your FREE golf fitness consultation call: (917) 596-8485