Flexibility Important for Golf Game

For golfers, increasing your flexibility and strength are an important part of your game that should be worked on year round. Becoming more flexible can help you make more shots and help reduce the chance of injury or sore muscles. How often have you played with a sore back? Simple stretches may help you avoid these pains that will keep you from playing to your potential. At the same time, strengthening your muscles can be very rewarding when turning in that score card. I will give you some simple exercise that you can do at home to start improving your flexibility and strength.

First, you may be surprised how many of your muscles you use on a typical golf swing. Basically, all of your major muscle groups are used in, at least, part of your swing. Let’s start at your feet and legs. Poor lower body flexibility can not only keep you on the cart, but it can raise your score too. Stretching your calf and hamstrings are crucial. Spend the first few minutes of your warm-up on your lower body muscles by leaning against a wall (or near-by tree), put one foot back and keep that heel on the ground leaning forward until a stretch is felt. Click here to view exercise. Hold this, and all stretches, for a 20 second count. Be sure to do each calf at least twice. Next, put one leg on a raised surface, like a cart or chair. Keep your back straight and slowly lean forward reaching for you ankle. Click here to view exercise. (If no raised surface is available you can stand on a flat surface and slowly bend over and reach for you ankles.) Again, hold the stretch for a 20 count. This will stretch your all-important hamstring.

Now let’s move to your low back. By stretching your hamstrings, you already have a good start to stretching your low back. Another good stretch to do is slowly begin twisting to the right and left. Start slow by not twisting too far at first; allow the muscles to get used to this important part of your golf swing. By the end of this exercise you should be at your full range of motion you will use for your swing. Click here to view exercise.

Now, move to your shoulders and arms. Stretch your shoulders by doing large circles. Start slow and do about 20 circles both ways on both shoulders. Click here to view exercise. Now try to reach across your upper body as far as you can by slowly reaching until you feel a good stretch. Again do both arms a couple of times each. Click here to view exercise. Next, touch behind your back by reaching over your head and running your hand down the middle of your back until you feel a stretch. Click here to view exercise.

If you’re not one of those people that work out in the gym you may not know what you can do to not only stay flexible, but to increase, or at least maintain, your strength. There are a few simple and quick exercises that you can do at home to maintain and even increase the strength of area’s of your body that are important to your golf game. First, doing simple heel raises (raising up on your toes) will help increase you ankle and lower leg strength. Start by balancing on one leg and rising up on your toes 25 times on each leg and increase by 10 every three or four days until you can do 100. Click here to view exercise.

Next, work on increasing your “core strength”. That is the strength in your torso. This may be the most important part of your body for a golfer, and the hardest area to increase strength. The simplest and best way to start is the dreaded sit-ups or what we call “crunches”. Lie on your back with your hands across your chest and rest your feet up on a chair and slowly raise your head and shoulders up off the ground. Be careful not to rise up too far, only bring your head and shoulders up; don’t try to touch your knees. Click here to view exercise. Start with a few of theses each day and work your way to doing 50-100 each day. That may take several weeks to get to that point, but you should begin to notice a change in a few weeks.

For your arms and shoulders, take a small amount of weight and raise your arms in front of you Click here to view exercise. then out to your side. Click here to view exercise. You can also do bicep curls Click here to view exercise. and triceps extensions. Click here to view exercise. Again start with a low weight and low repetitions and increase as you get stronger.

I can’t promise these activities will turn you into a Tour Player, but they may help you enjoy the game more and who knows it may even knock a stroke or two off your score. For more information or for a free consultation with one of our Certified Athletic Trainers please don’t hesitate to call me at Defiance Clinic ProRehab (419)783-2791.