Most people don’t look at golfers as athletes, but when you breakdown the swing the forces generated in hitting a golf ball quite great! An average golfer will swing a driver at around 80mph, while a professional can reach 120-130mph. If the body isn’t sequencing correctly then those forces placed on the body have to be absorbed somewhere and its usually in the spine. All to often we see breakdowns in the swing because most of us do not have the range of motion to rotate our hips shoulders and trunk, so we end up overusing our arms by coming over the top, swaying and sliding. One of the biggest complaints that I get in golfers over 50 is that all of a sudden they are losing distance, yet they feel that their swing hasn’t changed. Reduced power can be the result of a lot of swing faults, but can be helped with the right approach. Other contributors to reduced power is poor posture, bad alignment at address and tight restricted muscles.
Poor Posture- if you ever watch a small child play you will notice how their spine has so much movement, this is because they have not developed any bad habits yet. As we age and start to attend school and carry heavy backpacks our posture becomes compromised. We start to slouch which puts stress on the spine and hips, this then carries over into our day to day job, most americans have desk jobs and are required to spend most of their day sitting and slouching. Most golfers are weekend warriors which means they spend their weekends trying to make up for lost time by playing as many holes as possible; by the end of the weekend their backs wrists and elbows are hurting.
Bad alignment- alignment issues are very common in golf and can predispose the golfer to physical problems down the road. Some issues that are common are not bending forward from the hips but from the back, and rounded shoulders with their tail tucked underneath them.
Tight restricted muscles- due to age, poor posture (which we have discussed) and not exercising or conditioning muscles correctly can all lead to restricted movement in the muscles and joints. Unfortunately, we as a country do not exercise enough and have desk jobs, which limits movement.
Getting a thorough golf physical assessment and then being put on a weekly exercise program would address all these issues and reduce the likelihood of injury. In my clinic I like to use the KVest 3d motion analysis system that gives valuable feedback to the golfer regarding numbers and angles during their swing, this data is collected and with the physical assessment they now can relate what is actually happening to their golf swing.
What happens to those golfers who have had back surgery? These clients need special attention to performing corrective exercises and stretches! Because you can’t tell a golfer he can’t golf rehabilitation time will take longer.
Because a golfer should train like an athlete he or she will be put through periodized work out plans throughout the year. Golf really doesn’t have an off season so this makes it challenging for strength coaches to design the appropriate programs for certain times of the year. Not all golfers are equal, so in order to build strength one must realize who they are dealing with. A general rule of thumb is to strengthen what is weak, and stretch those muscle groups that are tight in order to achieve balance. Then one must take into consideration the unbalanced surfaces that a golfer must face when playing so giving him or her stability/balance related exercise is crucial.
Because most golfers don’t have enough time in their schedules to workout, we must prioritize the order, sequence and type of exercises that we give them for optimal health. Below are a few foundational exercises that most of my clients will do in their weekly regimen.
Deadlifts- an exercise that requires the ability to learn how to bend from the hips and sequence an order of movement from various muscle groups.
Push vs pulling motions- I design pushing and pulling exercises into my program this achieves balance between muscle groups.
Front squats- This is a great exercise for a golfer to squat as deeply as they can safely demonstrate. The deeper the more recruitment from the glutes/quads and hamstrings. It also builds core strength and recruits scapular stabilizers and rotator cuff strength throughout the range of motion.
Rotational exercises like wood chops, medicine ball rotational lunges and high cable pulls are great exercises to integrate many muscles groups in 1 exercise. A big bang for the buck exercise to perform.
Floor exercises- Exercises like kneeling opposite arm/leg, 1 legged bridging, lower abdominal marching and prone cobra are great beginner exercises to develop core and glute muscles while sequencing movement patterns.
