Golf Fitness And Flexibility

Scott Daniels Physical Therapist Wellington Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine

The importance of sport-specific fitness has been well established.  Golf is no different.  Over the past decade the best players in the world have improved their performance by improving their bodies.  There is evidence in this fact in that Tiger and Sergio are now barely able to fit into their shirts.  And have you noticed Phil’s recent physical transformation?  These guys have bought in to the notion that golf-specific fitness can help improve golf performance and prevent injury.

Fortunately for the elite players in the world, a fitness routine geared toward golf is actually part of their occupation.  For the rest of us, time is an issue and we are simply trying to get the most out of our precious time and money.  Because of this fact, I am frequently asked how to make sure a fitness program includes activities that can improve golf performance and prevent injury.  The answer is two-fold.  First, it is important to make sure that the routine you perform incorporates activities that are known to be necessary for the golf swing.  Second, it is important to have the program custom designed for your particular physical attributes and flaws.

Golf-specific activities

Typically there are three specific areas of the body in which golfers need to focus.  These include:

1.      Middle back (thoracic) flexibility

2.      Hip Flexibility (a.k.a. “hip hinge”)

3.      Core Stability (abdominal and back strength)

Middle back (thoracic) flexibility

A common misnomer created by many golfers and television media is the concept of improving “shoulder turn”.  Increased shoulder turn has very little if anything to do with moving your shoulder joints.  Improved shoulder turn occurs with improving the middle back’s (thoracic spine) ability to rotate.  The more the middle back rotates, the more a golfer is able to “coil”.  This improved ability to coil translates into increased power and distance and a better ability to get the club on an inside path for more consistent ball striking.  The following are examples of golf-specific activities that can help to improve middle back flexibility and can be performed on or off the course.

Hip Flexibility

A second important area of focus for the golfer is improvement in hip flexibility.  There are several areas of the golf swing where it is of extreme importance for the hips to have an ability to easily “hinge” in order to facilitate a fluid, coordinated golf swing.  For the right handed golfer the right hip needs to be able to hinge properly from take away to the top of the back swing in order to make a proper weight shift to the right side and to get behind the ball.  At impact and through to the follow through position of the golf swing the right handed golfer needs a proper amount of hip hinge in the left hip in order to finish properly.  With age and sedentary life styles comes a gradual loss of hip flexibility.  This lack of flexibility translates into less than optimal performance on weekend mornings when a $2.00 Nassau is on the line.  The following are examples of golf-specific activities to improve hip flexibility and can be performed on or off the course.

Core Stability (Abdominal and back strength)

In addition to loss of hip flexibility, age and sedentary lifestyles lead to a loss of muscle control in the area between the top of our pelvis and the bottom of our rib cage.  This area on both the front (abdominals) and back (low back) of our trunk is described as our core given it is the center of our body around which all other activity of our arms and legs occurs.

It is important to understand that we have an inner core and an outer core.  The inner core is a group of very small muscles that are close to our spine and when they contract, they provide our spine with stability in order to keep movement between our vertebrae to a minimum.  The less movement that occurs between the vertebrae, the less chance for spinal injury as a result of the golf swing.  The outer core includes the abdominal (six pack muscles) as well as the large muscles of the low back.  Most work-out routines include activities geared toward the outer core muscles but neglect the inner core muscles.

In order to insure a comprehensive approach to golf performance and injury prevention it is important to incorporate both the inner and outer core into a fitness routine.  The following photos demonstrate a golf-specific inner core muscle activity.  However, there are specific cues and techniques required to insure the muscles are working that require the skill of a health care professional and are beyond the scope of this article.

Customizing your golf-specific routine

While there are many different types of activities to make a fitness routine golf-specific, it is of extreme importance to make sure that program is custom built for you depending on your particular medical problems, physical make up and golf swing.  This is where your local golf fitness expert comes in.  Based on a full body evaluation, these experts can determine to what extent middle back flexibility, hip flexibility, core stability or some other physical limitation may be limiting your golf performance or may be leading to recurrent injury.

The clinicians at Wellington Orthopedics and Sports Medicine’s Therapy Services have the experts in the form of Physical Therapists, Athletic Trainers and Exercise Science professionals to customize a program for you.  These experts have a model in place to help you achieve your golf-specific goal whether it is performance enhancement or rehabilitation of golf-induced injury. 

For more information call Marc Brewer P.T. at Wellington Orthopedics and Sports Medicine’s Therapy Service’s Eastgate location, 513-943-3630.

Go to www.wellingtonortho.com to find an office close to you.