Improving your Golf Game ( or any sport) THROUGH FLEXIBILITY, STRENGTH, & ASSISTED STRETCHING
There is so much more to golf than just practicing the same swing over and over. The power of flexibility in your core, shoulders, wrist and hands, hip rotators, and low back. Strengthening the smaller muscles that are often ignored has also helped so many clients as well as professional golfers. The motion of the 5 phases of the swing use the same muscles with each repetition- all on one side. Most golfers do not practice their swing in the opposite direction. Imagine how tight and overused those same muscles are being overworked, and how weak the opposite muscles become. When you DON’T stretch, your muscle fibers tend to tense up since they are not reaching their full range of motion. The proteins in which muscles are composed are not fluid, then they harden and stiffen if you only move them in specific and /or restricted movements, or you if you don’t move them enough. Then you feel “tight” or sore. Specifically for golf, there are many motions involved including, walking, bending over to line up a put, the repetitive swinging of the club.
Through the five steps of a golf swing, many muscles are utilized:
Shoulders to rotate the club Wrists and hands to keep the club stable Your core for rotation and stability
Quads and hamstrings- to bend the knees for balance and strength during the backswing Lower back- bears a lot of weight as you transition Quads and hips for the rotation during the downswing. It also puts a lot of stress on your joints so it’s important to stretch and strengthen the muscles surrounding the joints. The follow through requires balance from the legs, hips, abs, and shoulder. Then your lower back and hamstrings come into play.
HOW I CAN HELP YOUR GAME WITH SPECIFIC ASSISTED STRETCHING:
BACK: your back is constantly working against gravity, especially during forward bends and rotating your torso.
WHEN YOUR BACK IS TIGHT, YOUR MOVEMENT IS LIMITED.CORE/ROTATORS: flexibility in your torso and hips improves your swing and flow. WRIST: the movements in your wrist can affect your game. If they are not warmed up, stretched or strong you could end up with injuries. Golfer’s wrist or golfer’s elbow are very common and can be prevented. Stretching can alleviate some pain and release tension on the nerves.
HAMSTRINGS: the hamstrings are some of the largest muscles in the body and they are responsible for some of the burdens of the back. They stabilize the hips, when they are inflexible it limits your mobility.
SHOULDERS: specifically the shoulder joints, there is a lot of repetitive motions using the shoulders. Keeping the shoulder rotators loose and strengthening the tiny surrounding muscles. This will also help prevent tendonitis and arthritis .Assisted stretching has so many benefits for your overall health. Contact me for your Assisted Stretching today!
