Exercises

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Exercise Planning

When planning an exercise program, remember its components are warming up, stretching, strengthening, and improving muscular endurance and cardiovascular conditioning. While stretching is included, very little evidence exists to suggest stretching reduces sports injuries - in fact evidence points towards injury rate increases (muscle tearing) by poor stretching prior to play.

OK, so warm up - walk around gently swinging your arms, then a few minutes of plyometrics - jump up on the spot.

Flexibility: Saying that increases in flexibility results in better golf, actually has little scientific basis, nether does a statement that your risk of injury is less if you are flexible, but it makes "common sense". During a backswing of a good golfer, the "shoulder turn" appears to be about 90 degrees. This is a combination of hip/pelvis and trunk turn, and actually mostly occurs in the thoracic spine. In fact in the perfect spine, the lumbar rotation is about 2 degrees per segment level with the exception of the lowest lumbosacral joint which has 5 degrees rotation. There are 5 segment levels so the total in the perfect spine is 8 degrees plus 5 degrees = 13 degrees. In my 50 year old spine I would suggest less rotation than even that is likely. The shoulder must move through a wide range of motion - left shoulder horizontally adducts about 70 degrees - across the chest, and raises (abducts) about 50 - 80 degrees, it also internally rotates. The right shoulder abducts about 70 degrees and externally rotates just short of 90 degrees.

These ranges of motion may be near your limit if you are very stiff, if that is the case you have three alternatives - shorten your swing, tear your muscles, or improve your flexibility.

Stretching demands care: slowly and gently with a sustained stretch hold of at least 15 seconds will be safer than the quick bouncing type of activity I frequently see. Only if you really want should you stretch your shoulders - but do this very gently - then your pectorals (breast muscle) - raise your arms up, clasp your hands behind your head and bring your elbows back. Change the angle of your elbows to change the stretched fibres - pectoral muscle fans out from the shoulder to the sternum, so try to get most fibres stretched. Stretch trunk rotators by keeping feet about shoulder width apart and raise your hand over your head then point it towards the ground somewhere out in front, feel the stretch just below your shoulder blades. Hamstring and calf stretches gently also. Hamstring stretches you know, however there are three muscles in the calf, two are stretched with the knee straight - (below picture 1) the other requires you to bend in the knee, sort of "sink down" through the hips and feel the stretch lower down your calf, towards your heel, (picture 2).

Arm and wrist - join your palms in a "prey" action then lower your wrists, join the back of your hands and lower your elbows. You will have been stretching your hip flexors and extensors at home regularly if you are serious and realise that your job requires lots of sitting down - shortening and weakening these muscles.