Be A Better Golfer

Play Longer | Play Better | Play Without Pain

DO YOU HAVE A DRIVING AMBITION TO BE A BETTER GOLFER?

Golf is a popular sport and offers a range of health benefits. Regular golf can help improve stamina, cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance. For example, the average golfer playing an 18-hole game walks about seven kilometres.

While the risk of injury from playing golf is low compared to other sports, common golf injuries include injuries to the lower back, shoulder, elbow, wrist, head and eye.

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Although golf is a low-impact sport, golfing-related injuries are a result of poor mechanics or overuse. Poor functional mobility is correlated with a significant number of injuries most commonly of the lower back, elbow, wrist and hand, and shoulder. 70% of amateur golfers and 90% of professionals will suffer a golf-related injury at least once in a lifetime. Given these percentages, the topic of injury prevention in Golf should receive as much attention as there is on game improvement.

Here’s what a pro golfer does before he hits the course: Stretch, practice putting for 30 minutes, warm-up hitting for 35 minutes, then pitch, chip, and hit sand shots for 10 minutes, then putt again for 10 minutes, and then finally, go to the tee.

Here’s what most golfers do: Get out of the car, swing a couple practice shots, and go to the tee. And you wonder why you don’t feel warmed up until the third hole.

The best way to prepare the body for golf is with a simple warm-up.

Golf stretching exercises, performed consistently (and properly) will increase your range of motion, your power and ultimately… help to reduce your handicap.

Perhaps just as importantly, stretching will help to reduce the occurrence of those niggling injuries that so many golfers endure.

Try these six dynamic moves on the course before you tee off:

Neck Rotations

• Standing tall and relaxed, drop your chin toward your chest.
• Gently roll your head toward one shoulder in a semicircular motion.
• Roll it back to the front and around to the other shoulder.
• Repeat this continuous motion for 30 seconds.

Arm Swings

• Stand tall and hold arms out to your side.
• Slowly swing your arms back and forth across the front of your body.
• Repeat this continuous motion for 30 seconds.

Trunk Rotations

• Stand with a shoulder width stance. Place a club on your shoulders holding it at either end.
• With knees slightly bent, bend forward from the waist slightly (as though adopting the swing posture).
• Turn from side to side aiming to get the ends of the club directly in front of you with each turn.
• Complete a total of 15-20 full swings.

Side Bends with Club

• Stand with a shoulder width stance. Place a club on your shoulders.
• Lean to one side keeping your torso straight. Do not bend forward or backwards.
• Hold for a count of 2 and then repeat to the other side.
• Complete 8-10 stretches each side.

Standing Pelvic Tilts

• Begin by standing with your feet shoulder width apart. Place your hands on your waist.
• Tuck your pelvis under, creating a backward tilt of your pelvis.
• Arch your back, creating a forward tilt of your pelvis.
• Repeat 5 times in each direction with a smooth motion.

Leg Swings

• Start by standing with your feet shoulder width apart.
• Keeping your upper body perpendicular to the ground gently swing one leg forward and backward.
• Do not swing your leg so hard that you cannot keep your upper body from moving.
• Repeat for 10 full swings and repeat on other leg.

For more information regarding injury prevention or to arrange an assessment aimed to improve your golfing biomechanics contact one of the physiotherapists at Hindmarsh or Fitzroy Physiotherapy.

Physiotherapists are movement experts who improve quality of life through prescribed exercise, hands-on care, and patient education.

How Can Physiotherapy Help Golfers?

Screening: screening of posture, functional movement, joint range of motion, muscle strength and previous injury can help highlight any weakness or restriction that may cause future injury. Screening will also provide very useful information to use during the rehabilitation stage and for strength and conditioning programmes.

Treatment- :physiotherapists can treat a wide variety of conditions and experience musculoskeletal physiotherapist can treat all golf related injuries through the following modalities; Manual therapy, soft tissue massage, acupuncture, posture and manual handling advice, exercise prescription and S & C programmes.

Strength and conditioning: programmes formulated for the individual patient aimed to rehabilitate current injury, prevent future injury and improve performance. Develop good movement patterns and strengthen the core.

Injury Prevention: ideas of injury prevention pre- game warm up, and post- game stretches, as well as posture and manual handling.

If you are interested in booking an appointment with a local Sports Physiotherapist with a special interest in golf Injuries, please request an booking online here or call 83462000 for Hindmarsh and 83422233 for our Prospect Clinic.

MOVE BETTER. SWING BETTER. Physiotherapy helps REDUCE your PAIN & REDUCE your SCORE.

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