Reducing pain on the golf course
A typical golfer will put their body through physical stress on every round. If your body isn't able to keep up with that demand it can lead to an injury.
Just within one hole you are putting your back through seven to ten different demanding movements, several times over:
Teeing up the ball - bending
Practice swing - twisting
Hitting the ball
Picking the tee up
Lifting/carrying your bag - bending and twisting
Hitting your next shot
Lifting/carrying your bag
Crouching on the green for an aim point to putt
Picking the ball out of the hole
Lifting/carrying your bag
Depending on how well you are playing you could be repeating this process a number of times at the same hole!
Multiply that by 18 holes and that's approximately 126-180 times your back has been stressed within a four hour game of golf. The majority of golfers play twice per week, all year round. Suddenly these numbers start to increase rapidly. You can see how this could all go wrong.
So, why don't we look after ourselves before anything goes wrong?
Prevention is better than reaction and keeps you playing uninterrupted by injuries!
Below are the five best ways to keep you playing:
Warm up with dynamic stretches - lunges - overall performance has been known to increase with a warm up
Bird dogs - improves spinal stability and decreases back injuries
Dead bug - improves core strength, making bending and getting up easier
Knee rolls - increases flexibility, resulting in increased range of movement when you swing
Gluteal muscle activation - increases the power in your drives!
It is important you perform these exercises correctly to avoid injury. Check out this handy PDF for more details on the exercises above: Golf Exercises.
If you need help, speak to us next time you visit and we will demonstrate and help you find the right position.