A majority of amateur golfers will go directly from their car to the first tee, with little or no thought of warming up. They perceive golf as a low-level activity with little or no risk of injury, and thus forego any type of  preparation for their bodies—the same bodies that have undoubtedly been doing nothing for hours.  “There’s no chance of getting hurt,” they think, “after all, it’s only golf.”

Wrong!

This notion of invulnerability is a mistake, and one that can have serious physical consequences.

The golf swing can indeed be very demanding on specific parts of the body.  Injuries to the back, hips, shoulders and wrist are quite common, and can be very serious in nature.  In fact, over 50 percent of tour professionals have missed at least one tournament in their career due to injury, and they are trained athletes at the top of their games.  With this in mind, it goes without saying that amateur golfers, who are usually not as well conditioned, are usually much more susceptible to injury and thus should take proactive measures before each round to help prevent them.

A pre-round stretching routine will significantly reduce the risk of injury and could probably increase performance as well.  When you golf, the act of swinging the club puts stress on muscles and joints, both in the upper and lower body.  It’s a forceful movement that will need to be repeated on a regular basis and one that can cause injury, especially if you fail to stretch these areas beforehand.  Regardless of your age or skill level stretching before any kind of physical activity is ALWAYS a good idea.

Golf injuries are most common in the back, hips, shoulders and wrists.  The following exercises are but an excerpt of a comprehensive stretching program, but they should help get you started. All you need is five minutes before your round dedicating approximately one minute per exercise and I guarantee you these movements will help improve your overall flexibility and success out on the course.

1. Helicopters – Standing tall with your feet shoulder width apart and your arms out to your sides, begin to rotate your arms and trunk back and forth.  Keep your arms elevated and let your whole body rotate.  After a short warm up, try to stabilize your lower body and just rotate your upper body around your lower body. (This exercise will help loosen up the spine and lengthen the muscles that help rotate your shoulders.)

1. Front Leg Swings - From a standing position use a club for support and swing your leg up and down several times to increase the range of motion in your hip joint.  Then repeat on the opposite side. (This exercise will help increase the circulation around the hip and help increase the flexibility around the hip.)

1. Palm Up Club Lifts - Start by grabbing a golf club about shoulder width apart and holding it out in front of with your palms facing the sky.  Press the club out in front of your body and slowly raise the club as high as you can above your head. Make sure you are constantly pushing the club away from your body. (This exercise will help open up the lats and warm up the shoulders.)

1. Figure 4 Walks - Standing on your right leg grab your left ankle and try to lift your foot up to your waist.  Give a little pull up and return your left foot down to the ground.  Repeat on the other side. (This exercise will help open up your hip joints and increase flexibility in your hips.)

1. Prayer Palm Presses w/ Rotation – Start with your hands out in front of your chest, palms pressed together, fingers extended, and elbows out parallel to the floor.  Now press each hand against each other keeping your elbows parallel to the ground. Finally, pressing your hands together, make big rotations with your forearms forwards and backwards, three times in each direction. (This is a great warm up exercise for the wrist and forearm as well as the rotator cuff.)

There are, of course, many different stretches designed to improve flexibility.  These are just a few that specifically target areas essential in the golf swing.

The movement of the golf swing is a powerful one, requiring flexibility and strength throughout the technique.  From the backswing to the follow through, golfers utilize the muscles of the back, hips, shoulders and wrists.  These simple stretches target those areas.  They are very easy to learn, require no equipment and take very little time to perform. Making them part of any pregame routine can significantly reduce the risk of injury and may ultimately lead to lower scores.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 at 9:02 am and is filed under Golf Fitness, Golf Fitness Exercises, Golf Stretches, Golf Workouts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.