by Dave Ostrow
Body Balance for Performance
The Golf Fitness Experts
By now I hope you are seeing a trend—that there are only a few problems responsible for most of the shoulder injuries and swing faults golfers experience. It is very simple. Improve thoracic mobility, scapular stability, shoulder joint strength and mobility and fix the alignment. Simple, right? Here is the process.
Improve Thoracic Mobility: This process can be easy. You will need to improve forward- and backward-bending and rotation. To improve flexion and extension lengthen the muscles and tissues on the chest and strengthen the spinal muscles in the upper back. The stretch is easy. There are a variety of chest stretches from over the ball, to over a foam roller, to just a static back position. When doing these stretches you must be careful not to cause pain to the shoulder joint. The spinal muscles in the upper back are easy to get. You can do rolling activities, or prone extension.
As your flexion and extension improve then it is safe to begin working on rotation. If we work on rotation before we improve flexion and extension, there is a good possibility that the rotational movements will cause lower back pain. This is because a thoracic spine stuck in flexion cannot rotate efficiently or effectively. To improve rotation in the thoracic spine, try the side lying trunk rotation. Once again you must be careful not to irritate the shoulder joint. Once you have stretched then try seated rotation without resistance.
Free the hips by improving flexibility in the hip external rotators and by improving muscle activity in the hip internal rotators. This can be accomplished in several weeks to two months, depending on how tight the hips are. How? Releasing, stretching, strengthening, facilitating, balancing muscle tensions, then on to functional training. Stretches 1 and 2 can help.
Stretch 1: Improves hip internal rotation flexibility during back-swing and follow-through.
Stretch 2: Improve hip rotation and hip turn in your golf swing.
Create a neutral spine by balancing the tensions between the abdominals and the lower back, and between the hip flexors and extensors on both sides of the body. Most of us have a bilateral forward tilt of the pelvis. Stretch both hip flexors. Stretch the lower back. Strengthen the glutes and abs. Do this lying down, sitting up, standing, and then do this in golf posture. That is all there is to it. Stretches 3 and 4 might help.
Stretch 3: Improves posture at address to enable stable, neutral pelvis throughout the swing.
Stretch 4: Pelvic tilt with alternate marching to improve stability and control in the trunk, pelvis, hips and legs throughout the golf swing.
Do these fixes all seem similar? They should, because they are. The challenge for most of you is knowing what side to apply the fixes to and in what sequence. Frankly, any golf fitness professional who understands the biomechanics, neurology, anatomy, and the golf swing could easily help you get rid of back pain, and play the best golf of your life.
Try the exercises noted above to see what happens. Bottom line is, if you do not improve in a week to ten days doing these on your own, you probably will need help from a golf fitness professional with the knowledge of the areas noted in the previous paragraph.
Here’s to your healthy back and good golf.
