Importance of Flexibility in Golf and How to Improve It

Golf has been discriminated against in the past as it is not a physically demanding sport. This is incorrect as golf is an athletic, physically demanding game. Flexibility, strength, balance, skill and coordination are all important factors when playing golf.Flexibility and strength are the grass roots for the development of the coordination, skill, stability and balance. These skills are important in any type of sport. No matter your age or ability proper conditioning will enable you to take advantage of your lessons, time spent on the range and reduces your risk of injury. Flexibility is extremely important and if taken care of can improve your game dramatically.

There is an optimum range of motion or flexibility that us needed to swing a golf club around your body. It is essential to maintain the correct posture and keep your eyes on the ball. The body is made up of many components and is a long chain made up of many links. If you have a problem or restriction within or between the links you have to compensate elsewhere. This can cause pain in certain areas and a poor performance. Movements will then be insufficient and power will be lost. There is a greater amount of risk when flexibility is poor. The most common areas where there is damage due to poor flexibility are neck, shoulders, back, hips, knees and ankles. All the soft tissue within the body needs to be able to move freely to prevent over compensation and injury to other areas. By reaching your optimal flexibility it makes it easier to maintain a better posture and the axis of rotation. By doing this is keeps the club on the proper path for square contact.

Flexibility promotes a more consistent, efficient and powerful swing by:

• Reducing unwanted compensations. This is when one part of your body has to stretch further as there is a restriction in another. By doing this there is a large amount of stress on certain areas and can result in injury. For example: restricted hip motion causes excessive spinal rotation and or shoulder movement and vice versa. And if the hips back and shoulders are tight, excessive head, arm and/or wrist movement occurs, all of which can alter the swing plane, posture and cause injury in those areas.

• Maintaining posture. Flexibility can help with your posture throughout the swing. Miss hits are more likely when you are unable to maintain your spine angles. By this happening other postures will be lost at the ankles, knees, hips and trunk.

• Full unrestricted shoulder turn: By being more flexible you are able to have a bigger and more controlled shoulder turn. Having a bigger shoulder turn you can generate more power and distance
Body awareness is very important when looking at a golf swing. There are sensors in muscles, tendons and joints that communicate body position, direction and rate of movement to our brain which then provides immediate feedback to alter a movement if necessary. When a movement is restricted this communication is less than optimal and performance can be compromised.

So the main question is: How do we become more flexible? The simple answer is stretch! No matter what sport you play stretching and warming up is essential. For the body to move more efficiently a warm up is essential and stretching is part of this.

As athletes get older stretching becomes even more important for reducing injury. A golf swing is very dynamic and stretching techniques help with the efficiency. Stretching must be an important part of you pre golf routine. It’s easy to do and doesn’t cost anything! So before hitting balls on the range or teeing off it is important to stretch. Old or current injuries, especially those involving the spine need to be taken into consideration so it is worth speaking to a sports specialist or PGA Professional to design the right flexibility program for you.

Here are some examples of some stretches which you should use before playing a round of golf:

Backswing Stretch with club
1. Extend left arm out in front of you (if you are a right handed golfer).
2. Take both hands and place on top of club
3. Drop upper body down against club to feel a stretch in your left shoulder
4. Hold at the stretch for at least 15 seconds, repeat once more, and then do the opposite arm for your follow through side.

Lunge:
1. Bend and extend the front leg slowly
2. Do not bend or extend the rear leg
3. Do not extend the front leg completely
4. Bend only to 90º
5. Keep your back upright

Pelvic rotation:
1. Rotate the pelvis laterally backward as fare as possible
2. Rotate head and shoulder simultaneously
3. Extend the outside arm
4. Rotate the pelvis quarter circle forward
5. Pull the arms back
6. Move to the opposite direction

Wrists:
1. Hold your right arm in front of you with your palm facing down
2. Keep your elbow straight; gently pull your wrist up by grabbing the top of your fingers.
3. Repeat three to five times on each wrist

Core:
1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and fold your arms across your chest
2. Bend your knees and lean forward slightly, as though you’re addressing the golf ball
3. Rotate your trunk in your backswing motion
4. Continue from the top of your backswing position to your follow through.