Golf Strength and Mobility part 1

Do you play golf or a sport that requires to rotate through the lumbar spine to generate your movement. Golf particularly involves a lot of rotation through the course of a round and often at high velocity. For the body to rotate effectively through the spine it needs to flex (bend forward) extend (Bend backwards) and side bend to enable the full rotation at the joint, and also requires good strength and stability to make this movement smooth.

If you are repeating this rotation between 70-100 times per round the stresses applied build up if you are not making use of the full mobility of the spine, which can in turn lead to injury or at least explain why towards the end of a game you cannot hit as far or have the same accuracy that you started with.

To enable the full range of the spine to help prevent injury and play better for longer we ne dot look at the movement available at the thoracic spine. A lot of golfers get most of their rotation from the lumbar spine, hips and knees. So to take some of the load out of these areas lets get some mobility in the upper back.

Here are three exercises to help with that thoracic rotation which will be beneficial for golfers and anyone needing more movement in their upper back.

Kneeling thoracic rotation:

•Start on hands and knees, moving your body back over your legs a little •Place one hand on the back of your neck, keeping the elbow pointed out. •Rotate your body, leading with the elbow, so that your elbow comes down towards the middle of the floor, and then rotate back up. •As the elbow comes up, you will get a twist in the middle of the back.

Side Lying thoracic rotation

•Lie on your side with your arms outstretched on the floor in front of you. •Your lower leg should be straight and in line with the rest of your body. •Your upper leg should be bent in front of you with both the hip and knee at 90 degrees. •Take a deep breath in. •As you breathe out, lift your top arm up from the floor towards the ceiling. •Follow the movement with your head. •Continue to move this arm up and over to the floor on the other side. •Allow your upper body and head to follow the movement of this arm. •Take a deep breath at this endpoint. •As you breathe out, lift this arm back up from the floor, sweeping towards the ceiling and return it to lie on top of your other arm. Take a deep breath in, and then repeat.

Plank Rows

•Get into a press up position with a weight in one hand. •Keeping a straight line from your head to your feet and lift the weight up and down, moving your elbow towards the ceiling. •There will be a slight rotation in your torso.

I hope these are helpful in getting you moving, next we will look at the how and whys of shoulder stability.