If you’ve ever had a golf injury, you know that you might get teased for it – plenty of people who don’t play see it as a leisurely game in which it’s impossible to get hurt. But for those who know birdies from bogies, a golf injury is a serious thing that can put an end to the season. That’s why it’s important to prime your body and maintain it throughout the coming months.
Follow these tips as you prepare for your foray on the course:
Work the right areas. Focus on hip rotator flexibility, core strength and postural muscles. Your core will help you to drive the ball, adding extra power to your swing. Exercising the postural muscles helps to decrease excess work in the shoulders, which is a fairly common habit among golfers.
Don’t overestimate your fitness. Think you can start off where you stopped last summer? Think again. Jumping back into your golfing routine at full force is almost asking for trouble. Start out with shorter rounds, or just trips to the range, to get your body warmed up again. And don’t worry – you’ll be back to playing 18 holes in due time, as long as you don’t rush it and cause an injury.
Start from the ground up – literally. Focus on connecting with the ground – distributing your weight across your entire feet so that you have real stability. The ground is the only stable point you have to move away from – use it as a springboard of sorts to power your movement as you swing and connect with the ball.
Get a little guidance. One-on-one personal training is a great way to address your unique physiology and those bad habits – and we all have them. If you’ve had injuries in the past, physical therapy training can get you safely back in the game. Adding classes like CoreAlign and Pilates reformer can help you learn how to work away from the ground to create added power, while Power Plate can increase flexibility.
