The golf season is fast approaching, and if you haven’t kept up with your New Year’s exercise resolutions or winter golf game, now is the time to start. We have many appealing and spirited courses right here in the Flathead Valley that challenges both the beginner and expert golfers. With less than a month to go, you can prepare yourself for the upcoming season with these helpful hints.

Flexibility: Make time in your daily routine to stretch all areas of the body with a 10-15 minute global stretching routine. Each stretch should be sustained for a minimum of 30 seconds to change the plasticity of the tissue.

Warm-Up: Prepare yourself for every round with a proper 10-15 minute warm-up. Address the upper and lower extremities, as well as torso rotation (described below) with sustained 30 second stretching.

Push don’t Pull: Pulling your golf cart creates an abnormal gait pattern as you alter biomechanics rotating one way or the other depending on which side you pull from. Pushing your cart creates an ideal upright posture and allows you to resume your normal gait pattern.

Backpack strap, NO single straps: If you carry your clubs, utilize the backpack strap to allow upright walking, good posture and an even distribution of bag weight.

Shoe Wear: Are you still wearing the “lucky pair that you wore the day you shot your PB” five years ago. Happy Golf Season!!! Buy yourself a new pair and spend time in them before you walk 18 holes this season.

Stay Hydrated: Make sure you are consuming water prior to, during, and after a round to keep your body hydrated. On average you should be consuming 237 ml every 15 minutes.

Good Posture!!! Riding in a golf cart is the most challenging position to achieve good upright posture. Your low back is your lumbar spine and normally presents with a lordotic curve. This curve is lost in poor sitting and as a result, increases the pressure on your spinal structures. Make an effort to sit up tall when riding, reducing the stress on your low back.

I’ve attached two specific exercises to benefit your game:

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External/Internal Rotation
Strengthen these specific rotator cuff muscles by utilizing the Stretch Shortening Cycle (SCC) of a muscle. It has been postulated that elastic structures in series with the contractile component can store energy like a spring after being forcibly stretched (Alexander, 1987). Since the length of the tendon increases due to the active stretch phase during the backswing, the series elastic component is acting as a spring, and would therefore be storing more potential energy. This energy would be released as the tendon shortened during the downswing. This would result in a more efficient movement and increase club speed. (See exercise procedure below)
 

Jason W. Falcon is a licensed Physical Therapist in the State of Montana. Currently he is certified in Active Release Technique soft tissue mobilization, and working towards his Doctoral degree in Physical Therapy, and McKenzie Manual Diagnosis and Treatment certification. Email contact: JasonWFalcon@Yahoo.com