Amazing graphics from myself, apologies for the poor drawings!
When the swing is broken down, we can see that the need for joint mobilisation and spinal flexion is important. The main joints that are used during the swing are the shoulders, hips and spine. However, you need to remember that the wrists and knees are also involved in making sure you achieve you golf goals. Better mobility through these joints allows for a more controlled and potentially increased speed swing.
Wrists
The wrists are incredibly important in the golf swing. Ensuring wrist mobility not only allows you to ensure optimum grip but also wrist movement is used for both distance and direction of the swing.
Shoulders
Shoulder mobility is extremely important in your golf swing. Many people believe that upper body strength is the key for generating power in your swing. However, this cannot be further from the truth. The shoulder joint plays a crucial role in the transfer of power to the golf club in the golf swing. If a golfer does not have suitable shoulder mobility, it will mean that they are unable to get into the ideal positions for their backswing and take-away. This can affect their game by increasing chances of big misses, poor ball striking and inconsistent ball flight patterns. Shoulder injuries are fairly common in golfers and by improving mobility this likelihood of injury will become lessened.
Spinal flexion
The part of the spine mainly used during the golf swing is the Thoracic spine [T-spine], which is the upper part where your ribs are attached. Thoracic rotation is one of the main ways that golfers generate power. Think of it being like a wind up toy, once you have that rotation and mobility in the T-spine, you will be able to "wind" it up on your back swing and then release the tension in an explosive movement of the follow through when connecting with the ball. Having increased mobility in the T-spine will help you increase the back swing, rotate the chest allowing that increased explosive movement.
Hips
The hips are critical in executing a powerful and efficient golf swing. Increased mobility in the hips will allow this power and efficiency to improve and increase. The hip mobility facilitates rotation, speed generation and ultimately, the power transfer on to the ball at impact. Restricted hip mobility will lead to lower back pain and potential injuries of the lower back if a golfer attempts to force the swing with decreased mobility in the hips.
Knees
Your entire golf swing depends on not only spinal position but also slightly bent knees. Golfers also have to contend with the twisting motion of the knee while weight bearing and this can have an negative impact on the soft tissues in the knee and can result in pain. Having increased mobility in the knees will help prevent these injuries.
There are many mobilising exercises that you can do and Pilates is a fantastic way to get those joints mobilised. I highly recommended actioning at least mobilising exercises in these main areas before playing a round of golf, although completing head to toe mobilisation would be ideal.
Click on the YouTube link to get some ideas of the head to toe mobilisation exercises that you can do to help improve your swing and prevent injuries during your game. Let me know how you get on!
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