With all the discussion regarding the health care bill being developed in congress, I have one thing to say…..it’s confusing. We certainly will not have a clear picture until after it is actually implemented. And who knows when that will be!

With that being said, I believe it is more important today than ever before to take responsibility and focus on our own health. I have always been an advocate of preventive medicine, especially after seeing thousands of patients move through the orthopedic physical therapy clinics I have worked in for over 15 years.

I have learned through experience that a lot of the orthopedic typed injuries that occurred on a daily basis could be prevented. In my profession we know this as a fact. So my question here today is, does your fitness program utilize preventive principles? Common sense in training can help with prevention up to a point, but what I am specifically referring to is exercise selection.

Exercise selection should be specific to each individual’s needs. We all function a little bit differently. In other words our body has specific problem areas that need to be addressed with corrective type exercises in order to reach optimum performance, as well as prevent overuse type injuries. For example in the golf swing you need to make sure you have good hip mobility and stability, along with good trunk control as the forces generated in the swing move through the body. Otherwise increased stress can occur in the low back, leading to back injury.

So I believe it is important to have a fitness professional that can asses your current physical capabilities and then prescribe appropriate exercises that will help address any problem areas. Staying healthy and injury free not only keeps you the golf course, but keeps you feeling good. So make sure you are doing the right exercises specific to your body.

Posted under Golf Injuries

Have you ever tried hammering a nail with a screwdriver (maybe you have)? Have you ever tried opening a can without a can opener? Have you ever tried hitting a golf shot from the middle of the fairway with a putter?

Well, whether you believe it or not, if you don’t have the right tools for your exercise program you may also not get the results you want.

I’ve heard many people say, “I know how to exercise, I can do it myself.” This may be true, but how many people do you know that start a fitness program only to let it fall by the wayside?

Many people have told me they have tried exercise but it really didn’t help their golf game.

If you’ve tried a lot of different exercises and nothing seems to be working, maybe it’s time you asked yourself if you have the right tools. Having the right tools can make all the difference in the world.

Grab my free golf fitness report (on the left) now, and begin moving toward improved fitness and a better golf game!

Posted under Exercise Tips

Tightness and soreness in the neck and upper traps area is nothing new in most people. This soreness can occur in anyone and is often times seen in golfers. The cause can be variable but is usually posture related. It is common in individuals that sit at a computer or drive for long periods of time. What happens is the upper traps and neck region become overused and the muscles become tight and sore. This overuse is related to poor postural positions as well as problems with the way muscles are functioning. The middle back becomes weak around the shoulder blades resulting in the upper traps to work harder and become tight. This tension is also associated with shoulder function as well.

Here is a video of some upper trap stretches and some positioning exercises to help relieve the extra tension on those upper traps.

Posted under Exercise Tips, Golf Injuries

More and more research is being done specifically looking at how to improve golf performance. I want to briefly discuss one that was published this year regarding the correlation between physical conditioning and golf performance.

The study was published in the May issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. The authors Greg Wells, Maryam Elmi and Scott Thomas titled the research the Physiological Correlates of Golf.

The subjects tested were 9 women and 15 men, all memebers of the Canadian National Golf Team. The physiological characteristics tested were balance, flexibility, core strength, peripheral strength, power, and cardiovascular function. The golf performance factors were ball speed and ball distance using both a driver and a 5-iron. As wells as statistical performance during tournaments. These were mean score, mean number of greens reached in regulation, average putt distance after a chip shot and sand shot, and the number of putts per round.

It is not feasible to describe how each physiological characteristic was tested but there were clear results demonstrating the importance of physical training for golf performance.

One of these results was that women golfers with greater dominant side abdominal strength had longer drives. Additionally core strength and stability in both men and women was found to be important with short game effectiveness. In terms of flexibility, a positive correlation was found between sit and reach flexibility and scoring average. Good balance was found to improve the execution of shots from the fairway and rough as a golfer is approaching the green. It was also found that leg power, upper body strength and arm strength, were all correlated to driving distance and total score.

This study clearly shows the benefits of physical training and conditioning as it relates to golf shot distance and specific performance statistics. It also shows different trends between men and women golfers which indicates the need for sex specific training.

For those of you with an interest in research I suggest you take a look at this study in more detail. It is posted on my website under resources and published research.

Best of luck in you training!

Posted under Golf research

This exercise is great for anyone that can’t touch their toes. Touching your toes is a basic forward bending pattern and gives you information regarding your hamstring flexibility, your hip mobility and posterior weight shifting ability. Problems with toe touching may not be all about hamstring tightness. That is why having a golf fitness professional screen your movement patterns can save you valuable time in finding what works for improving flexibility.

Some key points to remember when doing this exercise are:
- keep your feet together
- start with the arms extended high and return to the extended position
- crush the object between your knees
- if you can’t keep the knees straight then let them bend because it will help re-train the motor pattern

Watch this video several times to make sure you have the correct technique. Also perform 10 reps in each foot position and do it every day. Good luck!

Posted under Exercise Tips, Exercise Videos

Here is another flexibility exercise that will help improve those tight hamstrings. This is an active or dynamic type of movement that calls upon trunk stability for correct execution. This is also more advanced than the previous one, so make sure you are able to keep the knee straight and foot pulled back. If you can’t then stay with the wall assisted stretch a little longer. Good Luck!

Posted under Exercise Tips, Exercise Videos

I have been busy working on and implementing a functional movement screen into my assessment of golfers. This functional movement screen was created by Gray Cook, a Physical Therapist and Strength Coach that has made a huge difference in athletes performance. More about this later.

What I want to do today is share the first of 3 exercises that I am using to help improve the flexibility and mobility of the hamstrings and hip. Gray has found much success with these as I have. Hamstring flexibility is important in all kinds of activities and often times can be difficult to improve. I pride myself in using various approaches in improving flexibility and mobility in my clients but really want to share these exercises.

This video here should be utilized first, and then as your flexibility improves you can move on to the next ones I will be sharing. So here you go!

Posted under Exercise Tips, Exercise Videos

Core training for golfers is topic that is discussed quite frequently. I believe it is essential to have a good understanding of the core and how you should approach exercise selection and training. The core is the muscular area that makes up the pelvic and abdominal region of the body. There are essentially hundreds of different exercises that focus in on the core area. You can do anything from muscle specific training we taught back pain patients, to medicine ball training, to Pilates. The bottom line is, we all need a core that functions correctly and has strength, and endurance.

The importance of a correctly functioning core is, that we need it for all other movements our body goes through. It helps direct functional movement patterns by controlling and transferring forces through the body.

Now when it comes to the golf swing this is the key point. A golfer needs to have control of their core and the ability to stabilize in the correct sequence of the swing. What this does, is allow the energy develop in the backswing (coil) to be transferred through the body during the downswing and follow-through (uncoil). The golf swing is essentially the loading and unloading of energy to be imparted to the golf ball.

Here are 2 exercises that first must be mastered before you do more complex or dynamic core training. good luck!

Posted under Exercise Tips, Exercise Videos

I was talking with one of my golf clients a few days ago and she explained that her teaching professional asked if she was tight through her upper back. She told him no and explained that I found that she had good flexibility with her shoulder turn. So the teaching professional simply asked if she could turn a little farther while staying in a good position. She tried it and of course she could, because she has the flexibility/mobility. What then happened was she hit balls while turning more and they were going much farther. Simply put she was able to hit farther with that greater shoulder turn.

Now I know that many people lack this flexibility/mobility in the upper back, as well as the stability through the pelvis that is needed in the backswing. So here is an exercise that helps work on both mobility and stability specific to the backswing. Give it a try!

Posted under Exercise Tips, Exercise Videos

Here are a few more golf specific exercises to help improve the strength and stability in the hips. Improved stability will help correct the slide and sway many golfers have in their golf swing.

Posted under Exercise Tips, Swing Faults