Golf stretching exercises to improve flexibility

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Golf stretching exercises are a fundamental component in a golf swing improvement program, and they are integral in any golf fitness regime. At the professional level of golf on the PGA TOUR, players know that flexibility is required to execute the golf swing and, as a result, they adhere to a golf fitness program that incorporates a comprehensive set of golf stretching exercises.

Cat in the wheel

At the amateur level of golf, many golfers are aware that flexibility is important when it comes to the golf swing. Unfortunately, many amateurs are uncertain about the exact benefits of golf stretching exercises, what the best flexibility exercises are to perform for the golf swing, and the actual guidelines for the implementation of golf stretching exercises into a comprehensive golf swing improvement program.

Because many amateurs have these questions, this series of articles has been created to address these fundamental concepts of golf stretching exercises. We'll also provide the amateur player a golf specific stretching program. Prior to the introduction of additional golf stretching exercises into the golf flexibility program, let's first review the fundamental concepts of flexibility training for golf.

First, we must understand that a fundamentally sound golf swing requires the golf club to move through a large range of motion. In order for the golfer to achieve this requirement of the golf swing, certain levels of mobility and flexibility are required from the body. If the body is lacking these base levels of mobility and flexibility, the ability to draw the golf club through the required ranges of motion of the swing will be limited, thus resulting in a series of compensations within the biomechanics of the golf swing.

Cat in the wheel

The second component to understand relative to golf stretching exercises is what muscles and joints of the body require flexibility for the golf swing. It would be incorrect to assume every muscle, ligament, and joint in the body requires high levels of flexibility to execute the golf swing. Research indicates certain joints and musculature structures within the body require high levels of flexibility for the golf swing where other joints require less. To determine which muscles and joints require high levels of flexibility for the golf swing, we can refer to the mobility/stability pattern of human movement.

The mobility/stability pattern of human movement indicates that, in order for efficient movement of the body to occur within the golf swing, certain joints must be mobile and other joints stable. Joints requiring mobility for the golf swing necessitate the musculature surrounding these joints to be flexible. If these muscles are "tight" and not flexible, the corresponding joint will lack mobility, thus negatively affecting the golf swing.

Relative to the golf swing, joints requiring mobility are the ankle, hip, thoracic spine (upper back), shoulder, and wrist. As a result, a comprehensive flexibility program for golf will address the muscles associated with the aforementioned joints with a series of golf stretching exercises.

The final piece of information to address relative to flexibility training for golf is when to perform golf specific stretches. Golf stretching exercises should ideally be performed pre-round, post-round, and on non-playing days. Each of these programs takes approximately 10 minutes to complete, and as result makes such a stretching program realistic for most any golfer to perform.

At this point we have an understanding of the importance of golf stretching exercises and the guidelines for the implementation of such a training program. We now can turn our attention to adding an additional exercise to our post-round flexibility program. The exercise we will add to our post-round flexibility program at this juncture is the Cat-in-the-Wheel exercise. This exercise addresses the muscles of the lower back and thoracic spine.

Begin this exercise by placing both of your hands on the floor directly under the shoulders. Position both of your knees directly under the hips, eyes looking down, and back flat.

Once in the starting position of this exercise, begin by extending your lower back upward towards the ceiling by lifting the hips. Continue to arch the lower back until it is rounded. Slowly pull your hips backwards towards the heels, keeping the hands in place. Continue to pull the hips backwards until the glutes are resting on your heels. Hold this position for 30 seconds. Remember to keep the back rounded and hands in place throughout the entire exercise.

Golf stretching exercises are very beneficial in developing the required levels of flexibility for the golf swing. If limitations exist in terms of mobility or flexibility within the body, execution of a fundamentally sound golf swing can be hampered. To learn more about Sean Cochran and his golf fitness programs go to http://www.seancochran.com.