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The first step to avoiding early-season back and shoulder injuries

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After a long winter, mother nature is finally cooperating with our golfing needs. It’s finally warm here in the Northern states, meaning it’s time to get back on the course. But remember, YOU’VE BEEN SITTING AROUND THE LAST 5 MONTHS READING ABOUT AND WATCHING GOLF! Even if you were proactive and utilized the off-season working out and getting in shape, you probably didn’t move in a pattern that resembles your golf swing.

For the couch potatoes, or anyone coming out of the off-season, a proper warm-up is vital. Why? First, because your muscles have been in a dormant state; they need to warm up and increase in an elastic manner (gently so you don’t pull or tear a muscle). Second, your core needs more time to loosen up and provide proper contraction of the muscles to fire properly during the swing. This will allow your swing to sequence properly from the ground up.

By warming up properly, you will also be able to reduce your chances of the two most common golf-related injuries: Shoulder and lower back injuries.

[quote_box_center]”Low back pain is the most common injury or complaint among both professional and amateur golfers, followed by injuries to the upper extremities (elbow and shoulder),” according to an article by American Orthopedic Society for Sports. “Warming up before golfing has been shown to decrease the incidence of golf injuries. One survey showed that over 80 percent of golfers spent less than 10 minutes warming up before a round. Those who did warm up had less than half the incidence of injuries of those who did not warm up before playing. Lower handicap and professional golfers were more than twice as likely to warm up for more than 10 minutes as compared to other golfers.”[/quote_box_center]

So how do these injuries occur? Shoulder injuries occur because the muscles and tendons are not prepared to move in a full range of motion at a high speed. The biggest issue is repeated rotation that is typical beyond the range of motion of the shoulder girdle — like a golf swing. This stress will eventually cause the tendons in the shoulder to become overused and inflamed, which could lead to either tendinitis, or a pull/tear, which can happen in either one or all three tendons in the shoulder.

Lower back injuries can occur because of weak core muscles, and the core takes on a ton of energy transfer from ground-up force in a golf swing. It’s the bridge between the ground and the club face for energy transfer. By warming up the core muscles properly, you’ll activate the muscles that have the important job of helping you to maintain spine angle throughout the golf swing — especially at impact where it really counts.

Now that the season is underway and you’ll be spending most of your free time practicing and playing, do not neglect the exercises that will maintain a strong, flexible body to reduce the possibility of injury.

Here are few of my favorite exercises that you can use before your round or practice session to help increase your range of motion. If you spend 5-to-15 minutes doing this warmup, your body and scorecard will both appreciate your effort.

Equipment used: Activmotion Bar, a golf club and Versa 8 resistance bands.

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Dave is the owner of Pro Fitness Golf Performance in Walled Lake, Mich. He's certified Level 2 Titleist Performance Golf Fitness instructor, K-Vest 3D-TPI biomechanics specialist and a certified USA weightlifting Instructor. He's also a Wilson Golf Advisory Staff Member. As a specialist and leading provider of golf-performance conditioning, Davis takes pride in offering golf biomechanics assessments and strength and conditioning training. His philosophy focusing on two things: the uniqueness of each individual and creating a functional training environment that will be conducive and productive to enhance a positive change. He is dedicated to serving the needs of his customers each and every day. Website: www.pgfperformance.com Email: [email protected]

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. The Birdman

    May 13, 2015 at 11:45 pm

    I would like to have seen some stretches/exercises for the obliques. I always do side bends to stretch them and some times they still get sore.

    • NotSoFast

      May 17, 2015 at 10:51 am

      Try doing side planks to strengthen the obliques but don’t neglect the abs so also do the prone plank and while you’re prone do the superman for the lower back. Simple, effective, and require nothing but a little space on the floor. The verticle arm over head side bend is a good oblique stretch but don’t bounce or pulse into it. Also on the floor from the hands under shoulders and knees over hips (cats and dogs) position extend an arm forward and slightly reach across toward the opposite side. Lower the hand to the floor and then keeping the hand in place gently sit back with a slight leaning away of the extended arm side. This stretch should be felt through the lat and into the oblique. Good luck.

  2. NotSoFast

    May 10, 2015 at 11:48 am

    Dave,
    As usual great article. My issue is with sacroiliac dysfunction. Do you or any of your readers have experience or knowledge of anyone who had sacroiliac fusion and can comment on their ability to swing freely post procedure?
    Thanks

  3. Bigcat

    May 6, 2015 at 9:59 pm

    This article hit the spot I’ve been looking for a good warm-up routine to help my upper and lower back.

  4. Scott

    May 6, 2015 at 8:24 am

    Thanks. I really enjoy these types of articles.

  5. J. Evans

    May 5, 2015 at 9:08 pm

    Dave, really good warm-up routine, something I can incorporate right away, and way better than what I’ve been doing so far, thanks.

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Instruction

The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic

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My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.

As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.

The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.

Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply.  Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:

Mis-aligned hands

By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.

The position of the grip in the upper/left hand

I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean.  Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.

To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.

Too much lower (right) hand on the club

It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.

Gripping too tightly

Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.

So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.

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Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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