36
SPORTS
Week of November 2 - November 8, 2012
How to Keep Your Golf Game Sharp This Winter by Michael LaPolla From Saratoga Health & Wellness Center Presently, more than 25 million Americans play golf, a number which is projected to more than double in eight years, according to the World Golf Foundation. 83 percent of golfers are over the age of 40, with the average golfer age at just under 60 years old. It’s a sport that can truly be done for a lifetime. I’m a huge proponent of lifetime sports and activities, because they give people purpose for staying healthy and an excuse, if you will, for exercising. We became interested in golf at Saratoga Health & Wellness a few years ago because of the large number of our clients who participate in the sport. We’re always being
asked about exercises that can help our clients’ golf game. We researched and eventually became extremely interested in the Titleist Performance Institute and their approach to exercise prescription and fitness planning for the sport of golf. It’s led us down a road over the years that has not only helped us tremendously with our golfers, but with anyone wishing to move better and more efficiently. Golf requires a specific skill set in order to hit that little white ball farther, straighter and more accurately. For many, it’s frustrating as much as it is fun and enjoyable. When we look at golf from the perspective of exercise and performance improvement we’ve come to realize the following: Your golf swing is limited by what your body can physically do. More simply stated, if golf requires a certain
movement pattern and you can’t go through that movement pattern, because of some physical limitation, then you will compensate somehow. Compensation is a fancy word which usually means making unintended movements which can lead to unintended shots and perhaps unintended injuries.
Joint Mobility In order to hit a ball accurately there are a few prerequisites. First of all, we need adequate mobility. Many people confuse muscular flexibility with joint mobility. We care about joint mobility, because it is a little more encompassing. Adequate joint mobility comes from both flexible muscles surrounding the joint and adequate joint capsule range of motion. As an example, reduced range of motion at the hip joint can arise from either tight muscles or joint capsule restriction. Our job is to appreciate which joint may be limiting your swing. Once we identify a mobility issue, we can address it with a combination of muscular flexibility and joint mobility exercises. On the continuum of what’s important in golf, I would have to say that joint mobility is perhaps one of the most important and probably the least frequently worked on. If you lack the ability to adequately move through a full golf swing range of motion then you’ll probably compensate and lose your posture, quite likely leading to decreased accuracy, limited power and potentially injury.
Stability What is stability? Over the years, stability, and specifically core stability has become quite a buzzword, and is often misunderstood. Muscles can contract to either a) cause movement, or to b) anchor body segments to prevent movement. Stability is the latter and is simply the contraction of a set of muscles in order to prevent movement in a certain segment of the body. Usually you’ll have synergy where one segment is stable, and the other segment moves while attached to that anchored segment. Let’s look at an example in the golf swing: As you begin your downswing, the muscles which attach to your pelvis contract forcefully to anchor it, thereby keeping it stable. Consequently, your strong upper and mid-torso muscles contract
forcefully being able to initiate a forceful rotation while your pelvis remains stationary. In this case, your glutes help to stabilize your pelvis to provide the stable platform for your strong obliques which cause rotation. This leads me to another really important concept when it comes to golf and it is a key to the Titleist Performance Institutes’ philosophy as first noted by Mike Boyle and Gray Cook: “The body works in an alternating pattern of stable segments connected by mobile joints. If this pattern is altered-dysfunction and compensation will occur” Here’s the normal pattern: - Foot - Stable - Ankle - Mobile - Knee - Stable - Hip - Mobile - Pelvis - Stable - Thoracic Spine - Mobile - Scapulo -Thoracic- Stable - Shoulder - Mobile - Elbow - Stable - Wrist - Mobile - Cervical Spine - Stable If you have a break-down in any of the above-mentioned segments, you’re going to have some issues. It could be pain or it could just be a lousy shot into the woods. This is all good, but what can you do now that you understand the importance of being able to move adequately? At Saratoga Health & Wellness we perform a comprehensive movement screening to determine where you are physically limited. Essentially, we like to say that we’re looking for the ‘white elephant’. Are your glutes weak? Are your hamstrings tight? Are you able to squat down while keeping your heels on the ground? Are your calves too tight? How much thoracic rotation do you have? Are you able to tilt your pelvis back and
forth? Can you do a full push up while keeping your body in a ‘plank’ position? The Titleist Performance Institute has a super website at www.mytpi.com where you can find great information about the movement screen that I’m discussing. Many people can perform parts of this screen on themselves to get an idea of where they might be limited. And perhaps better yet, try to find someone locally that is TPI-certified and get screened yourself. Armed with knowledge, it’ll make for a great golf off-season where you can work on those weaknesses. A little tip that works for many of our golfers is to work first on mobility (improved range of motion), and then stability and lastly, strength. In future articles I’ll describe some of the screens and give more specific information on ways to improve mobility and stability. In the meantime, if you have any questions about this article or about golf-fitness in general, get in touch with us. We’re happy to consult just let us know you read this article! Enjoy the winter and keep moving!
Michael Lapolla is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as an Exercise Specialist and owns Saratoga Health & Wellness (Locals choice award winner, Best fitness facility, 2012). Michael and his college-degreed staff design custom exercise programs for a wide range of clients. You may contact the team at SH&W at (518) 306-6987 or on the web at saratogahealthandwellness.com