Improve Your Fitness & Your Game

THROUGH CONCIERGE AT-HOME PERSONAL TRAINING

Whether you are trying to break 100 for the first time or are gunning for the club championship, golf is a competitive sport. Golfers are always looking for that one thing that will give them the competitive advantage: golf clubs, golf balls, lessons with the pro, time at the driving range, Etc... There is one piece of equipment that is consistently overlooked and will give the biggest bang for the buck when it comes to improving your game. Your own body!

Golf is a complex sport that requires the body to function as one kinetic chain. When we swing a golf club, power is being generated by the entire body and passes through subsets of muscles on it’s way to the golf club. If any muscle within the chain is over-tight or not firing properly the chain is broken. The result is a loss of range of motion and power which leads to a less efficient swing and the potential for injury.

What causes some muscles to be over-tight and others not to fire properly? The simple answer is daily life. Here is one example.

Spending the day sitting; be it at a desk or in a car, causes the muscles in the front of our hips, Hip Flexors, to become tight and our butt muscles, Gluteus Maximus, to become inactive or weak. This leads to loss of range of motion, loss of strength, and potential injury. This is one of the reasons your lower back can feel tight or painful when standing up after sitting for a period of time. This is just one example, but the scenario can play out in our ankles, hips, shoulders or neck. What’s the solution? Identify the tight and inactive or weak muscles. The tight muscles need to be properly stretched and the weak muscles need to be strengthened. While you can certainly do this on your own, I recommend working with a professional personal trainer who specializes in corrective exercise. A professional trainer will be able to design a program that will help strengthen your body and improve proper movement. This will not only improve your golf game by improving your swing, it will improve your overall health and fitness.

Steven Hochman is a NCCA accredited, NASM Certified Personal Trainer, Corrective Exercise Specialist and Certified Nutrition Coach. He offers concierge at home personal training in the Fort Myers area. Consult with your doctor before beginning any fitness or nutrition program.