golfers Archives - Life Fit Wellness

Gearing Up for the Golf Season

Manager — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 18:05:08 +0000

By Emmet Kennedy, Chartered Physiotherapist

The start of the golf season will be here before you know it. Now is the time to start thinking about implementing physical strategies that can help you have a successful year.

Perhaps due to playing and practising less over the winter, you will have some more time to work on other physical aspects of golf. It would be useful to consider using this time to work on targeted exercise.

As you age you might find that you get stiffer and more restricted in your movement. Golf is a rotation-based activity. Most of the rotation in our golf swing comes through out hips and thoracic (middle part) spine. Keeping these areas mobile and flexible is key to maintaining a fluid swing. Doing simple mobility exercises a few times per week is enough to be effective.

There is a growing trend in the game towards distance and club head speed. A key component in generating good distance and speed is having adequate strength in our legs and ‘core’. A strengthening programme that targets these areas, done twice a week can see impressive improvements in 6 weeks. There is still time to see gains before the season kicks off!

Being mobile and string in the right areas can also make our bodies more robust in general and reduce the risk of picking up niggles and injuries during the season.

In the clinic we tend to see an increase in golf related injuries in the 1st couple of months after the season starts. This is typically due to overuse. The most common reason people get injured when returning to any sport or activity they haven’t done in a while is because of doing ‘too much, too soon’. There are ways we can mitigate that risk in golf;

Space out your return to play over a few weeks, build up how much you play gradually.
Continue to play and practice through the winter. This helps the body to avoid becoming ‘unaccustomed’ to the demands of golf.
As mentioned above, try to integrate a strength and mobility programme into your week.
Try to maintain general fitness. Don’t underestimate the fitness required to walk around a course for 4 hours and the impact that fatigue can have on performance and injury risk. If not playing regularly through the winter then try to stay fit with activity such as walking or jogging.

At Life Fit Wellness we have a number of services that can help you with your golf game, from Physiotherapy to address any injuries you have, and Pilates to help with golf conditioning, to Golf Screening to help identify physical impairments affecting your swing.

For further information about our services then please contact us at 01324 614044 or info@lifefitwellness.co.uk

Pilates for Golf

Manager — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 12:06:54 +0000

By Morven Murray, Chartered Physiotherapist and Pilates Instructor.

Ask some golfers what Pilates is and it may conjure up comments of – let’s face it -mainly women on mats trying to work their elusive “core”.

But ask those trained in Pilates about the benefits it can bring to sport – and in particular golf – they would say they are plentiful.

The biomechanics of the golf swing are complicated involving proper co-ordination of muscles, mobility, and force production. Almost all parts of the body are utilised in an efficient swing and having the optimal balance, strength and mobility in each area can be enhanced by Pilates practice.

So why should Golfers consider using Pilates to enhance their performance and enjoyment of the sport?

1. Spinal Mobility

Flexibility between shoulder and hip is paramount to an effective and efficient swing. The spine rotates multiple times during a round of golf. Pilates exercises can enhance spinal rotational as well as target shoulder and hip mobility deficits.

2. Core Strength

This is not just about your abs!

Your “core” is the muscles that act around your centre to stabilise your spine including your back muscles and deeper muscles of the spine. By improving the activation, strength and endurance of these muscles it can help force production from ground, to club, to ball.

Having a stronger, more resilient core may also help improve your golf posture, and reduce injuries to the spine.

3. Balance and Stability

One of the key elements of Pilates practice is correct alignment. Muscle imbalances, previous injuries and reduced general mobility can make proper alignment challenging.

We work on both stability AND flexibility within class to help ensure alignment is optimal.

At our Life Fit classes we also utilise small pieces of equipment to challenge muscles further to increase the benefit of each exercise, this also keeps things interesting from week to week! From poles to weights to magic circles we like to utilise different props to enhance both mobility and strength.

We also have the option of our Large Equipment Combo classes which add a different dynamic and challenge to the classical Pilates movements.

4. Mind/Body Connection

Both golf and Pilates require your mind to be connected to your body. The complexity of the swing means the more mindful you are with your movement the more effectively signals can be transmitted to each muscle group. In Pilates practice this is a concept we use with every exercise – strengthening the mind/body connection and thus creating good movement habits.

5. Injury Prevention

Golf is a very asymmetric sport which can lead to muscle imbalances in the lower limb and spine. These may lead to muscle tightness and potentially injury due to this. Pilates can help to address these imbalances and work your body as a whole. You may also become aware of these weaknesses when practicing which can allow you to target them more effectively before they lead to issues.

Prevention is always better than cure!

With all these benefits, there is only really one question – why wouldn’t you use Pilates to help improve your golf? Just ask Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam!

Classes now available Monday – Thursday at our Falkirk clinic and Tuesday and Thursday at our Kingsfield clinic.

Too much, too quick? Golfing after Lockdown

Manager — Fri, 21 Aug 2020 11:06:01 +0000

By Emmet Kennedy, Chartered Physiotherapist

I wrote a blog at the beginning of lockdown in March highlighting that most running related injuries are as a result of people doing ‘too much, too soon, too often’. This means asking the body to handle more running demand than it is capable of dealing with, without adequate recovery, resulting in cumulative strain leading to tissue damage. The same issues apply to golf injuries…

The majority of golf injuries are as a consequence of overuse and cumulative strain not from an acute one off incident. Golf facilities have been open after lockdown for a couple of months and it is now that we are starting to see some issues crop up as a consequence of that. Understandably people have been very keen to play given the long layoff. Spells of good weather, long evenings and perhaps the furlough scheme have also afforded people more opportunity and time to play. This situation has meant that some people have maybe played much more golf than they would have in the past, after a spell of not playing at all. This is a scenario that is high risk for picking up an injury.

Most golf injuries we see are lower back related (up to 50%). Playing golf with a sore back is not fun and enjoyment is one of the key reasons that we play. Back pain can also significantly impact on the rest of our day to day life. The last thing we want is to play loads of golf in a short spell, get injured and then miss a large chunk of the rest of the year.

Here are some tips and strategies you can use to mitigate the risk of getting injured and to help if you are currently in pain;

• Track the number of balls you hit in a week and try to avoid large spikes in that number over the following weeks. We use a 10% increase in running mileage for runners, consider a 10% increase in number of balls hit for golf.

• Warm-up. Most golfers don’t perform a suitable warm up. 10 minutes of simple exercises may reduce your injury risk but also improve your performance in terms of club head speed.

• Undertaking 20-30 minutes of trunk/ hip mobility and core/ leg strengthening exercise up to twice a week may half your risk for picking up a golf injury.

• Have 2 days off a week as a minimum from playing golf or hitting balls to give your body appropriate recovery time.

• When practising, limit the number of explosive/ high force shots (e.g. driver) you hit and instead have more focus on wedge play and putting.

• Try to have a baseline level of fitness. Spending a number of hours on your feet is not to be underestimated and the fitter you are the more robust your body will be.

• In our experience, golfers can benefit greatly from Pilates based strengthening and mobility exercise. We currently have an extensive timetable of online Pilates classes and are offering a free 1:1 induction.

Our clinic at Kingsfield Golf Centre has now reopened, so if you would like to discuss an issue you have then please do not hesitate to get in contact. If you would like to know more information about the services we offer in general then the website is a useful resource. One thing I’d like to highlight in particular is our new booking system, which makes making an appointment or booking classes easier than ever before https://lifefitwellness.connect.tm3app.com.

Managing Back Pain in Golfers

Manager — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 12:47:19 +0000

Lower back pain is the most common complaint that we manage in the clinic and is by far the most common injury that golfers suffer from. There are estimates that up to 50% of golfers will suffer from back pain and that back pain accounts for approximately 25% of all golf injuries. Given the popularity of the sport, this means a lot of golfers are in pain. Far from ideal as there is no one as unhappy as a golfer who is unable to play!

What are the causes of back pain in golfers? Although the source of the pain might be coming from the back the cause can be elsewhere. This means that the lower back is being strained as a consequence of something else. Some common contributing factors are a lack of flexibility in the hips and back, reduced control of the pelvis and poor technique.

Golf is obviously a sport that requires a lot of rotational movement and force. Most of this rotation should come from the hips and thoracic spine (middle part of our back). Due to the anatomy of the lower back it is primarily designed to flex and extend and not rotate. If you are restricted in your hip or thoracic spine this can increase the strain on the lower back, which can lead to pain developing. Similarly, if you lack ability to control and stabilise your pelvis while swinging this can also excessively increase the stress on your lower back. The lack of control commonly comes from a weakness of the glute and abdominal muscles. Poor technique could also play a role in the lower back being overworked. It is possible to pick up bad habits, especially if we are self-taught. If you think your technique might be an issue then it would be worth seeking the advice of your local golf pro.

If you are currently suffering from back pain then it would be worth seeking physiotherapy input to identify the cause of the problem and to find ways to reduce your symptoms. You might also need to temporarily rest from provocative activities to facilitate recovery. In order to reduce your risk for getting back pain then doing a programme of hip/ spine flexibility and core/ pelvis strengthening exercises would be useful. We don’t need to be like Rory McIlroy and hit the gym everyday but spending 45 minutes twice a week on this work would be enough.

Another helpful way to reduce injury risk is to watch you don’t start hitting an excessive number of balls compared to what you are used to, especially if you’ve had a break from playing (e.g. if you normally hit 100 balls a week at the range don’t suddenly ramp up to 200 a week). Doing too much too soon is a common situation that leads to injury. Build up more slowly and this gives your body time to adjust to the strain you’re putting on it.

Sticking with this advice won’t just reduce your risk for getting back pain but it might also help your performance out on the course! At Life Fit we have physiotherapists who are expert in managing back pain and we run a ‘Fit for Golf’ class during winter months to help target some of the areas mentioned above.

Emmet Kennedy, Chartered Physiotherapist.