WNiF Magazine - Winter 2015 Edition | Page 36

By following a carefully-designed exercise program that conditions the golfer specifically for the game, the risk of injury may be reduced. Additionally, a golfer already suffering from an injury will have much greater success returning to the game if his/her program addresses the underlying cause of the injury. Factors that determine the flight and destination of the ball include: • club face alignment • swing path • angle of impact • speed • sweet spot What golf pros don’t generally know and, therefore, do not tell you is that there are physical prerequisites that accurately and consistently enable the player to meet the above five factors. And no matter how far technology has come, it cannot give a golfer any physical capacity that he/she does not possess – clubs don’t play the game, the golfer does! To further understand this concept, consider the fact that when the brain controls these muscles it does not think in terms of individual muscles. Rather, the brain recruits groups of muscles in uniquely programmed sequences. Any effective exercise program that is designed to improve function in an athlete, specifically in golfers must, therefore, be designed to integrate the body. Achieving this requires consideration of five key components: 1. Flexibility 2. Maintenance of your centre of gravity 3. Generalised motor program development 4. Exercise selection 5. Promotion of good posture. 1. Flexibility To determine which stretches/techniques will be best for you, the required ranges of motion (ROM) of specific joints must be known. The specific requirements of the game must be compared against your own ROM, so the exact stretches you need can be done. Using general stretches often results in excessive ROM in hypermobile joints, and continued restriction at hypomobile joints. 36 2. Maintenance of your centre of gravity (CG) Like most sports, golf is played under the influence of gravity in a threedimensional and unstable environment. If the exercises in your program do not contribute to, or directly enhance your ability to maintain the centre of gravity over your base of support (feet), the functional carry over is probably minimal. For example, a sport/work/ activity where you need to squat (like most sports) is not enhanced by using leg press and knee extension exercises. Therefore, this exercise would not enhance function for sports performance. Golf is a highly technical sport, which not only requires maintaining your centre of gravity over your support base at all times. It is also a sport of repetitive explosive actions, where the explosive efforts in golf are directed at a small hole in the ground, as far as 500 or more metres away. • In ideal posture there exists optimal length-tension relationships between all muscles. • Ideal posture encourages the maintenance of optimal joint motion. • Poor posture represents faulty alignment of joints. • by conditioning specialists. Before starting any training program, posture must be evaluated and corrective measures taken as needed. Failure to do so will certainly encourage premature breakdown of your musculoskeletal system. Consider the following: Movements that begin with and end in poor posture, create muscle imbalance, which may contribute to shortening recreational, occupational and athletic careers. From a posture perspective, a golf swing involves all muscles and joints. Considering kinesiology and biomechanics, it