There’s a general misconception about golf as a sport that demands low physical activity. However, there are actually quite a few injuries that can happen when playing golf as a result of the number of physical activities that players perform.
Like most athletes, golfers are prone to some aches, especially in areas like the shoulders, neck, elbows, hips, wrists, back pelvis, knees, and ankles. Most of the injuries are commonly caused due to over repetition of golf motion. Which is going back and forth and doing the same thing over and over again. The repeated motion ends up causing a lot of stress on the tendons, the joints, and the bones.
Since, it’s always better to prevent problems from happening in the first place, in this blog we’ll focus on important steps that you can take to protect yourself, prevent golf injuries and enjoy more time on the course.
Warm Up
Let’s begin with the obvious- warm up. Before you hit any golf shot, do a quick warm up even if it’s just for a few minutes. You need to mobilize your muscles and joints and get the blood pumping through your system before making those powerful swings. A set of simple warm routines or even a few stretches will make a big difference in keeping your body healthy and preventing injuries.
Keep Your Grip Light And Relax
Tension is a big cause of a lot of golf injuries, typically tension in the grip. The difference between the pro golfers and beginner golfers is the freedom of motion that they have during the golf swing. Pro golfers make any swing look easy and that’s because they are more relaxed over their golf ball.
So, grip pressure is definitely an important factor to focus on. If you are hanging on your superstroke grips really tightly, then that’s going to increase the chance of injury at impact or just from the golf swing itself. You may experience finger stiffness, which may work up into the wrist in the elbows, and into the shoulders and neck.
Because we hang onto our golf club at the time of impact, the harder you hit the ball, the more impact your body is going to feel through the swings. So, it makes sense, to keep our grip pressure nice and light. And by that, it doesn’t mean the grip should be loose. It should be firm enough and at the same time light enough that allows you to have control of the go. By being more relaxed over the golf ball, you’ll not only swing better and faster but also reduce the chance of golf injuries.
Mobilize Your Posture
Many players have this postural characteristic of sticking their bottom out and creating too much arch in their lower back in the setup position. This is commonly called the S posture. Creating this excessive curvature in the lower back puts high stress on the lower back muscles. This reduces mobility in the golf swing and increases the chance of injury.
While everyone has a little bit of curvature of the spine, you want to find a middle ground and even position to protect your lower back. Tuck your tailbone underneath and keep the lower back flat and straight, rather than curved. This will help you have that neutral sign spine position. This will help alleviate the pressure in that area and allow you to make that nice full shoulder turn without stressing your spine.
Interested in improving your game? Learn more about golf techniques and equipment at Monarkgolf.
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