Physical Fitness plays a bigger role in golf today than it has in the past. We all wondered why Tiger Woods hit the  scene with such great impact, it’s because he is an Athlete. Tiger Woods transformed the game of golf into a sport. He is a great example of why fitness is important in golf. Physical Fitness allows a golfer to develop strength, flexibility, balance, range of motion and endurance. Your body needs strength to stabilize itself during the swing whilst also generating power into the ball. Flexibility is important especially during the golf posture – at address and dynamically throughout the swing. Balance is required for stability of the body with the ground, think about it, your feet are in one position from address through impact, if you do not have proper contact with your feet and the ground, your golf swing from address through impact will not be as steady as it should be. You need the balance for your body to move at such great speeds while swinging. Good range of motion at the joints is important because during the golf swing we are using our joints till their end range of motion – lack of range of motion at joints will cause compensation of other body parts which puts them at a risk for injury. Endurance… Why endurance?
Endurance is important because unlike most other sports, a round of golf takes about 4 – 5 hours. Your body needs to be able to function optimally for those 4 – 5 hours, walking and hitting the ball. As your body gets tired – performance levels decrease.

THE PRE-INJURY /FITNESS SCREEN

The Pre-Injury / Fitness Screening is a screening tool used by health care professionals.
The golf specific screen in particular has been developed by researchers at the Titleist Performance Institute to understand how a golfers body moves. The screen consists of about 12 simple movements / exercises that an individual performs, and takes about 20 – 30 minutes to complete. During the screen we look to see:
1) Whether or not you have pain with any movements
2) The quality of the movements

The screen looks to identify –
1) Strength in various muscle groups
2) Balance
3) Range of motion at various joints
4) Muscular Flexibility

The pre-injury / fitness screening is a great technique for golfers to understand how their body works and if they are putting themselves at a risk of injury. Most if not all golfers that I have come across hate to be told that they should stop playing because of injury. This is a great way to try to prevent ever being told “stop playing, or you’re going to hurt yourself”. Having physical limitations is not the end of the world. There are ways to over come them, with simple exercises or seeking the advice of a professional. Developing physical fitness is beneficial for a golfer to play better golf and to play for a longer time with reducing the risk of injury.

Phera Jai,  AT.C
Certified Golf Fitness Instructior – Titleist Performance Institute
Certified K-Vest Instruction – K-Motion Interactive
DORN Method Practitioner
Certified in Kinesiology Taping
Total Golf Solutionz Ltd.
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