Golfer specific exercises make a difference

By
Updated: February 2, 2022

With a new year comes new off-season goals for golf enthusiasts everywhere. Wintertime is the best time to better your game and working with a golf instructor to create a more balanced and reproducible golf swing can lower your scores in the upcoming golf season. Valuable information about your swing can be found by using a flight simulator where ball contact, spin, and clubhead speed can be measured. Common problems include flat shoulder plane, excessive slide, and swinging over the top. 

The off-season is also a great opportunity to make improvements in fitness, flexibility, and strength. Generally, this is a very healthy thing to do and can improve your golf game to some extent. It’s rare however, for generalized fitness to lower a golfer’s handicap.  This is where not only golf specific, but golfer specific exercises make the difference. Golfer specific exercises will target your individual physical limitations which when present, make it difficult for you to correct your swing and lower your scores.  

The swing faults listed above are often the result of your bodies physical limitations to perform the golf swing.  As a certified Titleist Performance Institute medical provider, it’s my job to understand your swing defaults and then determine what treatment, stretches and exercises are going to allow you to better your swing and lower your scores. This is why competitive golfers around the country are working with TPI certified providers.  

Below is a list of common swing challenges and their associated physical limitations that plague us as golfers.    

Flat Shoulder Plane:  A flat shoulder swing describes the plane of the shoulders when a golfer turns to the top of their backswing.  When this angle becomes more horizontal contact and power are compromised.  Golfers who do this often have restricted spinal joint mobility and short/tight back muscles that inhibit their ability to make a full body turn and keep the shoulders on plane.  This lack of joint mobility causes them to “come out of their posture” or to have a “flat shoulder plane.” 

Proper Backswing Position with normal joint and muscle flexibility.

In this picture, the golfer is unable to rotate around their middle back region, so they must flatten their shoulder plane or angle in order to make a full swing

A common exercise that I find helps most golfers with this issue is the Open Book Exercise:  

• Start in a half-kneeling position with a foam roller against a wall and your outside knee bent

• With your arms in front of you, open your arms and chest until you feel a stretch in the front of the shoulder and in your middle back

• Keeping pressure with the foam roller on the outside leg allows you to isolate the middle back region.

• Repeat for 8-10 times for 2-3 sets

Dr. Ryan Gutz D.C works in Downtown Seattle at Graham Rehabilitation and Wellness. He also works with members of the Washington Athletic Club. To get a video version of these exercises, plus additional exercises/content text “golf” to 712-660-0646.