It's no secret that golf is bad for your body. With all of the injuries occurring in golf today, that's pretty easy to see. No one has perfected the golf swing (feel free to argue for Ben Hogan), but we can definitely improve our setup.
Not
many people agree on the golf swing in general, but we can all agree it
is bad for your spine. Players like Adam Scott with his textbook
posture are able to remain relatively injury-free, and you should be
able to as well.
Let's
talk thoracic rotation for a bit. Not exactly the first body part you
think of when you're thinking rotation. Dustin Johnson has the most
thoracic mobility of all time which is why he's the longest hitter on
tour.
He
doesn't stand as tall as Scott, but DJ still stands pretty tall at
address. When we stand taller and try to maintain the God-given curves
of our spine we are able to move bio-mechanically and fundamentally
sound.
When
we keep the lordotic curve in our lumbar spine, fight gravity with our
thoracic spine and keep our cervical spine's lordotic curvature, not
only do we allow for more rotation, but we also get proper rotation throughout the entire spine. In short, the taller you stand the more thoracic rotation you have.
I'm
obviously a huge fan of mobility in the right places. The area that
everyone could all use some improvement with mobility on (not just
golfers) is the oh-so-important thoracic spine (so I trust all of you
are getting adjusted regularly and doing your mobility exercises).
We
talked about fighting gravity earlier and I know most of you reading
this are probably sitting which is putting a great deal of stress on
your thoracic spine. Sitting also decreases your natural lordosis in
your lumbar and cervical spine.
If
you're reading this while standing go ahead and raise your head up from
that forward flexed position please. If you're reading this while
laying on your back, just stop. If you are laying prone and reading
this, good job practicing tummy time.
Sitting
is the new smoking. So if you have to sit at work, you would be wise to
invest in a standing work station. If you are unable to get a standing
work station, please get up and move around every 45 minutes to an hour.
You are wrecking your spine by sitting too long and too often.
Doing this all day Monday through Friday and
then going to play golf all weekend is asking for pain and injury. This is why my
junior golfers shouldn't sit on their iPads all day during free time.
Movement is training. Be active.
Let's
get back to golf in closing. When you're on the range, just keep your
mental picture of Adam Scott's posture. The picture below should help in
understading the curves of the spine (credit: http://www.
Below the picture is a checklist for next time you're on the range.
- Stand up straight before you begin to setup to the ball
- Maintain lordosis of your lumbar spine
- Have your thoracic spine and cervical spine as straight as you can
- Stand as tall as possible with your knees flexed in an athletic position
- Stretch to the ball while standing tall
- Rotate your shoulders as far as possible on the way back (another Hogan reference)
- Once you've reached the top of your swing, make sure your pelvis is initiating the downswing
- As you fire your pelvis through make sure you're doing so aggressively (Hogan, again)
- Allow your upper body to react to this motion naturally (your arms should feel like whips attached to your shoulders)
- Finish with confidence
Dr. Brian Mann, ART, FDM, Nike NG360
