3 Alternative Methods To Improve Your Golf Swing!
Golf is an extremely popular sport in the UK and with almost 1900 registered golf courses it’s understandable why. Last year there were an estimated 975,000 golf participants across the nation playing as regularly as twice a month. If you’re one of them, you’ll understand why it’s such a relaxing and addicting sport. Even Samuel L Jackson has a clause in all his movie contracts which allows him to play golf twice a week.
With popular golfer Tiger woods gaining his first hole in one at the age of 8, when are you going to experience this high (Maybe you already have), but the real question all of us golf enthusiasts ask ourselves is, how can we get better?
(Don’t be so hard on yourself, there’s approximately a 1/12500 of getting a whole in won)
In this article we’re going to look at 3 alternative methods for improving your golfing abilities and the reasons as to why and how they can help us improve.
Yoga
Yoga is a form of exercise that has been performed for thousands of years and with approximately 20 – 30,000 classes each week in the UK alone we can see how popular this type of exercise is. But how can this improve my golf I hear you say?
The art of yoga focuses on various poses, postures, and movements as well as deep breathing and moments of silence. (Depending on the type of yoga and the instructor) When performed regularly the movements in yoga can help to increase a golfer’s flexibility and movement throughout a golf swing. If your golf swing isn’t getting the full range of motion then it is most certainly not as effective as it can be. Regular yoga can help to ease that restriction, increase flexibility, relax your mind (so you don’t get frustrated every time you end up in the bunker), and overall improve the movement of your golf swing. Not only can yoga leave you feeling great, but it can also help with injuries, pain and discomfort. (Seek professional advice if injured)
There are lots of great yoga instructors on YouTube so this is very easy to incorporate, even with time restraints. A personal favourite yoga instructor of mine is Sarah Beth. Check her out.
Sports massage
Sports massage is a type of massage which uses specific techniques that target the muscles and ailments that athletes and sports enthusiasts get. A sports massage therapist tends to have a greater anatomy of the human body in comparison to your average massage therapist.
Through the use of our muscles in any sport, individuals tend to develop muscular restrictions, tightness, muscular knots, and wear and tear. When we relate this to golf, the shoulders and elbows are common areas where golfers may suffer some discomfort, tightness, or restriction when trying to achieve their optimum golf swing.
The rotator cuff muscles are a big part of the golf swing and having a sports massage therapist break down the muscular knots and restrictions within this area can really add to the movement and power of your golf swing.
Several PGA tour pros such as Justin Rose, Luke Donald and Rickie Fowler are a few names among top golfers who use sports massage to aid with their training and golfing performance. If you want to take this golf hobby seriously, seeing a sports massage therapist is definitely worth considering!
Improve your core strength
I’m sure you’ve heard the term “core strength” and it’s something that most of us tend to know about but often spend very little time improving it.
For those that aren’t sure, core strength refers to the muscles that allow you to maintain stable positioning in difficult or challenging postures. The plank is a fantastic example of a core stability exercise.
So how can improving your core strength improve your golf swing?
Throughout your golf swing it is your core stability that is aiding to keep you stable as you go through the motion and hit the ball. Without a strong core you can lose stability and your golf swing will be impacted.
Here’s a funny YouTube video of someone with no core stability. I’m sure you don’t want to end up like this guy!
If this is you. It may be your core strength that is contributing to your poor golf swing, it may be the restriction in your shoulders and upper back or golf may just not be the sport for you!
However, don’t let this blog dishearten you. If you take the three steps above, you’ll more than likely be that little bit closer to improving your golf swing.