We are pleased to announce that Sean Cochran, a nationally renowned golf fitness instructor and the personal golf fitness trainer to 2005 PGA Champion Phil Mickelson, has joined PGA.com as a fitness advisor. Cochran, who also has served as strength and conditioning coach for the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres major league baseball teams, will write a weekly fitness blog that will appear exclusively on PGA.com. He'll update it a couple of times a week, telling you about how to achieve better fitness, life on the road -- and in the gym -- with Lefty, plus answer your questions about fitness and how it can help you play better golf. More of Cochran's articles and his acclaimed fitness aids are available at his web site, www.bioforcegolf.com.
Lower Back Injury Prevention and the Steps to Take
We have previously discussed two factors relative to the lower back and the golf swing, which can induce a high rate or lower back injuries for those participating in the sport. The biomechanics of the golf swing place large amounts of stress upon the lower back. Stress can either decrease or increase dependent upon the efficiency at which you swing the golf club. Regardless, if your swing mechanics are inefficient or efficient stress will be placed on the lower back.
Secondly the golf swing is a repetitive movement. You are performing the same movement over and over again regardless if you are on the course or at the range. This over time results in what we classify as repetitive movement trauma (RMT) to all the muscles involved in the golf swing. RMT is the situation in which the muscles involved in the golf swing become fatigued from executing the golf swing over and over again.
To counteract the fatigue from the golf swing, we must take some steps to counteract the effects on the body. Creating more efficiency within the golf swing to place less stress upon the lower back is one step, and we must also look at preventative steps to take on the physical side of the equation.
This takes the form of a golf fitness program to develop the required levels of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance and power within the body: A golf specific fitness program will provide you, physically, with the ability to execute the golf swing more efficiently and over an extended amount, helping to counteract the effects of RMT.
A golf fitness program begins with exercises to counteract the effects of the golf swing. RMT from the golf swing causes muscles to become fatigued. Once muscles become fatigued they become "tight" and shorten in terms of length. This causes soreness, tightness and discomfort.
Knowing that the muscles of the body react to RMT in a fashion that is counterproductive to your golf swing. We can implement exercises to assist in the lengthening of these muscles to their original length. These exercises can be in the form of flexibility exercises to lengthen muscles shortened from the effects of RMT.
The goal of these flexibility exercises is to stretch muscles, returning them to what we call their optimal length tension relationship. Exercises I find beneficial to stretching the muscles of the lower back are Cats and Openers. Both of these exercises are beneficial in counteracting RMT in the lower back.
Previous blog entries:
10/11/06 How to Physically Prevent Lower Back Injuries
10/04/06 Lower Back Injuries in Golf
09/28/06 Speed in Your Power Golf Exercises
08/15/06 Develop Strength the "Right Way" for Your Golf Swing
08/08/06 Want to Maintain the Angles in Your Golf Swing?
08/01/06 Utilize Strength Training to Maintain Your Spine Angle
07/24/06 Strength in Your Core to Drive the Golf Ball Farther
07/11/06 Use Progression to Keep Improving Your Golf Swing
07/04/06 Dynamic Balance Exercises
06/27/06 Two Types of Balance are Key to Your Golf Swing
06/20/06 Balance in Your Golf Swing Leads to More Power
06/13/06 Getting Yourself Ready for a Round of Golf
06/06/06 Joint Range of Motion and a Fluid Golf Swing
05/29/06 Flexibility Exercises to Help with Those Tight Muscles
05/23/06 Guidelines for Your Golf Flexibility Program
05/16/06 Assess Your Flexibility First
05/09/06 Better Golf Exercises to Improve Your Swing
05/02/06 Developing a Repeatable Golf Swing and Your Body
04/26/06 Increasing the Clubhead Speed in Your Golf Swing
04/18/06 How To Prepare for Your Round
04/17/06 Swing Faults are Not Really Swing Faults
03/27/06 You can improve balance in your swing
03/24/06 Improve Your Flexibility and See Results in Your Swing
03/20/06 Your Body is the Foundation of Improving Your Golf Swing
