Strength Training for Your Golf Swing

To All my Golfers,

As your season approaches I decided to take an opportunity and address some muscular imbalances that may have a negative impact on your swing and some simple exercises (to follow next week) you can implement to address them.

First up is Upper Cross syndrome, this is defined as having shoulders that internally rotate (round inward) along with an elevated trapezius (rounding and raising of the upper back). This happens because the front of the shoulder called the anterior deltoid and pectoral muscles are tight and overactive which lead to weak muscles surrounding the scapula which allow the shoulder to turn inward. These imbalances will limit the range of motion that can be obtained in the shoulder and may lead to injuries such as biceps tendonitis and issues involving the labrum. Someone dealing with this imbalance should focus on strengthening on the posterior side of the shoulder and muscles surrounding the scapula and avoid over training the anterior portion of the shoulder and chest. A rule of thumb is that one should do 2-3 times more exercises that involve the back compared to the front of our body.

The ability to rotate our “trunks” during our swing is due to the flexibility in our thoracic spine. When I speak to golfers they often mention improving the ability to keep your hips square while your upper body rotates to their swing. This will be affected by the flexibility in your thoracic spine (middle) along with your hips. Many of us move and train in a linear plane by sitting continuously throughout the day and we get to the gym we focus on squats, lunges, deadlifts, rows, pull ups, and chest press. These lifts can be beneficial, however, it is critical that the golfer also focus on the tranverse plane to improve flexibility in the thoracic spine and if you do not move in this plane daily than how you can expect to have an optimal range of motion for your golf swing? Tranverse plane refers to splitting the body in half from top to bottom. Imagine taking your arms and bending them at the elbow to make a 90 degree angle with your palms facing the ground. Next, imagine twisting your upper body while keeping your hips stationary, this would be movement in the transverse plane, and would simulate the motion of a gold swing as well. Efficiency at these movements may have a positive impact on your swing.

An additional concept that ties into thoracic spine mobility is lower cross syndrome. This occurs when our pelvis anteriorly rotates which can be because of tight hip flexors causing our low backs to curve (Lordosis). This can happen because we often sit for long periods, causing the flexors of the hip to tighten and the glutes to relax in extension. This can lead to low back pain, restricting our range of motion, and inactive glutes. Focusing on stretches to open up our hips while strengthening the glutes will begin to address this issue because our glutes play a large role in core strength.

As science improves we have learned that strength to hit the ball comes from our core and not our upper body, though optimal range of motion in our upper body is still critical to the swing. It will be crucial for the golfer to make sure he/she trains the core with a focus on improving thoracic spine mobility. Along with attempting to improve our thoracic spine mobility, a strong case can be made on focusing on anti-rotation exercises as well as a means to increase stability in our core.

To conclude, these muscular imbalances have become typical for almost all age groups. However, it becomes my job as the professional to explain why they happen and how we can improve them. Whether you are a golfer, professional athlete, grandmother, or student athlete it always comes down to improving movement and decreasing chances of injury.