Is your day job affecting your Golf?
One of the most common physical limitations that I encounter with my clients is poor posture, primarily in the upper thoracic spine. This is evident primarily in their set up and stance to the golf club, but can often also be visible in their natural standing posture.
Good posture is key to efficient movement and reduces the stress that you place on muscles, joints and ligaments which ultimately decreases your risk of injury, pain or discomfort. Relate this to your golf swing and good posture is important for rotation of the body, timing, balance and rhythm.
Research conducted on over 400 golfers by the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) found that 60% of all players tested suffered from postural problems, with the most common demonstrating the C-Posture. C-Posture is identified by a visible rounding of the shoulders and a curved thoracic spine. This position in your golf swing can dramatically reduce your ability to rotate on your backswing.
C-Posture however is very rarely something that you can stop just by simply telling yourself to straighten your spine and is generally a result of muscle and joint imbalances. Upper Crossed Syndrome is a term coined to describe certain muscle imbalances that occur in the thoracic spine. These imbalances are commonly “caused by a sedentary lifestyle; a lack of a variety of movements or prolonged static postural stress due to sitting, standing, walking in straight line.” (Liebenson C)
In this modern age of technology many of us spend large amounts of time sat down at a computer, tablet, or Smartphone. A typical working day for many of us now involves being hunched over our steering wheel on our commute to work, followed by being hunched over our desk/computer/tablet once we arrive at work, followed by being hunched over our dinner at the kitchen table, followed by being hunched up in bed asleep in the foetal position. That roughly equates to around 19 hours of our day spent in a ‘hunched’ position. This sedentary lifestyle has been the main cause of these muscle imbalances and it leads to overuse of postural muscles and weakening of our phasic (movement) muscles.
A good way to test yourself for C-Posture is to stand in front of a mirror and set up to your golf club. If you notice a significant rounding of the shoulders and back (your back makes the shape of the letter C), this would indicate that you have significant upper body muscle imbalances. Other symptoms that you may experience are limited shoulder and neck mobility, altered position of the shoulder blades, reduced lung capacity, pain, soreness and regular muscle strains in the back, shoulders and arms.
All of these symptoms not only impact your everyday life but will also at some point impact your ability to play golf and can lead to spells of injury or pain whilst playing. Other areas affected include:
Your inability to rotate properly which may cause you to stand up in the swing and will make it difficult for you to achieve consistent ball striking.
You will be unable to correctly hinge from the hips at set up, meaning that your body has to further compensate adding more unnecessary pressure to your back , leading to pain/injury.
You will be limited in your backward bend (spine extension) which will impact your ability to also rotate through impact and restrict your finish through the ball.
As these postural problems happen and worsen over time they are not easily fixed by simply telling yourself to pull your shoulders back or straighten your spine. However by engaging in regular corrective exercises you can begin to reverse the damage that has been done.
Typically you would need to avoid any crunch exercises and push exercises such as a bench press. Specific stretches and pull exercises will help to re-engage and strengthen neck flexors and scapula stabilisers, as well as stretch out the pectorals and upper shoulder muscles that have tightened and shortened.
Engaging in these corrective exercises will relieve strains, tension and pain and will allow you to gain an increased range of motion in your neck, shoulders, arms and spine. Thus making it easier for you to rotate and swing your golf club, and achieve better ball striking, distance and efficiency.
If you think that you suffer from postural problems that are affecting your golf or if you would like a physical screening to identify if you have postural issues, please contact me on rachael@dynamic-golf.co.uk.
Alternatively you can visit our website www.dynamic-golf.co.uk, and you can also find us on Twitter @dynamic_golf and facebook dynamicgolfuk.
