Golf is one of the most loved games in sports. However, it is not easy to play a golf game without enough exercise and tactics. For this reason, knowing the best stretches for golf will help you be the best and most flexible golf player, as flexibility is vital in golf playing.
Golf is played by hitting the ball, targeting it to fall into a series of holes on the pitch. We do it through several strikes. The trickiness to play golf depends on tactics a player does due to exposure to different terrain. People can play it on landscapes such as over the water services, rocks, long grass, fairway, or even on bunkers though each target hole on these terrains has a unique arrangement.
Golf as a game needs proper training, as it includes movement of some of the body parts. Arms, shoulders, elbows, neck, hips, legs, and back are parts of the body that make movements during this play. They, therefore, need proper stretching to avoid pain and straining when playing. Good exercise on your body parts gains you many points to play a golf game.
The best stretches for golf include:
- golfers elbow stretches;
- hip stretches for golf;
- dynamic golf stretches;
- shoulder stretches for golf;
- mobility exercises for golf.
Golfers elbow stretches
This exercise includes stretching the elbow part of the hand. As it is a special stretching of the elbow muscles, this strengthens the elbow joint to make the hand move quicker. When you play the golf game without this exercise, your hand will likely develop golfer’s elbow symptoms. That is because the flexor muscles strain much due to a lack of proper stretching. If the forearm muscles, that is, the flexor, get enough stretching, rowing the boat, and hitting the golf ball can be simple. Strengthening these elbow muscles can be done simply; holding a reasonable weight using your hand plucking it upward can cause the flexor muscles to relax. The same weight can also be lowered again slowly to the original position and can help these muscles stretch.
How to perform Golfers elbow stretches
- Using the affected hand on the side of your body, hold weight, and sit down.
- Rest the arm on the thigh, make your palm face up, and then the elbow bending as your wrist stretches.
- With the hand holding weight, lower it gradually.
- You should use the freehand now to move back the weight to the original place.
- You can repeat the same 14 times.
Hip stretches for golf.
During golf gameplay, hip movements play an essential role in rotating under a comfortable position to strike the ball properly. As golf needs flexible joints of hips, golf swinging becomes effective. If the hips have limited stretching, this hinders the strength of turning backswing and downswing to hit the ball. What results from limited hips movement is low speed and insufficient power to hook the golf ball.
How to do Hip stretches for golf
- Take enough position, then lunge your legs, and drop the back leg’s knee on the floor.
- By raising your arms, look up and take your hands up over the head.
- Then press your hips forward and downwards until you encounter a stretch on these parts of your body, thigh, torso, groin, and hip.
- Hold the press and stretch of the hip for about 30 seconds.
- Do the same with the other leg’s knee on the floor, and you can repeat the same procedure several times.
Dynamic golf stretches
Warming up before golfing is vital as it helps you play to your level best and prevent injuries. Although Static stretching, which involves holding stretching positions for long hours, is perfect for overall body flexibility, it does not provide a better golfing preparation. If you are a golf lover, then you need to do Dynamic exercises for a better warm-up. These workouts can only take between five to seven minutes.
It is recommendable to do this workout before hitting the balls because it aids in building confidence and coordination. The exercises will help you eliminate the dangers of bad swings before your joints and muscles get used to the swings. The following are some of the dynamic activities you need to take before getting into the driving range; kneeling hamstring stretch, seated piriformis stretch, supine twist, and kneeling hip flexor stretch.
Shoulder stretches for golf.
Shoulders are classic socket joints and balls that need flexibility. For a fluid golf swing, flexibility is essential for a consistent golf swing. The over fifty yet golfers will start losing the necessary motion if they do not meet this flexibility. The following are the best shoulder stretches essential for any golfer.
The golf backswing (the arm and left shoulder): To perform this, stretch your left arm across your body while back swinging. Ensure that the upper part of the left arm is resting on the chest, commonly known as horizontal abduction.
Simple shoulder stretch: This is a shoulder exercise that does not require much effort. You can do it in the middle of the game by merely stretching out your arms. However, you can still do it after the game is over to help your shoulder muscles relax.
Open shoulder stretch: This simply involves opening up shoulders before commencing the game. Opening up the shoulders helps improve the flexibility of joints around the shoulders.
Shoulder turn: To pull a mighty swing, you need to have flexible shoulders.
Mobility exercise for golf
Golfers should understand the importance of mobility exercises to avoid strains and injuries during the game. Mobility exercises are those stretches that strengthen the spine’s flexibility for easy golf swing when force is applied to hit the ball. When playing golf, there should be a proper hinging ability of hips, hip whipping, accurate lateral sliding, and good weight shifting. If the muscles to perform these abilities are limited, then mobility during golfing becomes poor.
Exercises to improve mobility for golf
- Foam rolling
- Doing bird dogs
- Rock-back quadrupling and T-Spine rotating
- Wall hip flexor for ankle mobilization
- Split stance adductor stretching
- A-framing
- Split stance windmill
- Side-lying windmill
Conclusion
If you are a golf lover, you can bear witness that this is the only game that offers a perfect way to fun and exercise outdoors. It helps to improve flexibility, variety of motions in hips and trunks as well as increasing strength. Sometimes golfing can cause injuries and pains that are undesirable if not done well. But the goods news is that there are several mobility and flexibility workouts to help you have adequate preparation for the game to minimize those injuries by taking the above best stretches for golf.
FAQ
❓ What stretching exercises are most beneficial for golfers?
- golfers elbow stretches;
- hip stretches for golf;
- dynamic golf stretches;
- shoulder stretches for golf;
- mobility exercises for golf.