How To Enjoy an Injury Free Golf Season
Golfing is a great sport for improving your upper body and core strength. It’s also beneficial for your social health as you can invite your friends along for a round and spend some quality time together.
However, it’s not uncommon for people to get injured when they’re golfing. Things like weak upper body muscles, poor posture, or poor golfing technique can all lead to acute or chronic injuries. Not only can these injuries be painful at the time, they can also impact your ability to continue playing golf in the future.
The most common injuries for golfers are back pain, rotator cuff injuries, and golf elbow. Luckily, there are plenty of things that you can do to minimize your risk of injury when golfing. In this article, we have three tips to help you enjoy an injury-free golf session.
Practice Proper Technique
Your golfing technique is vital for keeping your body free of injuries. Using the wrong technique when playing can cause issues in your shoulders, rotator cuffs, upper back, neck, elbows, and wrists. Ensure you use proper posture, execute a smooth swing and refrain from overswinging. Ask a friend to film you while swinging so that you can review your form.
Watching videos of professional golfers or reading about the techniques that expert golfers use when playing can help you to improve your own abilities with useful tips on proper form. Look for online tutorial videos. You can also book a session with the clubhouse pro.
Warm Up and Cool Down
Prepare your body before you begin playing by performing dynamic stretches. Dynamic stretches take you through a range of motion that mimic the activity you are about to do. In addition to practicing a swinging motion, remember to focus on your joints, including your wrists, elbows and shoulders. It is also important to stretch your back and pelvis to prepare for the twists your body needs to perform in golfing.
After your game, take time to perform static stretches, now that your muscles are warmed up. These stretches focus on a single muscle group at a time and require you to extend and hold a position.
Train For Your Next Game
Flexibility, strength and endurance are not only important for how well you play, they can also play a role in injury prevention. Ideally, your fitness routine should begin before the golf season but it’s never too late to introduce a workout schedule in your life.