If you love golf, you’ll want to keep yourself in good shape to enjoy the game often and to extend your play for years to come. These tips, based on the Motion Empowered exercise system I’ve developed, can help you with your swing. And it’s good to keep them in mind to apply during everyday activities.
Posture and range of motion are the two key things to remember as you practice or set up your swing. For a good guide to lining up in perfect posture, please check out this earlier blog: The Importance of Good Posture.
1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. (For those of you who know me: focus on the mantra “shoulders, dime, knees and zipper.” It’s explained in the Posture blog.) Draw your inner thighs towards each other. This will make it easy to center your balance and distribute your weight evenly.
2. Keep your hands soft on the club, and stay light on your feet – keep your extremities light and focus on your “core.”
3. Stand close enough to the ball so that you can maintain your shoulders, dime, knees and zipper.
4. Begin by just trying to pivot from the center, keeping your legs and hips squared, but don’t lock your knees. If you catch yourself losing balance, it’s because you went outside the range within which you can still maintain good posture. Staying in that range will prevent excess torque and strain on your joints.
Many golf pros say: “shorten your swing.” What do they mean? You should only swing within your own range of motion – this is all related to the strength of your “core.” Only swing back as far as you can while maintaining good posture and alignment. When you do, you have much better control of the direction and the amount of impact on the ball. In addition, limiting the arc of your swing will prevent injuries to your back, shoulders and knees.
** Remember to keep your shoulders straight, as though your shoulder blades were pinched in at the back. Don’t raise them up towards your ears, because that puts too much strain on your upper spine. And remember to keep your head in position as an extension of your spine – do not lift or drop it!
If you find these terms confusing, refer back to The Importance of Good Posture.
You may feel ridiculous when you first try to swing this way, but if you practice with posture first and foremost in mind, you will get better, and proper posture will help you improve the underlying mechanics of your swing.
If you follow these tips, you will stay healthier and play better golf for many more years. You will also get more enjoyment out of your game and your life!
Enjoy. Ta Da!
Darla
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