Golf Fitness Tip of the Week
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"The Benefits of a Golf Fitness Evaluation"
By Paul Callaway, PT, PhD
Even if you’re an avid golfer, it’s possible that you haven’t heard of golf fitness evaluation. And if you have, it may not be completely clear what the full benefits are to scheduling a comprehensive golf fitness evaluation of your own right away!
True, the tough part of all evaluations is that we have to face our weaknesses as well as our strengths. And, in the case of designing a custom golf fitness training program that will, most efficiently, help you reach your full golf potential and reduce injuries, the importance of a thorough evaluation provided by an experienced fitness and health professional cannot be overlooked.
The ‘good news’ is that nobody has ever gotten sick, injured or died from taking the specific series set of tests in a golf-specific fitness evaluation. So, there is no need to get scared of having to take a golf fitness evaluation. And anyone who completes a golf fitness evaluation stands a much better chance of improving his or her golf swing.
Plus, the details of your particular body mechanics that a golf fitness evaluation furnishes will serve as valuable inputs for the design of a fitness training program that leads to optimal outcomes for your swing. The traits often tested are: strength, flexibility, coordination, stability and balance. We touch on a few of them here…
Golf-Specific Strength AssessmentStrength is measured in terms of the amount of power you pack behind controlled hits on the golf ball for the duration of 18 holes. The muscles tested in this part of the golf fitness evaluation include your abdominals, hamstrings, quadriceps, as well as areas of the shoulders involved in the overhead swinging of a golf club.
Golf-Specific Flexibility Assessment
Flexibility is the range of your swing’s motion. In this portion of the golf fitness evaluation, the key body areas or muscles assessed are the hamstrings, the trunk (or core) and shoulders. The trunk is tested for rotational range. The shoulders are included because of their part in golf swing consistency. Flexibility has become a buzzword for golfers, especially among those who are getting a bit older, as it is one of the golfer’s assets most susceptible to decline with age, along with strength. Understanding your specific limitations in this area will help give you the assurance that the stretching exercises you are practicing are the appropriate ones.
Golf-Specific Balance Assessment
Though strength and flexibility seem most crucial for an effective swing, a golfer’s balance cannot be ignored either. Without it you can’t be consistent with your swings, nor have much power behind them. Many amateur golfers’ tendency to “swing out of their shoes” that result in miss-hits or out-of-bounds shots, can be attributed to a lack of balance. One test in this part of the golf fitness evaluation involves exercises performed on one leg. The ability to maintain balance while making forward, backward, and lateral motions is also assessed.
A golf fitness evaluation provides necessary information and ultimately saves time while reducing the risk of injury when designing a training program that will be helpful to your game and your health. With it you get closer to your best golf swing ever! Isn’t it time for you to get tested?
For more information regarding the benefits of a comprehensive,
golf-specific fitness evalaution,
Call:
1-630-567-7572
