With Copper City Physical Therapy
Submitted article by Brian Coughlan,
Copper City Physical Therapy
Spring has come and along with it the start of golf season here at all the wonderful courses throughout the Columbia Valley. If you are like me, then you probably get a bit excited, play a bunch of rounds or spend a bit too much time at the driving range and end up with an early season injury or pain. There are many factors that influence our performance and our risk for injury on the golf course.
The most significant risk factor for most injuries, and especially in golf, is our volume of activity. That is, when we start a new activity or sport and we don’t gradually increase our time spent playing or training we can overload our body and negatively affect its ability to adapt to the stressors of that activity.
Therefore, my number one piece of advice to all my patients in the clinic is when starting a new activity or exercise, we should gradually increase the volume and intensity of the task. Listen to your body, it’s okay to have a bit of discomfort after playing a round or two of golf, but you want that pain or discomfort to resolve within 24 to 48 hours.
Another great way to increase our capacity for any activity, including golf, is through exercise.
Both resistance and mobility exercise can greatly improve our performance on the golf course and decrease our risk for injury. Performing a dynamic warm up before you play is also an essential part of injury prevention.
Every group has that one guy or girl who shows up five minutes before the tee time and races to the first tee with no time to spare. Don’t be that guy or girl. If you can, spend at least 15 minutes on the driving range before you play.
I like to start with a wedge or a short iron and start by swinging the club and hitting shots at approximately 75 per cent of my range of motion and speed. I will then slowly increase the range of motion and speed up to 100 per cent. I then move onto hitting shots with my longer irons finishing with the driver.
Here at Copper City Physical Therapy, we are a Titleist Performance Institute for Golf. We utilize a 12-step functional movement screen which is a group of physical tests to identify any limitations of range of motion and strength across the body.
We then analyze your golf swing using slow motion video. Using information from both the body screen and swing analysis we can develop a training program for any individual at any level to improve their physical performance and decrease the risk of injury.
We believe that there are an infinite amount of ways to swing a golf club but we can always improve our efficiency. We don’t try to rebuild everyone’s golf swing, but rather make it more efficient and powerful.
If you have any questions about improving your physical performance on the golf course or if you deal with a nagging injury each season please reach out to us. We are always happy to help.