GolfBox have teamed up with StretchLab’s expert team of flexologists to demonstrate how stretching can improve your golf swing and lower your scores
Long, loose muscles and perfect posture are the essential building blocks for a fluid and powerful golf swing.
The problem is… long and loose muscles become short and tight when you’re sitting behind a desk 9 to 5 or have sustained an injury.
While you may never achieve Rory-like rotation or Rahm-levels of torque, implementing a few golf-specific stretches into your daily routine will help you develop flexibility to improve your pivot, speed and strength and get you swinging free, fast and, importantly, pain-free.
Try these golf stretching exercises to improve your performance out on the course and clear those niggling aches and pains.
GOLF STRETCHES FOR YOUR CHEST (PECS)
Chest stretches activate the pectoralis muscle group (or pecs as they are commonly referred to) and will increase shoulder and ribcage rotation. They also help golfers to maintain postural strength, which is vital to achieving and maintaining correct positioning and sequencing throughout a golf swing.
BENT ARM WALL STRETCH
- Position your right shoulder 30cm away from the surface of the wall or door.
- Place your right forearm parallel to the surface and lean forward, opening up the chest.
- Hold for 10 seconds before switching sides
SIDE ARM STRETCH
- With your feet shoulder-width apart, cross your left arm in front of your chest with the palm of your hand facing inward.
- Fold your right arm around the elbow of your extended left arm and pull it back towards you.
- Hold the stretch for 10 seconds, remembering to breathe, then switch sides.
GOLF STRETCHES FOR YOUR SHOULDERS (LATS)
Running from the lower back up into the shoulder, the lats (Latissimus Dorsi muscles, in case you’re wondering) are highly active during a golf swing.
Lats are pivotal to achieving an efficient chest and torso rotation during the backswing and they also need to fire rapidly to close the body through impact and into the follow through.
However, they are often overused and overworked, especially if they are tight and inflexible.
Targeting the lats with this stretches will loosen them up and lead to a freer and bigger rotation of the shoulders and torso for more width, power, torque, distance and control.
CHILDS POSE
- Kneel down into a comfortable position then lean back on your feet.
- With your hands touching the ground, stretch out your arms in front of you until your head nears the ground.
- Feel the stretch in your side and lower back and hold for 10 seconds.
- To work the sides more, turn your body slightly to the right or left while completing the stretch.
SIDE REACH STRETCH
- Using a wide stance, place your right arm on the side of your right thigh then raise your left arm overhead.
- Keeping your left arm raised, lean down into your right side and hold the stretch for 10 seconds before switching sides.
GOLF STRETCHES FOR YOUR LOWER BACK
A common curse for golfers is a tight lower back. Usually, the culprits are the muscles known as the obliques and the quadratus lumborum (QL).
The obliques run from the ribcage into the torso while the QL is the deepest abdominal muscle, often referred to simply as the “back” muscle. It runs from the top of the pelvis to the lowest rib.
Stretching and strengthening these muscles will help you get “golf fit” to support a superior rotation in the golf swing. And when the obliques and QL are happy, stretched and flexible, lower back tightness is usually minimised.
LOWER BACK TWIST
- Lie down facing up with your arms extended out at shoulder level.
- Rotate your hips to the right while drawing your right leg and hold your knee with your left hand.
- Feel the stretch down your lower back and side and hold for 10 seconds before switching sides.
COBRA STRETCH
- Lie face-down on the floor with your arms extended in front of you.
- With you palms down, draw your hands up towards your face then lift your chest off the floor, breathing out as you push.
- Feel the stretch in your lower back, hold for 10 seconds, then slide your hands forward and return to the floor.
THORACIC SPINE STRETCH
This will stretch your mid-to-upper back:
- Sit down on your bottom then draw your left leg up and cross it over your right.
- Cross your right arm to the outside of your left knee.
- Press your left knee into your right arm to rotate your chest outwards.
- Hold this position for 10 seconds, breathing deeply, then swap sides.
ABOUT STRETCHLAB
StretchLab provides a suite of tailored assisted stretching programs that identify and remedy tightness and imbalances within a client’s body.
Under the direction of highly-skilled StretchLab flexologists, the advanced muscular flexibility treatment has been proven to improve performance across a broad range of sports, including golf.
In fact, StretchLab have offered their services to the world’s best golfers at PGA Tour tournaments in 2022.
But it’s by no means just for elite athletes and fitness fanatics; it increases flexibility, reduces muscle and joint pain, improves posture and reduces stress for all ages and body types.
StretchLab’s team of experts are trained to place a client into a much deeper stretch than is possible with unassisted stretching. In this deep stretch condition, a flexologist will get their client to contract specific muscles then hold for a short period before releasing.
It’s an advanced form of stretching and retrains the neural pathway from the brain that activates the muscle, delivering improved muscle function and flexibility.
For a FREE demonstration stretch at StretchLab, simply click the "Book" button and select your location and click Demo Stretch.