Ok duffers… this one’s for you. Many of you watch your favorite player on the PGA Tour draw their club back effortlessly into the perfect position, perfectly on plane, and perfectly in balance, and many of you think to yourselves, “Yeah…That’s what my back swing looks like!” Then they swing at around 120mph, and finish in perfect follow through position, in perfect balance, and you say to yourself , “Yeah, that’s what my follow through position looks like!” Well, let me be the first to tell you…no it doesn’t!
“Well, why not? How do you know that without watching me?” The simple explanation is that you are not flexible enough to get into that position in perfect balance. Ever wonder why your back hurts the next day, and your knees are sore? Without the flexibility to reach these positions, the joints of the low back, hips, knees and ankles become over stretched and strained.
I see people working on the plane so much these days, watching their club as it goes back and forth through the hitting zone, making sure their club stays fairly level with its starting position, and this is great. But, I rarely see people with a video camera observing themselves. Most people have a camera that takes video, and that’s all you need for a basic analysis, but you have to know what to look for. Here are a few signs that you need to increase your flexibility…
1. Head Movement. If you watch yourself, and your head is moving behind the ball more than a few inches during your back swing, that means you are not rotating far enough, and you are compensating with “sway” for added power.
2. Weak Top Position. If you can not get your arms high enough to be in a high arc power position at the top of your back swing, or if the club is not reaching a parallel position, you are not flexible enough to get it there!
3. Short Follow Through. If you make a very short follow through, its a good sign you can’t get to a full follow through position, and
4. Can’t hold the follow through position. Even if you can make it to a solid follow through position, but can’t stay there in balance for more than a split second, You need more flexibility.
There are a few other issues like wrist and ankle flexibility that can affect the swing as well, but mostly it is the muscles of the torso, core, and lower back that need to be both flexible and strong. If you see any of the above issues with your swing, or if you feel pain during your round or in the day or two after, feel free to gives us a call for an analysis.
Soon you’ll be looking like this…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2o1SYXaOHE&rel=0]
For more information contact Ultimate Sports Therapy at info@ultimatesportstherapy.com or visit us at http://www.ultimatesportstherapy.com/osteopathy.html
Jason Brandow, BSc TR, CST
Osteopathy Current Study & Thesis Writer