Prepare to stay above par

Health
Andrew O'Brien

In the list of dangerous sports, it’s easy to imagine that BASE jumping, rodeo riding and equestrian antics would rank pretty highly. So too contact sports like rugby and American football. For a long time in Australia though, it was reported that the sport with the highest mortality rate amongst participants was lawn bowls. How on earth could lawn bowls be dangerous you ask? The answer: statistics. Bowlers tend to be older and thus more likely to drop off this mortal coil so to speak.
Which brings us seamlessly to the topic of golf. Without wanting to label all golfers as being past their ‘use by’ dates, the age profile of golfers is somewhat higher than BASE jumpers and bull riders. I am not suggesting that golfers should stop playing for fear of dropping dead; research in Sweden has shown that golfers are 40 percent less likely to die for any reason than their non-playing counterparts, due largely to the benefits of the walk. But golfers do get injured, with back and knee pain topping the list of complaints.
The golf swing requires a combination of range of movement, elasticity and power; each swing reaches 95 percent of maximum voluntary contraction for certain muscles. The issue for golfers to remember is that as we age, muscles and tendons become less elastic, and joints stiffen. This can mean that it gets harder to produce the same power on each swing, but also becomes more stressful on tissues and increases the likelihood of aches and pains during and after a round.
Considering that pain limits movement, it follows that injury will impair your ability to score well, partly because you won’t be playing as regularly. Thus by reducing injury risk, you should also improve your golf. What then, is a golfer to do? The answer here has three facets: conditioning, warm-up and balance. All of these feed each other, but it’s worth separating them for the sake of discussion.
Conditioning
Conditioning can be viewed as both pre- and in-season training away from the course. Most tour professionals have a team of coaches who work variously on the swing, the body and the mind. Getting players into the best shape possible and keeping them there, is the core role of any coach. Assuming you don’t have your own full-time coaching team, what can you do?
General exercise, such as walking is useful to build your fitness levels; if you only ever walk during a round of golf, you’ll fatigue more quickly than if you are regularly active. Exercises such as yoga and Pilates done with a focus on golf specific movements will help your body do what the golf swing requires.
Perhaps most obviously, working with a teaching professional is also a good idea; if you get a sore back every time you swing a club, then maybe you’re doing it wrong.

Warm-up
A good warm-up is essential for all sports, but unfortunately many golfers arrive at the course with just enough time for a few practice swings on the first tee, usually putting the first shot into the trees!
Research has indicated that a 10-15 minute warm-up before a round can increase hitting distance by up to 10 percent across the whole round. It stands to reason; if you’re stiff for the first few holes, you’ll make adjustments to your swing until you warm up. Once warm you hit the ball well, but by the later stages are you’re starting to fatigue as the negative effects of your faulty swing over the early holes come back to haunt you.
Warming up well means your swing is good from the outset, the first few holes aren’t as ropey and fatigue takes longer to set in.

Balance
I’ve written in these pages before about balance and its importance for all sports, and life in general. Golf is the perfect illustrator of this. For a golf swing you need to be able to remain stable while rotating your trunk and shoulders through 270 degrees of movement. Lose your balance and the club head won’t follow its correct path, resulting in a slice, hook or air swing.
Balance ties back into conditioning, the more you work on it, the better you get – and the better your range of movement, the less likely you are to lose your balance in trying to get to the top of your backswing.
So, as the weather improves and the clubs come out, remember to do a bit of preparation work away from the course and before you start your round. And remember, balance in golf, as in life, is key.

Andrew O’Brien is a chartered physiotherapist and the owner of Wannarun Physiotherapy and Running Clinic at Westport Leisure Park. He can be contacted on 083 1593200 or at www.wannarun.ie.