It's all in the HIPS!
Whether you’re a competitive golfer or you just like to get out and play with friends, we all want to play well and have some fun.
And nothing is more frustrating than duffing your drive off the first tee or lipping out an easy 2 foot birdie putt. Well…maybe nothing except that pain in your lower back or hips after each swing. That’s no fun either!
There are a couple of simple easy things you can do to help relieve this pain, and it starts with working your hip flexors.
Hips are arguably one of the most important joints in the body for a good golf swing!
Our hips are mobile joints and so they are designed for a large range of motion - moving up and down, rotating out, rotating in, hitching up on either side, and doing side bends. This is why you can walk, run, jump, dance and of course…golf!
But many of us have lifestyles of prolonged sitting and inactivity. This causes the hip flexors to shorten and get stiff. This then limits your ability to rotate your hips effectively leading to inconsistency, loss of power and speed in your golf swing. Not to mention back pain as well!
The main hip flexor muscle is called the “psoas” (pronounced so-az).
- It's the deepest core muscle and most stabilizing muscle in the human body.
- It's the only muscle that connects the upper and lower body and is responsible for keeping you standing.
- It stabilizes your spine, keeps your pelvis aligned and helps you maintain your posture. This impacts your balance, movement and joint mobility, all so very important for the golf swing.
A good golf swing requires the upper and lower body to work together in a specific sequence of motion without restriction. Since the psoas is the only muscle that connects the upper and lower body, you can see why the health of this muscle is so important for your golf swing.
Tight hip flexors do not allow you to generate the necessary rotational force to create a powerful consistent swing. This also causes other parts of your body to compensate during your golf swing.
These compensations can later develop into pain, more tightness, and injury over time on other areas of your body. This leads to inconsistent timing and poor golf shots.
This is why working on improving hip mobility every day, even if it only for 5 minutes or so a day, is a must-do for your golf swing, as well as your day-to-day functional health.
Click Here and try these simple exercises you can do everyday to help mobilize your hips.
And to get deeper into that psoas area - try Block Therapy Fore Golf. It’s the only thing out there that gets deep into the core to help release that psoas.
To your best golf,
Barry & Tammy
Over50Golf
