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Get Mobile: Stay On Top of Your Game During the Offseason
By Keith Stewart, PGA
Published on
Yealimi Noh hits her tee shot on the fourth tee during Round Two of the Girls Junior PGA Championship held at Kearney Hill Golf Links.PGA of America
With Super Bowl LVI in our rear-view mirror, the sports world is about to find itself without football for six months. The PLAYERS Championship is in four weeks and the first men’s and women’s major championships less than 50 days away. So although we may not be hitting shots, what we can do now will have a very positive affect on our 2022 season.
You don’t have to be an offseason golfer to get in better shape. The benefits of a simple golf fitness plan can be felt for all types of lifestyles.
Many golfers participate purely to have more exercise time. Without that on course activity, what provides the best substitute to maintain our golf ability? The answer is mobility. Some confuse this with flexibility, but mobility provides bigger benefits. Mobility is dynamic and active, flexibility is passive. Here’s a quick example: if you grab your ankle and pull your leg back until it reaches your backside, that’s flexibility.
Mobility is the ability to move your leg back there without any help. Mobility covers a whole system of movement. Sounds more closely related to our goals in golf. Every industry is evolving, and the fitness world is no different. Make sure when you fill that time void we have prior to the start of the spring and summer golf season, that you meet with a certified trainer.
Describe your goals to them and see where you can increase your mobility. Mobility exercises are dynamic and fun! Here’s a couple great golf target areas to find a favorite exercise for:
- Shoulders: Amateur golfers severely lack the ability to move their shoulders properly.
Even worse, shoulder injuries take forever to heal. - Trunk: Golfers have back issues. Get mobile in the middle. A bad back can end a career.
- Hips: These joints hold us up and support our pivot. Even Jack Nicklaus had his hip
replaced.
As a PGA Coach, I’m not going to describe specific drills or exercises. That’s for the fitness experts. What I can implore everyone to do is to use their down time and put in the work and become more mobile. No one swing drill or putting exercise can lengthen your career like a successful fitness program; offseason OR in-season.
Mobility training builds strength and coordination of the muscles around a specific joint, or multiple joints. Performing static stretches to increase flexibility will only increase range of motion in a passive manner around a specific joint. Your golf swing is a complex action related to a system of joint movements.
Take today’s lesson and get inspired to move differently this year. We live in a “mobile” world, might as well bring your golf swing into it!
