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Get Fit for Golf Season: Don't Neglect These Tips

By: Morgan Fobbs

The annual ritual of the start of golf season is coming up fast. If you want to have a better season than last year (fingers crossed!), then here are some tips for preparing in advance. And I am not simply talking about getting your golf shoes out of the garage to clean them off. Rather, you need to prepare your body itself for golfing.

You might thing that playing golf itself is enough to qualify for your fitness goals. Certainly there are some moderate benefits, but even more important is preparing your body for the new golf season after a winter of too much sitting around.

Of course the fitness benefits can be almost non-existent for those who don't walk but rather ride the course in a cart, and then stop for burgers and beers after the round. Unless you are disabled, I encourage you to walk your golf rounds this season, and save the money and global-warming contributions from golf cart usage.

However, in order to get to that point, you've got to get your body ready for the physical demands ahead. The purpose is to get yourself ready for the long walks and long periods of standing around waiting while golfing. You will gently build strength in muscles that golf requires frequently.

Aerobic and stamina-building exercises are the key to beating the long walks in the heat of summer. And flexibility and muscle training will help you achieve longer drives, better swing consistency, and overall mid-torso strength. You won't need to become a heavy lifting body builder at all! No, the goal is to tackle the repetitive, asymmetrical movements of golf by gently strengthening your muscles in advance.

Rotational and hip flexibility, shoulder strength, and the muscles of the lower back all make up the unique swing of each golfer. And working the legs and lower back will also reduce those spasms that can result from long days on the links. If you have spent all winter stuck in a cubicle like me, then a pre-season warm-up is essential.

You can do many exercises at home, or during your lunch break at work, and for the most part, you don't need to get all sweaty doing so. When golfing, your torso rotational power depends on the muscle groups in the lower back, abdominals, thighs, buttocks, and hips, so start by doing some stretching of those areas. Then move on to strength training, still concentrating on the core areas--your power zone.

The muscles, ligaments, and bones of the core area are those between your chest and knees. There are thousands of various exercises that can help you target those areas, but some of the more common ones include gentle trunk rotations, abdominal crunches, gentle torso twists, side rotations using resistance, hamstring stretches, and cat arches and hunches for the lower back.

If you have been sedentary all winter, start out slowly. You don't want to risk injuring one of your core muscles, as that would set you back tremendously, and may cause you to miss the start of the golf season. Warm up for a few minutes with an aerobic activity of your choice, such as on a stationary bike, elliptical trainer machine, or my favorite, walking uphill on a treadmill.

The key is to start early in the spring. I will provide some specific exercises in my next article, but don't delay starting until a few days before your first tee-off! Try some of these things in an easy, short, daily effort, long before the first game of the year, and your torso strength and stamina will be much enhanced. Your body will thank you right up until the final hole of the round.

Article Source: http://www.simplepetcare.com/pet-articles

Morgan Fobbs loves helping people improve their golf game and is a great teacher. For more great advice and to get an absolutely free copy of a report that is guaranteed to improve your golf game, click the link now to forever alter your golf world view.
Click here for other unique golf articles.

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