Q
& A
Q: I've always warmed up before
a tournament but rarely otherwise. Is it important to warm up even
when not competing?
A:
Yes it is. That is, if you are truly trying to improve upon your
score. If overtime you are trying to achieve a lower score, you
should then be warming up every time before you play. There are
a few reasons why.
1) Increased Performance: Talking the time
to warm up properly can loosen up connective tissue and bring
heat to the muscles which will prepare them for increased activity.
The process should take at least 10 minutes. Twenty minutes is
better. Without a warm up it can take 3 to 5 holes before you
body is ready to go. This can affect the scoring for these first
few holes.
2) Less risk for injury: Now you probably
new I was going to mention this. What you may not realize about
injuries is that they are, in many cases, brought on by repetitive
exposure to seemingly benign physical stresses. Micro trauma within
a muscle or connective tissue can occur from a repetitive movement
like the golf swing. Over time, these repetitive exposures to
trauma can present as inflammation and pain. Properly warming
up before you play can reduce the risk of this happening.
Another thing, when competing it's best to
stick with what's familiar to your body. Introducing something new
you're not familiar with could back fire. You may find a particular
stretch or warm-up exercise to be counter productive for you - better
to discover this when not competing.
As always you should practice as if you were
playing in a tournament. Some say practice makes perfect. Others
say perfect practice makes perfect. You decide. Personally, I believe
you should try to do the best you can if you're striving for increased
performance. This holds true for all sports, not just golf.
Feature
Exercise: Single leg deadlift with arm raise
The golf swing integrates the entire body.
Training carryover will be enhanced when you strengthen the body
in the same manner. The single leg deadlift w/ arm raise is a terrific
movement for increasing hip strength while tying in the core with
upper body. When done properly you will likely feel the muscles
in the hip/glute area working the most. The muscles in the back
are working and should be acting mostly as stabilizers and not prime
movers (the hips are the prime movers). Arms and shoulders come
in to play as they are the hooks for the weight to be traveled.
When the movement is done with speed there is less emphasis on the
arm muscles. Ultimately, this is how you want to perform this exercise
- with speed. As always, start out slow and progress the speed as
quality of movement increases.
| Warning: This movement may be contraindicated
for anyone with a history of back problems. Always check with
your physician before attempting any exercise. |
| Step
1:
1) Start by
standing approximately 14 to 20 inches away from a wall.
2) Bend your right knee to 90 degrees and place your foot
flat against the wall. Once you adopt this position your stance
leg (in this case your left leg) will be slightly forward
relative to your wall leg (in this case your right leg).
3) With either no weight or light dumbbells in your hands,
drop forward from the hips, maintaining a
slight arch in your low back throughout the movement.
- Keep your
chest high and avoid overly extending your neck.
- Do not round
the back as you drop down. Only bend down as far as you
can while still maintaining an arch in your low back.
- Keep your
weight evenly distributed throughout the entire foot of
your stance leg during the movement. Don't allow all your
weight to migrate towards the toes. Doing so will deactivate
muscle activity of the hip/glutes and possibly put more
strain on the knee.
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Step 2:
1) Initiate the upward
movement from the hips. Only once you are fully erect will
you start to raise the arms overhead. Don't begin raises
the arms too early as this is improper sequencing for optimal
power.
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Step 3:
1) Continue
raising the arms till they are directly overhead. The overhead
ending position for the dumbbells should be wide enough so
your arms make a 'V' shape.
2)Slowly bring the dumbbells down and begin the next repetition.
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A word about speed: Once you become
more familiar and better with the movement you will develop
more speed. This increased speed will allow momentum to build
while coming into the standing position. This momentum is
transferred to arms which allow them to 'float' overhead with
minimal effort.
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