Don't Let A Golf Injury Keep You Away From The Game

Fitness Golfer Image Consider this scenario: you are a mature golfer over 50 and are looking forward to having time to be able to play more golf. Then you notice your body starting to fail you. You get more of these niggling pains and strains in your major muscles and joints of the shoulders, hips and lower back. Before you know it, you have a golf injury, and you’re on the sidelines.

Does this ring a bell with you?

No?

Then you are either carrying out golf strength training or you have just been lucky!

Normally age will bring about reduced muscle mass, less endurance, flexibility and poorer balance, all of which can cause a golf injury. You won’t keep being lucky, because it comes to all of us, and golf injury will become more common unless you do something about it.

So what can you do? Well, Wayne Wescott, co-writer of “Strength Training Past 50”, conducted a study in 1996, which showed that senior golfers could develop muscle mass and build strength at the same rate as much younger adults. Good news, eh?

The stronger your muscles, the less prone you will be to golf injury

However, if you’ve been lucky, perhaps you think you don’t need it. Well read this:

* At least one golf-related injury is sustained by over 60% of amateur golfers.
* This figure is higher for golfers aged over 50.
* On average, a golf injury prevented the amateur playing for over 5 weeks.
* The highest proportion of injuries was to the shoulder, wrist, elbow and other main joints and muscles.

Much of this can be avoided with strength training for golf. This doesn’t involve building massive muscles, and only a few repetitions with medium weights can strengthen up your muscles, regardless of your age.

This isn’t the answer to every golf injury, though. Do you warm up and carry out any flexibility exercises before your round? No? Well you are asking for trouble, and you won’t stay lucky much longer. Injuries to joints and other muscles are frequently caused by a lack of strength, poor flexibility or insufficient warming up. Cold muscles react badly to sudden exercise and the few minutes a warm up takes are worth the benefits.

Lower back pain is a common golf injury, predominantly caused by bad posture and rotation of the foot (pronation) during the swing. Golf conditioning exercises can help cure this . . . and stop you getting it!

Golf conditioning is extremely important to all golfers, including you, and becomes more so the older you get. The bottom line of this is that you have to take care of your main asset: yourself! Now is the time that could make or break your future in golf.

Prevent A Golf Injury From Ever Happening Again

If you're looking for a simple and effective way to prevent golf injuries, and stay healthy for years to come, take a look at my golf training dvds, books and products in my Golf Trainer store. With a little guidance, we'll quickly build up your golf specific strength and flexibility to avoid injuries forever!

Mike Pedersen
Golf Performance Coach