Golf and Your Spine

Proper skeletal alignment and function is the foundation of your golf game. To hit the ball a great distance, a golfer must be able to rotate into and maintain a wide arc through the swing. Proper swing mechanics are dependent on proper muscle function. Since all muscles originate from bone and attach to bone, proper muscle function is dependent on your skeleton's alignment and function.

There are three fundamental causes of golf injuries:

• Poor posture
• Lack of flexibility
• Poor swing mechanics

The root cause of poor mechanics is often the result of a physical restriction or mechanical dysfunction.

Sound golf posture is both static and dynamic. Static posture is responsible for your overall alignment before the swing begins. The ability to maintain posture and flexibility during the golf swing is a measure of a golfer's dynamic postural strength and fitness, and should be resolved through a proper golf fitness and strengthening program.

On the golf course, physical exertion is intermittent. The golf swing requires the spine to rotate, bend laterally and extend. This requires flexibility that is golf specific. From the front your spine is supposed to be straight, but from the side you are supposed to have four major spinal curves. These curves act like shock absorbers in gravity.

We distinguish between primary and secondary spinal curves. Primary spinal curves are in the area of your shoulder blades and from your hips towards your buttocks. Secondary spinal curves are in your neck and in the small of your lower back. (see figure below)

Good golf posture requires the secondary curves in the cervical (neck) and lumbar (lower back) spine to be in lordosis. The secondary spinal curves provide mechanical leverage for strength and facilitates your ability to rotate. Poor golf posture with a collapse at the secondary curves restricts spinal rotation. This will cause you to over swing, leading to soft tissue injuries. The secondary curves are also levers that provide mechanical advantage and strength for movement of the spinal column.

Functional restoration of the secondary curves in the cervical and lumbar spine is therefore an essential component in your golf fitness regime.

The Back In Power Golf Performance Program, utilizing advanced exercise and testing equipment, provides complete performance enhancement results.

Distance

• Increased club head speed
• Greater range of motion
• More power

Accuracy

• Stronger, fuller follow-through
• Keep club head on line with the target longer. (When the right shoulder is pointed towards the target at swing finish - you know you have hit a good shot)

Endurance

• Increased muscle endurance
• Less Effort = Less Fatigue
• Stay fresher and more focused for 18 holes and beyond

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