5 best golf practices to stay healthy at home
Summary
With a lot of us being stuck at home for best part of the last year, keeping fit has proven to be a real issue for a lot of people – whether it’s the fact the gyms have been closed or no access to grass roots sports in general, or whether it’s the fact a lot of people have really struggled with mental health after being stuck in the house for so long. So how have people been trying to stay fit or keep the rust away for when they’re able to get back on the golf course?
Source: NiftyGolf
Well, if you’re like me you just spent time playing a lot of PGA Tour 2K21 but that didn’t really help me keep fit or keep the rust away… Luckily for you guys that isn’t the only thing I did, I needed to keep the rust away after all!
So I’m going to go through five exercises that I used to stay healthy and keep on my game so when the day came I was ready to get straight back on the course, you better believe I’ve been there four days a week since they reopened! Best be looking out for me, I’m coming for that green jacket! Of course I jest, I’m nowhere near that level!
- Split Squat
- Deadbug
- Push-ups
- Pelvic Rotation
- Full Body Turn
Split Squat
The Split Squat is a really versatile lower-body exercise that works on mobility, stability and strength. The narrow stance will reduce your base of support and challenge your stability. In this exercise, you’re primarily working your front leg. Stand with your legs spread one in front of the other with around a 2ft gap, dip your rear leg so your front knee bends and keep the majority of your weight centered over the middle of your front foot.
Deadbug
Deadbugs are a great exercise for strengthening your core. You need strength in your midsection to be able to effectively transfer power from your lower body to your upper body in the golf swing. During this exercise, it’s incredibly important to keep your lower-back flat against the ground to ensure you’re working your abs. Lay flat on your back, arms straight up in the air and your knees bent up. Like a dead bug.
While alternating sides, extend your left leg so it’s flat and rotate your right arm up so it’s along the ground, then return them to the starting position. Then repeat with your right leg and left arm.
Push-ups
There’s a reason push-ups are among . When performed correctly, push-ups can be extremely beneficial to your overall strength and to the golf swing. To set up correctly for a push-up, place your hands beneath your shoulders and your feet shoulder-width apart. Then squeeze your core and go to the top of a plank.
Source: iStock
Be sure to maintain a neutral spine, you can do this by positioning a light broom handle or a pool cue along your back to make it easier. Your body should move as one piece with a controlled tempo to ensure you are working the right muscles. Essentially, the push-up is a moving plank. To ensure your push-ups are using your full range of motion, your chest and hips should come close to touching the floor on the way down. If doing push-ups is too difficult, elevate your hands onto the side of a sofa, table or counter top. The higher your hands are, the easier the push-up will be.
Pelvic Rotation
When you watch the pros, one of the biggest differences you’ll notice is how well they can separate their hips from their upper body at the start of the downswing. This separation stretches the torso muscles, loading them with power and helping your swing sequence.
During this exercise, make sure you rotate your hips while keeping your upper body still. This is a great way to improve your mobility, which is required to create that all-important separation. You should feel a big stretch in your obliques, the muscles on the sides of your midsection. A good way to ensure you do this properly is to support your upper body by resting on one of your golf clubs.
Full Body Turn
This is an excellent exercise to improve your rotation in the backswing and the flexibility of your trail shoulder. Using a golf club will assist your turn and help you go further than you would otherwise. You should feel a big stretch around the ribcage, mid-back and shoulders during this exercise. This is also a great exercise to do before you play a round or hit the range
When doing these exercises it’s good to do 3-5 rounds of 5-10 repetitions per exercise, for any exercises where you do one side at a time, it’s really important to make sure you exercise both sides equally.
While I may not be winning the PGA Championship any time soon, it’s good to have professional golf back on our TV’s, not only is it something to watch but I missed having a little dabble on the pro’s while the globe basically locked down most sports, boo. I did have a go at betting on the NHL though while that was still running in their respective bubbles. Found myself flicking between a few different bookmakers however.
Thankfully our friends over at SportsBookReview have a Bookmaker Review which kinda helped me pick a few that work best for me. I’m yet to settle on one but it’s nice to have the experts help point me in the right direction, though I did find it crazy that some sites now accept crypto currency? Who’s betting with an appreciating currency? That’d have been like gambling with gold bullions in the 90s!
Anyway that’ll do it for today, hopefully you can use these exercises to help loosen you back up and build a little bit of strength before you get back out on the golf course. Or even if you’re just the type of person who likes to go out into the driving range, it’s worth doing some of these to prevent any potential injury. Good luck and happy golfing!
