Stretching For Golf

Flexibility through stretching for golf is often ignored by most, used ineffectively buy others or even worse causes damage to people who go ahead and practice aggressively without it.

Many golfers recognize the importance of endurance, strength, power and speed, but many neglect the importance of flexibility and stretching for golf.

This may be because:

* Flexibility is usually less obvious to overall performance.

* Flexibility training demands frequent, patient and sometimes tedious work and the gains may seem low.

* Its value in injury prevention and rehabilitation is not understood.

* Its contribution to performance enhancement is often underestimated.

Tiger Woods stretches his entire body focusing on the muscles of the legs and trunk.

Then a trainer assists him with physical therapy to help his body to prepare the joints for the rigors of swinging a golf club.

Correct flexibility training or stretching for golf is much more than a mechanism for increasing the range of movement at a joint. It is also a way of integrating the other components of fitness and performance and preparing the muscular system for quality action.

Flexibility is important because it conditions soft tissue so there is less resistance to movement and joints can be protected against damage.

This allows specific movements to be conducted more effectively, through a fuller range of movement, thus improving skilled actions and reducing the risk of injury. It also effectively lowers the energy cost of an activity, as less internal resistance exists. The activity of muscle stretching and the consequential improvement in flexibility can be seen to have general health benefits as well as contributing to specific fitness and performance.

Flexibility training should not change the tissue of the joint but can improve its function, in the same way that the functioning of a door can become rusty, stiff, and slow to move if the hinges are not regularly used and maintained.

Flexibility work can help to:

* Enhance sports performance, by improving the muscle and deep fascia which supports it and forms the tendon attachment to the bone.

* Maintain healthy and free moving joints by increasing the availability of synovial fluid in the joint. Synovial fluid is a nutrient and is supplied to joints as a result of movement in the joint. When underused, the range of effective motion at a joint will reduce as parts of the joint deteriorate through underuse. When full range movement is practiced, the joint is kept healthy and moves freely.

If the muscle is short or tight, it will restrict the movement potential of a joint. For example if the quadriceps contract, but the hamstrings resist, motion at the knee could be restricted.

Muscle contractible tissue can be stretched well beyond the maximum achieved in normal use. The fibrous tissue around the knee restricts movement. By stretching the muscles, the fibrous tissue is stretched and encouraged to separate from itself. Unlike ligaments, this tissue is high in elastic fibers. Stretching encourages this tissue to move easily, become longer and resist the movement less, so increasing flexibility.

Flexibility Training

Tendon, muscle and fascia are the elements which should be addressed by flexibility training.

Flexibility training should conform to the basic principles of training.

*Progressive Overload

Progressive overload is repeating an activity which puts the body under stress to stimulate an adaption or change to accommodate to the stress. Following accommodation, overload is increased.

*Specificity

Training should be specific. To strengthen a muscle to do a job, the training must replicate the action as closely as possible.

*Reversibility

If you don't use it, you lose it. Once training stops adaptations are lost. The loss occurs quicker than the preceding gain.

*Individual differences

Genetic differences between people will affect how training is manifest.

Warm Up

Warm up has an effect on flexibility development. Warm up is used to increase local muscle temperature a 2 degree increase will produce many functional effects. The warmth seems to increase the extensibility of tendons, ligaments and other connective tissue, rather like warming a piece of plastic allows it to be pulled out more easily. The viscosity of synovial fluid and muscle is reduced so there is less resistance to movement.

Warm up is recommended for flexibility work as the aim to reduce resistance and extend tissue towards its limits. As performers are often producing large amounts of heat they become good at dissipating that heat. Although some heat is advantageous, performance is limited if they become too hot.

Warm up for flexibility work needs to be thorough, clothes and conditions to maintain the heat are necessary. Re-warming up is a necessity during flexibility work as a long session of slow, inactive stretching will soon cool you down

Information Gathered from P.G.A Professional Development Programme P.D.P Referred Text: Pyke, Frank S. Better Coaching: Advanced Coach's Manual McMaster, Ramsey and Chim, James, Get Fit For Golf part 2