Exercise for older golfers
Stretching
Dave Tutelman -- October 20, 2013
I am not an exercise professional. I am sharing these exercises with
you because they have done good things for me and may do good things
for you. But you do them at your own risk. Ease into them, so you don't
do something silly and hurt yourself. Any
exercise can aggravate an existing injury, or possibly even cause an
injury if you do it wrong.
The safest approach is to be evaluated by a trained exercise specialist
(physical therapist, personal trainer, TPI, something like that) before
you start a back exercise program. I have been doing these exercises
for over 20 years, I was a lot younger and stronger when I started, and
I am used to them. They may not be right for you, but an exercise
professional can prescribe exercises that are for you.
Stretching exercises can be done any time. This collection I do at the
end of my weight training. In addition -- completely apart from exercising -- I may also do one any time some muscle
group feels tight or cramps up.
There is no animation of the stretching exercises. There is a
reason for that. Stretches are to be held in a position that
applies a constant elongation to some muscle or group of muscles. There
should be no "bounce"; you're not trying to get any brief extra dynamic
stretch into them. In fact, you can hurt yourself that way. Just focus
on feeling a constant stretch of the proper muscles, and hold long
enough to let the feeling sink in.
 Wrist Flexor
Start with something low-effort. Stretch the front of the forearm;
that's where you should feel it. From this position, I stretch using
several different hand positions: forearms rotated in, forearms rotated
out, and wrists flexed downward. This way, I stretch the extensors as
well as the flexors, and the sides of the forearms, too.
 
 
 
Note that I keep my legs spread as wide as I can stand it. I hold
that for the first few exercises. It stretches the inside of the
thigh. In my experience, swinging a golf club (especially when done
incorrectly or off-balance) can strain these muscles. That has not happened
to me since I added this to my stretching routine.
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 Upper Lats, Rhomboids
Grab your right wrist with your left hand, and pull the right arm
across your body. If you are doing it right, you will feel the pull in
the back of your right shoulder.
Now switch hands and stretch the back of the left shoulder.
I am still keeping my legs wide and stretching the inside of the thighs.
A word about lat stretches -- this exercise and the next one: The lats
are stressed considerably in the golf swing. It is important to keep
them strong and flexible. I have had to change my swing
because it was injuring my right lat. At the time the injury occurred,
it had been over a week since I had done a weight/stretching workout. I
don't remember why it had been that long. But this sort of thing adds
urgency to regular body maintenance.
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Lower Lats and Triceps
Reach your right arm straight up, and bend it so your right hand drops
behind your head. The backs of the fingers of your right hand press
against the side of your neck. Grab your right elbow with your left
hand, and pull
the right arm to the left over your head. If you are doing it right,
you will feel the pull down your right side (lower lats) and up into
your right arm. Press your right shoulder more to the right to
amplify the feeling and cause better stretch.
Now switch hands and stretch the left side and right thigh.
Update December 2015:
John
Taylor suggested doing this with the legs together rather than spread.
In the past year, I have tried his suggestion and found that it
stretches the lower lats more effectively. I hope I still get enough
inside thigh stretch with the first two exercises.
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 Hamstring
There are lots of hamstring exercises out there. This is mine, but use your favorite if you have one.
Raise your right leg so your heel is resting on a stair about two feet
above the ground. Here I am using a ladder, but I usually use the
basement stairs. Keeping the leg as straight as you can, reach forward
to touch your toe. (I am pretty stiff in my hamstrings, so I can't
reach my toe; I get as close as I can.) You should feel the stretch in
your hamstring primarily, but probably also in the glutes and calf.
Now switch legs and stretch your left hamstring.
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 Calf
This is a well-known, simple exercise for the back of the calf.
Extend your left leg back as far as possible, keeping your left heel on
the ground. Do not let the left heel lift. If you are doing it right,
you will feel a lot of stretch pull in your left calf.
Now switch legs and stretch your right calf.
This stretch is also very useful:
- To treat a calf cramp, or ward it off if you feel it about to happen.
- Before a round of golf.
- Before or after running or bicycling.
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 Quads
You will probably need something to hold so you don't lose your balance. I'm using a door molding here.
Bend your right knee back, and grab your right ankle with your right hand.
Pull up on your right ankle with your right arm. If you are doing it
correctly,
you will feel the pull down your right quad (front of the right thigh).
Press your hips forward to
amplify the feeling and cause better stretch.
Now switch sides and stretch the left thigh.
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Last modified 5/28/2018
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