The answer is dynamic stretches. Dynamic stretches Dynamic stretching is useful before competition and has been shown to reduce muscle tightness. Muscle tightness is one factor associated with an increase occurrence of musculotendinous tears. More recent scientific studies seem to suggest that dynamic stretches before competition are preferably to static stretches. This may be particularly true for strength and power athletes. 

All exercises should have 5 second holds and be done 5-10 times.
Standing Cat n Camel/ Pelvic Rotation
Begin in your address position, arms across chest. Tuck the pelvis under then arch the back, creating a rocking of the pelvis into anterior and posterior position and return to a neutral spine. 

Trunk Rotation/ Vertical and Horizontal Axis
Standing in your address position, bring the palms together. Inhale as you rotate from the core and bring the both arms back. Mimic backswing then follow through with a stop at the address position.

Try the same exercise at chest to shoulder height twisting trunk and keeping arms in the parallel to the ground.

Standing Hip Stretch
Use a golf club for assistance with balance. Place one ankle on the outside of the opposite knee. Inhale as you bend your stance knee, sitting back as if you are sitting on a chair. Bring the chest toward the shin, rolling the shoulder blades together.  Reverse legs.

Shoulder Rotation Stretch
Place the club or towel in your right hand, palm facing the ceiling. Bring the right arm over your head and the right palm behind your back. Bring your left arm behind your back and clasp the club or towel.  Move the club up and down your back stopping when you feel a stretch and squeezing the club together.

Upper Trapezius Stretch
Bring the right ear toward the right shoulder. Inhale as you press your left arm toward the floor, exhale and relax the left arm.

Standing Shoulder Blade Stretch
Bring the club to shoulder height, bend your knees and tuck your pelvis under. Inhale as you press your arms away from you, tucking your chin into your chest. Exhale, lift the head and squeeze the shoulder blades together.

1) National Strength & Conditioning Association. Essentials of strength training & conditioning. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. 2000
2) Yamaguchi, T., Ishii, K. Effects of static stretching for 30 seconds and dynamic stretching on leg extension power. J. Strength Cond. Res. Aug;19(3):677-83. 2005
3) Shrier, I. Stretching before exercise does not reduce the risk of local muscle injury: A critical review of the clinical and basic science literature. Clinical J. Sports Med. 9: 221-7. 1999

Golf: Dynamic Stretches is a post from: Physical Therapy Services in Arvada, Colorado ~ Accelerate Physical Therapy

Purpose: Shoulder and mid spine mobility.
Stand feet hip distance apart with ends of club in both hands resting in front of you on thighs.  Inhale, extending both arms straight overhead.   Bend both elbows bringing club directly behind head in line with ears.  Lower elbows as much as possible and try to straighten arms still holding club behind low back against buttocks.  Reverse, bending arms at elbows bringing club back overhead and return to front. 

Shoulder Extension with Trunk Rotation 

Purpose: Promotes range of motion through shoulders and thoracic spine.
Stand tall holding club behind you with palms facing backward.  Bend from the hips to a flat back like a bow with club aiming straight in the air.  Rotate so club moves from parallel to perpendicular to the ground. 

Lateral Trunk Flexibility

Purpose: rib cage mobility in side bend.
Stand tall holding club overhead with hands wide on grip and close to club head.  Slowly bend from side to side with intention of lengthening spine and adding space between each vertebrae. 

Lateral Flexibility with Rotation

Purpose:  rib cage mobility in rotation.
Stand tall holding club overhead with hands wide on grip and close to club head.  Slowly bend from to the side with intention of lengthening spine.   Then, without moving hips or center of gravity, rotate ribcage so club turns parallel with the ground. 

Trunk Rotation

Purpose: Prepare body for rotation
Stand with feet hip distance apart holding ends of club in both hands with arms straight in front of chest.  Rotate club and upper body to the right as far as possible. Lift up on left toe to allow further rotation.  Goal is to rotate club 180 degrees.  Inhale return back to start position.  Repeat other side. Focus on tall spine lifting away from hips.

Shoulder mobility                                                                                                      

Purpose:  spinal rotation.                                                                                               Stand in address position with same hip tilt and spine angle.  Hold onto ends of club allowing arms to fall in place in alignment with feet.  Inhale prepare.  Exhale rotate upper body as if in backswing trying to turn shoulders, arms, and club.  Pause.  Inhale repeat to start.  Repeat backswing 10x.  Then proceed to follow through on opposite side.  Focus on controlled movements.

Quadricep Stretch

Purpose: Prevent injury and promote range of motion by warming up before round.
Stand and kick right leg back bending at the knee and grasp ankle with right hand.  Gently pull foot back while pushing hip forward to feel stretch in muscle between knee and hip joints in front of leg.  Repeat with left leg.  Club may be used as prop for balance.

Hamstring Stretch

Purpose:  Lengthen spine; stretch shoulders, hamstrings, and calves.
Use club for support.  Press heel down with toes up with a straight leg as you push your hips back.  Feel the stretch on the back of the leg from the ankle to buttocks.  Keep your back straight and head up as you bend forward from your hips.

Shoulder Push-Pull

Purpose:  Prepare shoulder pain for fast action during swing.
Hold the hosel end of a golf club behind your neck with your right hand.  Align the club down the back vertically and hold the grip end with your left hand near your buttocks, palm facing out.  Pull the grip down to stretch triceps, and push elbows out to stretch chest and front of shoulders. Then pull the hosel up.  Switch sides.

Golf: Static Stretches is a post from: Physical Therapy Services in Arvada, Colorado ~ Accelerate Physical Therapy

Forever looking for that magical move that takes strokes off your score probably leads you straight to the driving range to hit a few hundred golf balls. Sure! Practice makes perfect, right?  Even simple pre-season training drills will improve your swing, game and help prevent mid-season injuries for years. Let’s go golfers, other sports have pre-seasons. Let’s catch on!

What’s the bottom line?

The goals of any golfer are:

Increase range of motion in the golf swing.  Improved flexibility allows a complete backswing and extended follow through.  Having this full ROM will decreased chance of injury.

Add control and power to the golf swing.  Well trained muscles increase control and ability to generate more club head speed.

Improve energy and endurance.   muscular control will improve function and muscles will tire less through each round.

Reduce chance of injuries on the golf course through stretching and identifying uncomfortable movements.

Analysis of “Your Swing”

Leg and hip is responsible for power production initiation of the golf swing.

Trunk muscles transfer power from the legs to the torso to accelerate the club head.

Chest and shoulder muscles produce the actual swing action and play critical role in club head speed.

Arms are responsible for club control and largely determine club head impact.

Off-Season:
Three strength training sessions per week for general base and core strengthening, as well as for muscle control is sufficient. During the off season months is the best time to focus on overall muscle strength and enhance golf driving power.

Examples of exercises include all on machines: leg press, squats, hip abduction and adduction, trunk rotations, push ups, planks, standing hip extension, abdominal crunches.

Pre-Season:
Once you have a strong base and balance of muscle, you can maintain by reducing your total body strength training sessions to twice per week. Now is the time to develop sport specific skills utilizing tiny, but key muscles such as low back and rotator cuff musculature.

This program might include progressing to free weight and cable or theraband as resistance.  Exercises would include leg press, squats, hip abduction and adduction stepping with theraband resistance, standing cable trunk rotations, push ups, planks, U stance training with theraband leg swings, hip extension, trunk rotation and abdominal crunches.

In-Season:
Practice and Play! To prevent injury after long activity days with multiple rounds, you must take care of the sport specific muscles. Stretching muscles used will aid in not only assist in a better golf swing with a larger range of motion, but injury prevention as well.

The basic flexibility exercises that are relevant to golfers are standing or seated hamstring, lower back, and upper back and shoulder stretches.

These stretches will allow for the ability to play and practice more golf with fewer aches and pains at the 19^th hole as well as on off days.

Golf Exercise is a post from: Physical Therapy Services in Arvada, Colorado ~ Accelerate Physical Therapy

The Degenerative Effects of Inactivity is a post from: Physical Therapy Services in Arvada, Colorado ~ Accelerate Physical Therapy

Eccentric Exercise
Widely publicized in the early and mid 1970′s for its value in body building and fitness training, eccentric exercise has proven to be an effective component of the rehabilitation in tendinitis and epicondylitis conditions like tennis elbow.

Unloading Techniques
When exercise is applied while the effects of gravity are minimized, several conditions see benefits that otherwise might have been aggravated by exercise. The spine, shoulder and knee joints are commonly approached at Accelerate PT with exercise setups, which eliminate the use of secondary muscles that substitute for the weakened primary movers of the effected joints. A gradual progression in the loading of the joints facilitates progress in functional tasks including weight-bearing activities.

Aquatic Exercises
Another transitional form of exercise is submersion in water for both loading the muscles with resistance and/or to unload gravity from the body. Stimulation of proprioceptors and assisting the body to withstand longer duration exercise training are possible using public and private swimming pools and hot tubs.

Stretching Exercises
In addition to restoring range of motion for joint and muscle conditions, nerve tissue benefits from stretching techniques for the extremities and the trunk. Specific techniques carried out daily are important in the management of postoperative joint conditions and postural maladies including thoracic outlet and carpal tunnel syndromes.

EXERCISE HEALS is a post from: Physical Therapy Services in Arvada, Colorado ~ Accelerate Physical Therapy

Resistance training, whether through lifting weights, performing body weight exercises, or using resistance tubes or bands continues to play an important role as you progress through life.  First off, resistance training does build muscle mass.  The reason this is important is that the more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolism is.  This makes it easier to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.  Also, by maintaining muscle mass, you will maintain more strength and will fend off decreases in strength and power that occur naturally after a certain age, thus keeping you independent longer. 

Perhaps the most important reason for resistance training as you progress through life is to maintain bone mass.  It is possible to add bone mass through the teen years and up to about the mid-twenties.  After this, it is important to do all you can to prevent and slow age related decline in bone mass.  One good way to do this is through resistance training.  When you move a weight, the muscles required to perform that movement pull on the bones.  When this pull on the bone occurs repetitively, the bone adapts to this by adding more bone in that area to reinforce it.  So lifting weights regularly will continue stimulating the body to form bone.  Though after a certain age you can’t actually add bone mass, this process will keep bone density higher for longer, thus decreasing the chances of developing bone fractures secondary to osteoporosis or osteopenia. 

As mentioned above, resistance training doesn’t have to include heavy weights or lots of equipment.  Simple exercises such as squats and pushups use your body weight as resistance.  Resistance tubes or bands are often available in stores, are inexpensive, take up very little room when not in use, and provide a variety of exercises which can often be done in the comfort of your own home. 

Now that you know why resistance training is so important, try to mix it into your regular exercise routine for about 30 minutes 2-3 days per week.

Benefits of Resistance Training with Aging is a post from: Physical Therapy Services in Arvada, Colorado ~ Accelerate Physical Therapy

For Those Whose Back or Leg Hurts:

Ball Stretching

Ball Stretching – Rocking Technique

Bridging

Bridging with Ball Squeezes

Ball Stretching for Back and Radiating Leg Pain is a post from: Physical Therapy Services in Arvada, Colorado ~ Accelerate Physical Therapy

Prone Knee Extension

When you can bear weight (check if you are on an ACL protocol), and when you can tolerate pressure through the patellar tendon, move on to this exercise in order to recruit more muscle fibers.  Contact with the ground through the toe placement teaches important “proprioceptors”.  Transition to normal balance and gait depend upon your active stimulation of these muscles and tendons.

Prone Knee Extension with Hip Extension

Standing Knee Extension

Early Knee Exercise is a post from: Physical Therapy Services in Arvada, Colorado ~ Accelerate Physical Therapy

The Benefits of Therapeutic Exercise is a post from: Physical Therapy Services in Arvada, Colorado ~ Accelerate Physical Therapy

There has-been much research into bodyweight supported treadmill walking as an treatment.  A reasonable and similar alternative is aquatic therapy. The buoyant nature of water is similar to bodyweight supported treadmill therapy in that it reduces the amount of force transmitted through the joints of the lower body. When a person is standing in water, which is neck deep, 90% of their body weight is eliminated and at waist deep, 50% is eliminated.

Aquatic therapy encompasses any therapeutic activities, which occur in a pool. Often times these activities will include walking, balance exercises, stepping, etc. Using exercises such as these it is possible to target the hip and knee muscles which are often weak and in need of strengthening.

It is also possible to break functional activities into smaller parts and practice these with proper form in a non-painful environment thereby increasing the patient’s ability to perform the selected activity on dry land. By targeting these exercises to a patient’s specific needs and deficits in an environment of decreased weight bearing, we can make an impact on a patient’s functional ability.

Osteoarthritis? Exercise in Water! is a post from: Physical Therapy Services in Arvada, Colorado ~ Accelerate Physical Therapy