Golf Fitness Training San Francisco: Are Your “Tight” Hips Affecting Your Low Back?

Many of my personal training clients enjoy playing the sport of Golf. Many of us don’t consider Golf to be much of a sport, however the physical demands placed on the body are very high. I have worked with a considerable number of golfers and the major complaint I get from many are usually surrounding the lower back.

I spend a bit of time on the driving range which has given me some first hand knowledge of the toll swinging a club takes on a body. I combine this, with my TPI Golf Fitness Training certification, my years of experience as a Strength & Conditioning, along with my expertise as a Mobility Specialist to optimize my client’s performance.

If you’ve been golfing for some time, then you may not even realize the amount of imbalance, torque and dynamic inputs going into your tissues, repetitively.

Because I’m keenly aware of my own body due to my regular mobility practice, I can immediately tell what aspects of my body has been heavily used. It’s clear cut whenever I spend some time hitting balls at the range what parts I’m using most.

It’s for this reason I prescribe every client with CARs as a Daily Mobility Routine. CARs stand for Controlled Articular Rotations and give you an opportunity to move through your fullest available joint range. This is the baseline for all training with me and is a fundamental aspect of mobility work.

But what about your Hips?

Your Hips are designed to rotate. This is the fundamental movement of a hip joint. A Hip that does not rotate is not a hip. It’s just a dysfunctional joint.

If your hips don’t rotate well then the demands have to be placed elsewhere. Sometimes the lack of Internal Rotation of the hips on the backswing as well as through the downswing and finish can lead to demands placed on the spine. Unfortunately our lower back isn’t designed to rotate much at all.

With many of my golf fitness training clients, we not only assess to find the capacity for rotation of the hips, but we assess the spine as well. Over time, we build programming and training on to build and maintain mobility. Over time my golf clients have learned the tools necessary to maintain themselves before and after multiple days out on the greens.

Here’s an example of how I might assess Hip Internal Rotation

There are many reasons you as a golfer might be experiencing Low Back issues.

It’s important that if you are in pain you see the appropriate professional. Having an assessment by a Physical Therapist is probably ideal.

As a coach, I work to help you mitigate potential issues. I help you learn more about your current movement capacity and together we plot of path from Point A to all the points along your path that you want to reach.