This is not going to be a rant about social equality and how it relates to the golf world. I am a simple golf fitness instructor and my concerns are purely biomechanical. It is well understood that women are built differently than men. When talking about muscle fiber volume, the normal numbers thrown around are: women have half as many muscle fibers as men in their upper body. While I personally haven’t counted to verify, I have seen this statistic in enough places to deem it credible, so let’s go with it.
Well, if you look at the weight of a golf club. A women’s golf club is not half as light as a men’s club. Women have a distinct disadvantage for setting the club at the top of the swing. This problem causes lots of women to lift the club using less than ideal patters. Common ones are: by bending their elbows instead of hinging their wrists, by arching their backs (reverse spine angle) to make the club weigh less, or by standing up to take the load off of some back muscles. I have worked with beginners all the way to LPGA players and seen this simple muscle weakness play havoc in the ability to set the club on the backswing. Try these 5 exercises to improve stability in your upper body at the top of the swing. {Thank you to www.mtpi.com for the use of the pictures.}
Exercises:
Wrist 4 ways: 2 sets of 8-12 reps each
Hinge Extension
Flexion Rotation
TYLW-
T’s- (pics 1 and 2) arms come up perpendicular to your body (straight out, with thumbs up)
Y’s- (pics 2 and 3) arms go up at 45 degree angle from your body- thumbs up
L’s- (pics 5 and 6) pull your elbows to the sky and squeeze your shoulder blades, then rotate your hands to the sky (that’s call external rotation, just like in your back swing)
W’s- (pic 7 and pic8) bend your elbows to a 90 degree angle, then squeeze your shoulder blades together maintaining the angle
Do 2 sets of 5 reps each letter
Stability Ball Push Ups- Do 2 sets of 4-12 reps
Palm up Club Lifts- Do 2 sets of 12 reps
Lifts in Golf Posture- Do 2 sets of 8-12 reps
If you have any questions, just contact us at www.golffitnessguys.com. Enjoy!
Thank you for visiting Ladies on the Tee Golf Blog at www.sherrytabb.com. Your support of women’s golf is very important. Please contact us with any ideas or questions you have and we will do our best to address them in future posts.
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Tags: Dee Tidwell, game of golf, golf, golf exercises, Golf Fitness for Women, golf posture, golffitnessguys, ladies on the tee golf blog, sherry tabb
[...] response, golf community leader Sherry Tabb says, “let’s go with [...]
These exercises are great for all golfers, especially female players.
Shoulder and upper body stability is critical and these exercises will really help you.