Golf has gained a huge following in the past few decades with its origins being played for hundreds of years in Scotland. There are multiple options and ways to play including outdoor golf courses, golf ranges like Topgolf, and even simulators . Most golf courses are challenging and golf offers some great health benefits for all ages. Each round of golf can take from an hour to multiple hours to complete. With that much time on the course, you may develop some aches and pains along the course.
When walking the golf course, you can get an adequate amount of exercise that would be beneficial to you and your overall health. With the addition of using a push cart to carry your bag of golf clubs or even carrying them on your shoulder, you have the potential to burn some good energy. When compared to other sports such as soccer and football, golf is a leisurely and slow-paced sport, but it is important to prevent any injuries that may occur especially in the low back, elbow, and wrist. Some of the following factors like over use of the extremity, hitting the ground instead of making contact with the ball, and poor form can cause injuries to the previously mentioned body regions
Some things that can be helpful in prevention of injuries include warming up, stretching, proper footwear, proper technique and evaluation by a health care professional. A small warm-up and a slight stretch before each round played helps to prepare your body for the golf swing. When doing a warmup and stretch, try to focus on your back, shoulders, and arms by performing some slight mobility exercises such as some light swings. Stretching of the lower limbs is important because you walk on different terrain on most challenging courses. You can do some different stretches for the lower legs like simply reaching down and touch your toes to help loosen the hamstrings or by pulling your foot behind you to activate and stretch out the anterior thigh muscles. Hip stretching is also an important warm up and can be made easy for doing small half squats or lunges on the golf course before teeing off.
Proper fitting golf shoes that offer arch support are essential when trying to prevent any injury that may occur while playing golf. Having proper footwear can help support your body and feet when standing and walking on them for several hours as you would when playing a full 18 holes of golf. Golf lessons can also be beneficial for injury prevention and to learn to play the game correctly. Lastly, a proper evaluation by a qualified health care professional like Fletcher Chiropractic can be very important in injury prevention and injury treatment but also better performance in the long term. Trained health care professionals like Fletcher Chiropractic has the expertise and training to look at your body and technique to help you train, rehab and excel at your golf game goals.
Overall, golf is a great way to stay healthy and in good shape while clearing your mind from any stress. Give us a call at Fletcher Chiropractic and let us help you excel and stay in motion for a solid golf experience.