By Pam Owens, Special to Lone Star Golf
Are you suffering from golf injuries or chronic stiffness? Do these setbacks limit performance? Year-round play, lack of movement and aging – something no one avoids – as well as the endless, obsessive pursuit of more and more club head speed takes a toll on one’s body. Many injuries, and certainly the swing compensations that accompany them, are due to mobility limitations.
All golfers want and need mobility. Typical efforts to stretch pre- or post-round rarely produce lasting change. Let me be clear: traditional stretching feels good and is helpful. But it doesn’t do enough to produce the kind of long-term results that will help you reach your golf potential.
Kinstretch is a new and more specific system to attaining mobility. Kinstretch combines flexibility with strength to give golfers more body control and many other lasting benefits, such as resilient joints and new ranges of motion. While traditional stretching mostly uses passive, more relaxing methods, Kinstretch uses active stretching that requires you to independently create and control your range. This is not as easy as it appears!
This comprehensive approach to mobility can give you the results you’re seeking. Many professional teams and athletes like Alex Bregman, the third baseman for the World Champion Houston Astros, and Roger Sloan, a PGA Tour and Web.com professional, have bought into and see the value of Kinstretch. That’s what I want for you too.
Let me illustrate how and why Kinstretch can improve your golf performance and resistance to injuries.
When we stop actively moving in certain ranges, our body doesn’t bother to maintain that range – somewhat like muscle atrophy. Doing set poses or passive stretches use limited ranges, which are not comprehensive enough for the demands of golf.
Kinstretch teaches you how to maintain more ranges in more joints with the daily routine of Controlled Articular Rotations (better known as “CARS”). CARS are a series of home-based, daily sequences that develop independent joint control. Independent joints are fundamental for more complex sequencing as in a golf swing. CARS also re-establishes communication from the body to the brain and back to the body, which translates to the golf course as better performance.
Segments Spinal Cat/Cow: Begin in quadruped position with back rounded up in the middle, head and tailbone down. This is cat. Begin to move the spine very slowly with great intensity in a wavelike fashion by bringing tailbone up, then lower back down, then ribs/stomach closer to floor, then sternum/collarbone to floor with top of head then moving up. This is cow. Reverse the movement starting from the tailbone moving toward the head back to cat. Repeat cat and cow twice a day. By segmenting the spine independently you'll be able to create more whipping motion and distribution of force along the whole spine during the downswing.
Hip Circumduction (Click for slideshow): Stand on one leg next to a wall for balance as needed. Lift your other knee in front as high as you can while keeping your pelvis and spine in neutral/tall position. Circle your knee to the side and back as high as your hip mobility allows. Do this movement twice from front to back and twice more from back to front on both legs. Be sure to create stability in the supporting hips/legs and torso throughout by contracting all areas. The standing leg/hip is working with great intensity trying to remain stable to allow the mobile side greater range. It is very common for cramping in hips and hamstrings to occur as you contract your whole body. Cramping just means you are working in new ranges that are weaker and working with intensity!
Many golfers don’t possess the pre-requisites for a powerful golf swing. Immobile hips, shoulders or upper spine will displace more force to the lower back or knees. That’s dangerous.
As we keep swinging with more force on immobile joints, the weakest link is likely to break. Despite working out, joints are most likely to be injured in the end ranges of motion when the load (the weight you’re lifting) is greater than the capacity.
Each golf swing is different and requires constant adjustments for all conditions and circumstances. Mobility creates the space to build strength and speed, which leads to power.
Mobility also gives opportunities to use your power on any lie with any club in all conditions. The more options you own, the more expertly you become at all movement required for all golf shots.
As a checkpoint, visualize your downswing from the top of the backswing all the way through impact and follow through. When you drive force from the top of the backswing consistently through the finish for any shot, you’ll produce more power. Kinstretch and CARS can help you attain the power you want. So learn and do CARS daily at a minimum, and try my Kinstretch sessions either online or live for lasting mobility and higher performance. Elite pro athletes and teams are practicing Kinstretch, and you can too.
Pam Owens is one of Golf Digest's 50 Best Golf Fitness Professionals and the Director of Fitness at Royal Oaks CC in Houston. To learn more about Pam, click here..