Limited In Your Back Swing?

Here Are The Top 9 Regions to Focus On

Does your body have what is needed to complete each phase of the golf swing in the most efficient and powerful manner?

Here is a very basic summary, from the head down, of what each region of the body needs to be able to accomplish during a solid golf swing.

Cervical Spine (Neck):

• Rotation of 70 degrees.

Shoulder Mobility & Scapular Stability:  

• Full overhead elevation with arm reaching inline with ears without arching low back and flaring rib cage.
• External Rotation of greater than 90 degrees both in set-up posture and in standing straight without arching low back.
• Horizontal Adduction-able to reach across the body to opposite posterior shoulder.

Thoracic Spine Mobility:

• Independent rotation of torso in set-up posture without compensation of lower body.
• Trunk or Torso rotation of 45 to 70 degrees.

Lumbar Spine Stability:

• The lumbar spine is required to essentially stay stable during the swing.

Pelvis: Mobility & Stability:

• The pelvis should be able to tilt anterior and posterior, smoothly without upper body or lower body compensation. Posterior pelvic tilt capability ideally 20 degrees.

Hip Mobility & Stability:

• Hip Internal Rotation of 30-45 degrees.
• Hip External Rotation of 45-60 degrees.
• Also provides source of stability during downswing phase.

Knee Stability:

• Knees should offer stable connection to the hip and ankle region, so that they can offer optimum mobility.

Ankle Mobility & Stability:

• Ankle motion that allows an adequate base of support during set-up without compensation in posterior weight distribution due to loss of ankle mobility into ankle flexion.
• Ankle Stability to maintain ground reaction forces required in the downswing.

Wrist & Forearm Mobility:

• Wrist flexion and extension of greater than 60 degrees.
• Forearm Rotation of 80 degrees or more.
• Wrist Hinging of 20 degrees when hinging in direction of the thumb and 30 degrees when hinging in the direction of the pinky finger.

How do you know if your body has these abilities? That is where the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Physical Screen comes in to play.

BodyFit Physical Therapy offers a Golf Physical which features the TPI Physical Assessment. The Golf Physical can tell you exactly where your body is limited. Each region of your body is scored to produce a Golf Fitness Handicap Score. With this information, as well as findings from a complete physical therapy evaluation, your TPI certified physical therapist can then provide you with the most customized performance plan. 

If you are interested in learning more about the Golf Physical and TPI, then reach out to BodyFit Physical Therapy by emailing cindy@bodyfitphysicaltherapy.com or calling Cindy at 860-507-7365 to schedule a FREE Discovery Visit-A Consultation with a Physical Therapist.