Try this one to see how your latissimus dorsi range is. Why? Becasuse tightness in this muscle can limit your rotation on the backswing and follow through and also force you to ‘lose your posture’ during the swing.

In swing terms it means enemies like reverse spine angles, limited width and over the top moves – All robbers of Power and Consistency.

Let me know how you get on:)

1.Stand yourself with your back against a vacnat wall. Squat down (bend your legs) until your knees and feet are just short of 90 degrees.
A shoulder width stance will suffice.

2. Extend both arms out infront parallel with the floor with thumbs pointing skyward and a basketball width apart.

3. Raise your arms straight up infront of your body without bending the elbows. Keep thumbs pointing upwards during movement.

4. The ‘test’ concludes when the following occurs;

arms reach wall the lower back arches to compensate Pain/discomfort is present you bend your elbows.

Great to have a fitness guy onboard! I managed to get my thumbs to reach the wall quite easily. Does that mean I don’t need to work out the relevent muscle group?

Hi MrConsistency,

Probably why you are consistent!

Well done, sounds to me like your lat range is suited to perform a functional golf swing.

*Heres a tip – Without seeing you in person I would police your low back posture carefully during this move to ensure you are not arching your back accessing range from the wrong area.

Nah no arching here, back is along the wall the whole way along the spine. I did flexibility stretches twice a day 2-4 times a week for a couple of months so that may have helped.

My lower back is arching about 2-3 inches from my thumbs reaching the wall, no other symptoms… Great to have someone that can give feedback and functional tasks such as this for assessment. Cheers

quick question SF, where should the feet be in relation to the wall?

I’m very flexible and was able to do the stretch with my feet more or less against the wall (sore on the quads) and with my feet out about 12 inches.

Both ways were very simple for me to reach back and touch the wall but feet out a bit was easiest.

Styles:

The quads should be just above parallel to the ground forming just slightly more than a 90 degree angle with the shin. It’s a “wall sit” position. (Correct me if im wrong Sling, that’s just my interpretation)

Sling:

Great post, let’s get more of this stuff going? I don’t think people realise how important fitness (range of motion and golf strength) are.

Test results: Touched wall with thumbs, flattened lower back (core control)... Only drama was my traps/upper back flared so much with contraction when arms got over parallel I had to reach further ;-) lol

Lats/Mid back complex is SO important in the golf swing especially for power!

Apart from the core the majority of the muscles powering the swing are behind you! Don’t just train what you see in the mirror, they are primarily “Beach Muscles!”

Definitely is great to have someone on board giving out all these tips.
It may even be a good idea to start up a forum on fitness, as it is becoming more and more popular in the golf industry.

Would be nice psoul… Guru? Admin?

I’m not sure it warrants a whole new area – but we’ll keep an eye on it.

Cool… thanks for the response

Great work guys and girls the test results give you the required feedback to see what your latissimus dorsi muscle allows your golf swing to do.

Aussie Bomber pointed out the wall sit position which is preferred for this test. The key area is the neutral posture of the low back. Set up the natural curce and maintain it at all costs so the feedback is real.

More to come…..........:)

I haven’t done the test yet, but if I can’t touch the wall, how do I improve these muscle groups?

I’d love to know of some flexibility stretches. Mr C and Sling, what do you suggest?

Now, for the one that I’m sure Racin is gonna have a dig at…

...Pilates is meant to be great for Core Strength, which I believe in turn is great for your swing. Anyone have any advice on it for golf? (OK…Now here come all the chick jokes…be careful, because I’ll bring all the Mum jokes :P )

Hi MegaWatty,

Thanks for the chance to help you.

Before all the potential Pilates jokes start a word of warning…...REAL Pilates as created by Joseph Pilates is fantastic, and as designed is a blend of core strength, body control, flexibility and breathing all in one.

The average commercial pilates is however all together different. Like most things in life check it out before you treat it is a be all and end all. It always comes back to the teacher and their skill in assessing you and precribing suitable exercises/movements based upon their findings.

I have joined the gyum 3 months ago and got the guy to design me a golf foccussed program

I have foccussed much of work on cardio(bike stepper rower)...why because its late in rounds when we get tired from walking and swing that errors creep in….basktball coaches get guys to practice free throws after wind sprints….this makes them practice tired

rowing machine has been great…core stability is the key…heaps of sit ups with a medicine ball also…and

yes and pilates is great for golf….hot chicks go to pilates so its worth going for the view :-)

youre not going to suddenly hit it 20 meters further by weight training what you will be able to achieve is a consitent swing right to the last hole…without fatigue kicking in

have you ever seen a course with easy holes at the end…??...nup they are usually the toughest holes

Hi Dave,

Great to hear you are trying to get Golf ‘fit’.

The big trap to watch is thinking core stability is sit ups! Sit ups are purely a flexion dominant movement which although good for causing a burning in your belly do little for core stability and/or golf. They will help you sit up to get out of bed though but like most of us you only perform that once a day.

Heaps of sit ups with a medicine ball should be expanded to heaps of functional exercises with a medicine ball like wood chops, reverse wood chops, golf swing tosses, reverse over head tosses, rotations and walking lunges etc.

Keep up the good work and don’t be scared to use your imagaination your body and your golf will thank you!

Sling,

Is the Slingfitness product able to help golfers much, or is the medicine ball the best way? Do you know a web site that shows the above medicine balls exercises?

Sounds like a loaded advertisement…It’s not.

Hi MegaWatty,

Mate the key is finding something that works for you and making that decision, a bit like a golf club really.

I won’t give you any feedback on what I’m involved in but like anything have a good look around and listen to what is being offered, and what this will mean to your body and the subsequent performance benefit.

Getting Golf ‘fit’ is very specific as we all know it is a game which demands much from the body physically at near maximum effort. So before you lift a finger think about why you are doing it and what the flow on effect will be.

Most people who train have know idea what they are doing or what their clear goal is, they just know that they should be training.

Have fun!

So I’m a fat bloke and I am able to get my thumbs to reach the wall without arching or pain or anything…what exactly does this drill excercise, whatever you want to call it mean?

MegaWatty, I wish I could remember the exercises, it was on the about.com site and was just a list of them with pictures next to it. I haven’t been able to find it since I have looked at starting it all again. As for pilates… well.. Nah I actually did it for a stint and I definitely felt improvements in the core not too sure what it did for the golf swing, but the effect certainly wasn’t negative.

The test is designed ta assess the range of one of you major posterior muscles – your lats.

If you touched the wall with your thumbs withour arching your back and didn’t feel any discomfort – well done!

One area of your body is suitable for golf:)

Let’s move on to the next test…......coming soon.

first thing, once your thumbs touch the wall should they be still pointing skywards? The other thing, my understanding of pilates is that it builds muscle strength and flexibility without building muscle bulk,is this correct?

Firstly, I am definitely not at all fit for Golf…man I am almost unfit for breathing :-) However, I decided to try this, I had no trouble doing it at all, I did however have trouble with the squat down bit. I am assuming I am suppossed to be like sitting in a chair except my back is flat up against the vacant wall…is this correct? If so, my lats are great, my Quads are really bad…

Hi Glenbo,

Your information on Pilates is somewhat correct.

What basically happens is that most Pilates movements integrate a full range of muscle motion/movement which encourages flexibility and strength all in one. Many gym goers training with weights only move part of the available range thus building short tight bulky muscles suited for mirrors and tight t shirts not movement.

Full range of motion is key be it pilates, weight training, classes whatever.

Hi Dave,

Great to hear you are trying to get Golf ‘fit’.

The big trap to watch is thinking core stability is sit ups! Sit ups are purely a flexion dominant movement which although good for causing a burning in your belly do little for core stability and/or golf. They will help you sit up to get out of bed though but like most of us you only perform that once a day.

Heaps of sit ups with a medicine ball should be expanded to heaps of functional exercises with a medicine ball like wood chops, reverse wood chops, golf swing tosses, reverse over head tosses, rotations and walking lunges etc.

Keep up the good work and don’t be scared to use your imagaination your body and your golf will thank you!

Yours in Sling Fitness,

P: 1300 88 44 91
W: www.slingfitness.com
E: info@slingfitness.com">info@slingfitness.com

thanks

yeah none of the gym guys at the fitness centre I go to knew anything for golf…one was quietly snickering away thinking golf was played with a 7 iron and nothing else….little does he know

What I want is body to performs the same after 80 odd shots and 7 km walk as it does on the first tee…

thanks for you contact info, might shoot you an email

I do the sit up where I take the medicine ball from side to side…I used a weighted stick also (which the gym guys actually made for me specifically)

at the moment its mostly burn the fat as much as I can…..then work from there