By Dr. Nicola Sacchi
Every sport has different technical and athletic characteristics, therefore athletic preparation must guarantee a specific physical improvement for these characteristics.
Analyzing the motor pattern of the technical gesture in golf it is clear how to make a good hit with the club it is necessary to express the strength of the whole body through the swing, the basic movement of the game. In fact, this gesture is based on the torsion of the torso, exploiting the expression of explosive force and muscular elasticity in movement. For this reason, in order to guarantee the maximum performance of the player, it is necessary to acquire the ability to best employ all the muscular kinetic chains involved in the twisting and improving:
- muscle elasticity, to increase movement and make it more effective,
- the expression of the explosive force guaranteed by the ability to contract the largest possible number of muscles in a strong, fast and synergistic way
- coordination to express a correct blow,
- the control of one's body in terms of balance and proprioception to guarantee the precision necessary to perform a perfect shot.
In golf the development of important muscle masses has no use, therefore its strengthening will not be aimed at the tropism of the muscles but at the increase of the aforementioned muscular abilities, in fact the athletic training is clearly different from the classic work that generally takes place in a fitness center.
Examining the posture and the technical gesture of the golfer during the effort it is evident that the body is stressed in a twisting movement, this means that it must also be trained athletically in this way and that the greatest risk faced by the player is certainly an overload of the back muscles, to a large extent stressed by the twist itself. In particular, the lumbar musculature, if not well trained, both in terms of strength and elasticity, could lead to annoying pains.
It must also be remembered that striking with a club causes great tension even in the elbow and shoulder joints, which can also suffer inflammation due to exertion, if not sufficiently trained and strengthened. Therefore the upper limbs also need to be trained appropriately.
Obviously a strong tree must have good roots, for this reason it is absolutely essential to strengthen the legs, also because the legs support the individual not only in the game but also in all phases of daily life, so a workout cannot be defined as functional if does not provide a substantial strengthening work for the lower limbs.
As repeatedly stressed, the muscular elasticity of the trunk is certainly a fundamental component of the golfer's athletic training, so a good dose of stretching through stretching or yoga serves to complete the course.
One last point concerns the fact that golf is an asymmetrical sport since the gesture with the bat always develops towards the same side, therefore the preparation must go to compensate for the imbalance of symmetry that is generated between the two sides of the body, then to guarantee this, each exercise must be carried out on both sides of the body in the same way and with the same commitment.
By organizing a workout according to these considerations any golf player can considerably improve his or her capacity on the field.
