WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.879 For members only. Golf Smarter number three hundred and sixty 2 00:00:05.080 --> 00:00:07.799 published on December fourth, twenty twelve. 3 00:00:07.960 --> 00:00:13.000 Welcome to Golf Smarter Mulligans, your second chance to gain 4 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:16.640 insight and advice from the best instructors featured on the 5 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:22.640 Golf Smarter podcast. Great Golf Instruction Never gets Old. Our 6 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:27.559 interview library features hundreds of hours of game improvement conversations 7 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:31.199 like this that are no longer available in any podcast app. 8 00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:33.920 Many of us are walking around with an imbalance in 9 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:36.679 our forearms. You know, we tend to be stronger on 10 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:40.920 the underside of our forearms because we're gripping things all day. 11 00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:43.719 So the muscles on the underside tend to be stronger 12 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:46.479 than the muscles on the top part of our forearm, 13 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:50.119 the expensers, which are responsible for kind of spreading out 14 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:50.719 our fingers. 15 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:53.280 Oh, when you say top part of the forum, you 16 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:54.880 mean the side of the back of your. 17 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.560 Hand, the back of yes, okay. And so because we 18 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:00.640 have that in balance with the flectors being stronger than 19 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:05.200 the extensors, that can lead to issues in the risk, elbow, 20 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:08.040 and even shoulder. Carpa tunnel. A lot of people have 21 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:10.480 carpa tunnel because of that in balance, and again, it's 22 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:12.959 something that a lot of people just don't realize that 23 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:17.000 they have. It just develops. Again, We're gripping doorknobs, we're 24 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.799 gripping chairs, We're gripping, gripping, gripping, and we really don't 25 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:24.280 do anything to balance out that strength by providing a 26 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:27.599 resistance to the extensors. I mean, how many times do 27 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:30.599 you have a resistance when you are going from a 28 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:34.640 closed fist to an open finger position? Hardly ever, so 29 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:36.840 you don't really get a chance to work those extensor 30 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:37.599 muscles as. 31 00:01:37.560 --> 00:01:47.920 Much dealing with and overcoming golf injuries with Bob Forman. 32 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:49.799 This is Golf Smarter. 33 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:53.079 Each week we tap the best minds in golf to 34 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:57.159 help lower your scores with tips, drills, insights and advice 35 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:02.159 in conversation with course pros, architect authors, players, teaching gurus 36 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:03.000 and coaches. 37 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:05.239 Here's your host, Fred Green. 38 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:07.640 Welcome back to Golf Smarter for members only. 39 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:11.560 Bob, Hey, it's pleasure being back, and thank you. 40 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:14.439 I appreciate you spending some extra time talking about this 41 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:18.280 because I wanted to go back for a minute about 42 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:20.599 you were talking about the C curve and the S curve, 43 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:26.280 the different postures that the golfers are suffering through. And 44 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:28.879 I'm not sure if it was you who mentioned this 45 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:31.240 or somebody else, but it was an epiphany for me, 46 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:38.520 and that was my posture at address bending at the 47 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:46.840 hips versus bending at the waist. And can you expand 48 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:49.479 on that? Because I found that when I'm if I 49 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:52.319 have this right, the bending at my hips so a 50 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:54.560 little bit, you know, about four or five inches below 51 00:02:54.680 --> 00:03:00.360 my waist, I'm in better position to get a good turn. 52 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:03.000 It just seems to make a difference when I focused 53 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:07.919 on keeping my posture starting you know, at my at 54 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:11.280 my hip joints and bending there versus just bending over 55 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:12.800 and hunching over the ball. 56 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:17.000 Yeah, I mean the hip hinge if they technically call 57 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:20.960 it is. You know, it's definitely much better when you 58 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:24.919 do hinge from the hip because that will allow you 59 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:32.120 to have a much straighter spine. I mean spines, not straight, 60 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:34.039 but you know what I'm talking about. When you look 61 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:37.080 at somebody from the side, you want to see their 62 00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:42.599 back relatively flat as they're addressing the ball. When you 63 00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:46.960 bend over at the waist, what happens is you tend 64 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:50.759 to get more into that rounded bode back posture, that 65 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:56.240 sea posture. So yeah, you know, between the two, you 66 00:03:56.520 --> 00:03:59.719 definitely want to focus on more of the hip flex 67 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.960 inflection a hip hinge. And a lot of times people 68 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:09.879 have difficulty with that because their hamstrings are tight. And 69 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:12.000 we talked about the tight hamstrings in the first part 70 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:15.599 there a little bit, and when in some cases, I mean, 71 00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:19.560 the hamstrings are really tight, and in that case it's 72 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:22.519 going to prevent you or it's going to hold you 73 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:28.120 back really from efficiently hinging from the hip because the 74 00:04:28.199 --> 00:04:31.959 hamstring won't allow that hip bone to rotate as you 75 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:36.519 are bending forward, so you tend to bend more at 76 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:40.879 the waste and get into that sea posture. So tightness 77 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:45.279 in the hamstring is a big factor for allowing you 78 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:47.319 to get into a good hitting position or a good 79 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:51.680 address position over the ball. 80 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:54.199 And now I think this is a good lead in 81 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:58.439 to talk about injuries, golf injuries and what causes them, 82 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:02.480 what we need to do about them. And I hate 83 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:05.000 asking multiple questions at once, but the things that I'd 84 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:08.240 like to cover about golf injuries are how do we 85 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:11.439 deal with them? Should we stop playing golf? 86 00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:12.480 How long? 87 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:16.600 Or play through it? Be tough, be a guy, be 88 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:19.800 a man, you know, I mean, like, what injuries are 89 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:22.560 we talking about that you see most of the time 90 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:27.480 for golfers. And I apologize for asking too many questions 91 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:27.800 at once. 92 00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:29.800 I don't like doing that. Well, I mean, you've definitely 93 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:35.879 got to be a man to play through it. Back 94 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:40.439 injuries tend to be number one, and there are multiple 95 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:47.759 reasons why that's so. Just having muscle tightness in specific 96 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:50.360 areas like the hamstrings, the muscles in the back of 97 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:54.519 the thighs, or the hip flexers, the muscles in the 98 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:59.040 front part of the hip, that alone can lead to 99 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:04.319 muscle low back discomfort and low back pain. Forget about 100 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:09.279 playing golf, just every day you know, living those particular 101 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:15.519 muscle deficiencies can enhance your incidence of low back discomfort. So, 102 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:19.040 I mean, a simple way to test for hamstring tightness 103 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:22.920 is just to stand up, place your feet together, keep 104 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:26.360 your knees locked and nice and easy, bend forward at 105 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:30.279 the hips, and reach down towards the floor with your 106 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:33.639 fingers as far as you can go until you feel 107 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:36.959 that stretch in the back of the leg. Now, the 108 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:40.319 goal there to pass that assessment that we do with 109 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:42.759 golfers is they would need to be able to touch 110 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:46.839 the floor with their fingertips, and if they can't, it 111 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:50.720 means that their hamstrings are tight, and the further away 112 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:54.040 from the floor they are, the tighter the ham strings, 113 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:58.800 and the greater the risk of developing low back discomfort 114 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:04.600 and pain. Now you combine that with the action of 115 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:07.560 swinging a golf club, you know, twisting the body and 116 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:11.399 exploding in the down swing, and it's like a perfect storm. 117 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:14.040 I mean, it's just you know, you're just waiting for 118 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:18.240 that back to get blown out. So in that situation, 119 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:20.920 you really want to make sure you focus on stretching 120 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:24.199 those ham strings, and there are specific stretches to do 121 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:29.199 so that you can enhance the flexibility of the ham strings, 122 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:32.720 and then a lot of times that alleviates the back issues. 123 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:40.199 Another issue that I see a lot, or another cause 124 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:43.360 for low back discomfort that I see quite a bit, 125 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:47.240 and it actually stems from the mid back, the thoracic 126 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:51.519 spine area. Now the thoracic spine. You know a lot 127 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:54.680 of people think that they get their rotation in the 128 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:59.519 golf swing from the lower back, and really the lower 129 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:04.720 back is geared more for stability strength, and it's really 130 00:08:04.759 --> 00:08:07.759 the mid back area, right kind of where the ribcage 131 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:11.759 is and stuff is really where rotations should come from. 132 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:15.399 And the higher up you go in that mid back 133 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:18.319 area towards the neck, the more rotation you should be 134 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:24.240 able to get. Now, there is an assessment that we 135 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:27.759 do with golfers to test to see whether or not 136 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:33.039 their mid back is tight, and many golfers fail that 137 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:37.679 test and come out with having tightness in that area. 138 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.200 And when you're tight in that mid back thoracic spine area, 139 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:46.399 what's going to happen is as you start to turn 140 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:50.480 the upper bodies start to rotate the body back in 141 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:54.000 the backswing and bringing the club back. If the mid 142 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:56.279 back is tight, it's not going to allow you to 143 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:59.159 really rotate as far as you'd like to in order 144 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:01.879 to get a good shoulder turn and a good backswing. 145 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:07.000 And so you get to a certain point and those 146 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.320 tight muscles are saying, you know, we're not going to 147 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:11.519 let you go, but you still want to go back further. 148 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:14.840 So what has to happen is you have to recruit 149 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:19.000 the lower back in the rotation, and the lower back 150 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:22.840 just doesn't like that. And so again you're swinging a 151 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:25.480 golf club, you know, hundreds of times during the round 152 00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:29.000 of golf. And if you're in that situation where your 153 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:32.799 mid back is tight and you're recruiting that lower back 154 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:36.240 into the rotation, that's going to start putting some stress 155 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:39.399 on the lower back, and over time you're going to 156 00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:43.879 injure the lower back. So it's interesting how you know, 157 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:46.919 tightness in the mid back and tightness down below the 158 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:49.919 hip and the hamstrings and or the hip flexers can 159 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:52.960 create low back injury and low back pain. 160 00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:59.360 I'm kind of surprised we've never really talked about the 161 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:04.519 mid back and what kind of injuries pains are we 162 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:08.360 going to have with mid back issues. 163 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:11.639 Well, well, I mean, like I say, you know, the 164 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:15.399 mid back is a big precursor in the mid mid 165 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:20.759 back is a big precursor for the low back discomfort. 166 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:22.360 Is actually okay, so it's going to translate there, But 167 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:25.519 I think it also translates if you know where you 168 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:27.679 were saying, where the turn comes from, it's going to 169 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:31.519 translate in your distance, your accuracy, your ball striking ability. 170 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.960 Right oh yeah, well yeah, you know again, you know, 171 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:38.200 if the the if you don't have that ability to 172 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:41.200 get the club back, you know, and the club he 173 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:44.000 doesn't travel as far in the back swing, it's not 174 00:10:44.039 --> 00:10:46.080 going to be able to travel as far in the downswing, 175 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:50.200 so you're basically robbing yourself of clubhead speed and that 176 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:54.879 inevitably cuts back on your distance. It also can cause 177 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:59.879 you to go into other types of swing faults that 178 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:04.240 can cause back discomfort. You know, the two most common 179 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:08.639 swing faults, I should say the two top swing faults 180 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:13.440 that lead up to back injury are reverse spine. And 181 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:17.399 basically what that is is your upper body is leaning 182 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:20.919 back towards the target as you bring the club back 183 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:23.559 into the back swing, I mean i. 184 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:28.000 Auto back swing. You're now your back your back is 185 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:31.840 to the target, and you're leaning in that towards that direction. 186 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:35.320 And you're leaning back towards the target. Yeah, ideally when 187 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:37.840 you get over the ball, all right, For our right 188 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:40.759 handed golfer, let's say your right hand is going to 189 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:43.519 be lower on the club than your left hand, so 190 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:46.960 that automatically gets your right shoulder a little bit lower 191 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:51.440 and your spine angling away from your target. All right, 192 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:55.840 that's your secondary spine angle left to right. Your primary 193 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:59.279 spine angle is your front to back right, So your 194 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:02.600 spine angle angling away from the target. Now, when you 195 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:07.240 bring the club back into the backswing. Ideally, you want 196 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.960 to keep that spine angle angling away from the target 197 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:16.679 because that's going to set you up at the top 198 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:19.200 of the backswing in a good position so that you 199 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:22.720 can initiate the downswing and the proper hitting sequence. And 200 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:25.679 that's starting with the hips, then the body, then the arms, 201 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:31.559 then the club. A lot of golfers, unfortunately, will go 202 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:35.799 into reverse spine, where as they bring the club back, 203 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:39.720 the spine angle now goes from facing away from the 204 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:43.679 target to leaning back towards the target. All right, So 205 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:48.279 can you picture that in your mind? So what happens is, 206 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:51.919 number One, you're in a bad hitting position to initiate 207 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:54.519 the down swing and the proper hitting sequence. So your 208 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:58.960 arms tend to take over the down swing versus your hips, 209 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:03.080 So you tend to become an upper body swinger and 210 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:06.039 you swing with the arms. You when you swing with 211 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:09.320 the arms, you tend to come over the top, and 212 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:12.000 you tend to cast the club out early in the 213 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:15.519 down swing. So because you come over the top, you're 214 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:17.679 going to have a slice, because you're going to cut 215 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:21.000 the ball, and because you're throwing the club out too 216 00:13:21.080 --> 00:13:24.120 soon in a down swing, you tend to increase the 217 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:27.120 loft of the club, and you tend to have more 218 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:30.039 trajectory upwards, so you lose distance and so you're not 219 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:34.840 a happy camper. But the other thing is is that 220 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:37.759 that reverse spine puts a lot of pressure on the 221 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:41.200 lower back as you come back down into the down swing. 222 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:47.759 It's actually the number one swing fault for low back discomfort. Interesting, 223 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.440 the other swing fault that leads to back injury and 224 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:01.720 back discomfort is called early extension. And what early extension 225 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:04.919 is and that deals with the hips. Now, when you're 226 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:08.200 standing over the ball and your arms are down hanging 227 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:11.399 down towards the ball, you have a pretty good space 228 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.879 there that you've developed from bending at the hips, you know, 229 00:14:14.919 --> 00:14:18.720 the hiphinge. And as you bring the club back and 230 00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:22.159 then you start your downswing, what happens in early extension 231 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:26.080 is that your hips will start moving towards the ball 232 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:29.759 and actually kind of closing down on that nice space 233 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:33.679 that you had before you started the backswing. And so 234 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:36.919 as the hips move forward as the arms are coming 235 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:41.639 down through the ball, they're basically getting cramped in there 236 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:43.639 and you don't have as much room, so you tend 237 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:47.440 to block and push the ball out to the right, 238 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:50.960 and so a lot of golfers, you know, a lot 239 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:54.200 of the smarter golfers will say, okay, well I got 240 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:56.320 to throw more wrists into my shot, and they start 241 00:14:56.360 --> 00:15:00.480 hitting the duck hooks. So characteristics of early extent scenario 242 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:02.240 either tend to push the shout out to the right 243 00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:04.919 all the time or you start hitting these duck hooks. 244 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:08.399 But the act of that hip moving towards the ball 245 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:11.399 again starts to put pressure on the lower back and 246 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:14.919 that's usually the second biggest swing fault that leads up 247 00:15:14.919 --> 00:15:20.000 to low back issues. Now, early extension, there's a strong 248 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:23.399 correlation between tightness and the hamstrings, and there you go. 249 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:28.639 There's you know the low back yeah end, or tightness 250 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:33.039 in the calves end, or weak glutes your buttocks as 251 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:37.039 far as Gump would say. And weak glutes are also 252 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:41.639 a factor just by themselves for low back discomfort because 253 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:44.399 they tend to be they should be the strongest muscles 254 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:46.799 in the body. I mean, those are your power muscles 255 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:51.639 in your golf swing, and they also will impact you know, 256 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:55.639 your ability, or I should say, we'll have an influence 257 00:15:55.720 --> 00:16:01.279 on your back when you're standing. So weak loots, tight hamstrings, 258 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:06.360 you know, just like I said, factors for for back issues, 259 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:08.399 and then you combine it with some of these poor 260 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:12.639 swing faults, and you know that's that's why Well, back 261 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:15.600 injuries number one. 262 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:19.279 And what about number two? And now we've been very 263 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:21.919 focused on the back, I was curious to also talk 264 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:27.840 about elbows, shoulders, knees, Yeah, what other what other barts? 265 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:30.559 Swing faults are going to create problems there? 266 00:16:31.080 --> 00:16:34.360 Well, elbows, let's let's talk about tendonitis in the elbows. 267 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:37.840 A lot of gods have pendinitis, and you know you'll 268 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:40.480 see them out there with the straps on their forearms 269 00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:43.039 to try to spread out the uh, you know, the 270 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:46.919 stress to the from the impact and the ball to 271 00:16:46.919 --> 00:16:51.120 to the greater area in the forearm. But in a 272 00:16:51.159 --> 00:16:55.480 lot of cases, the tendinitis develops because of lack of 273 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:01.320 range of motion in the shoulder and especially external shoulder rotation. 274 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:05.720 And there's a way you can measure that and determine 275 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:08.880 how much range of motion a golfer has. And ideally, 276 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:10.640 you know, we want to try to get the golfer 277 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:12.960 to about one hundred and ten degrees. I mean, when 278 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:16.240 you think about somebody doing the boy scout signal, you know, 279 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.039 with their arm out to the side and then the 280 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:19.759 elbow bent at ninety degrees. 281 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:21.119 Okay, I'm doing it. 282 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:24.480 If you start in that position and then from there 283 00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:28.960 you just rotate back your hand in your forearm, that's 284 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:30.720 external rotation in the shoulder. 285 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:33.000 Oh okay, how far should I be able to go 286 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:34.079 before it starts hurting? 287 00:17:34.519 --> 00:17:37.400 Well, you're going to start at ninety degrees, and you 288 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.720 should be able to go back at least another twenty 289 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:46.519 degrees okay to have sufficient external shoulder rotation. Now, some 290 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:51.960 golfers have difficulty getting just the ninety degrees. That's a 291 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:55.039 big issue anywhere between a ninety and one hundred and ten. 292 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:57.240 We want to start to work on some range of 293 00:17:57.240 --> 00:18:02.599 motion exercises to increase that arrangement. Because what happens when 294 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:06.440 you're swinging the golf club on the trail side, which 295 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:08.599 would be the right side for a right handed golfer. 296 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:11.400 As you're bringing the golf club back, you're going to 297 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:15.039 externally rotate that right shoulder in order to get the 298 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:19.519 club back. If you have limited range of motion there, 299 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:22.759 what's going to happen is you tend to either limit 300 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:27.160 your back swing or you tend to throw the elbow 301 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:32.400 out and have that flying elbow, or you'll change your 302 00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:36.519 swing plane. You'll start on kind of a rotational swing 303 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:39.799 and then go vertical with the swing plane, or you 304 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:43.200 go into reverse spine. So see one thing. A lot 305 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:45.000 of times one thing leads to another. 306 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.599 Yeah, I'm just gonna say that it sounds like everything's 307 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:50.559 interconnected here, that this begets this, begets this. 308 00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:55.640 Yeah. And if it's on the target side, so left 309 00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:59.559 side for a right handed golfer, as you're coming down 310 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:02.200 to the all through impact, you want to be able 311 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:05.599 to kind of extend out towards the target. But if 312 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:09.519 you lack range emotion in that target shoulder, that left 313 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:12.680 shoulder for oriented golfer, what's going to happen is you'll 314 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:16.920 see the characteristics is the elbow will kind of hug 315 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:20.279 the body as you go around on the follow through 316 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:23.759 as opposed to being able to extend out towards the target. 317 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:27.079 So you basically kind of shorten the arc of the 318 00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:30.799 follow through swing. And like I say, in either case, 319 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:33.880 and that's called the chicken wing by the way, swing fault. 320 00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:37.079 And in either case, you know you're putting a lot 321 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:39.559 of stress on the elbow and that tends to lead 322 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:44.200 to inflammation tendonitis in the elbow. So again it's kind 323 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:46.279 of interesting where you know, one part of the body 324 00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:52.519 will influence a different part of the body. Yeah, so 325 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:55.960 I mean exercises to help increase range emotion in the 326 00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:00.880 shoulder joint are definitely warranted in that regards. Again, you know, 327 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:03.119 with a little time and a little consistency, you'd be 328 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:04.559 surprised what a difference that can. 329 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:10.720 Make interesting lower lower body, lower half, knees. 330 00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:13.200 Ankles, knees ankles, you know. 331 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:16.319 Are those golfer the golfers complain about stuff like that, 332 00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:18.160 not as much. 333 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:23.359 You know, it depends again, a lot of it is 334 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:27.880 is kind of mechanics in that regards. If you see 335 00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:31.960 that a golfer, well, let's take the lead leg, you know, 336 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:35.440 on a golfer, the target leg again, a left knee 337 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:38.599 for a right handed golfer. You know, if you have 338 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:40.559 an injury to the left side of the body, for 339 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:43.240 a right handed golfer, it tends to be a lot 340 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:45.799 worse than the right side because that's where all your 341 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:50.000 weight ends up. And obviously for a lefty golfer would 342 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:53.000 be on your right side. And a lot of times 343 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:57.000 what you'll see with with the knees. Is that if 344 00:20:57.000 --> 00:21:01.960 a golfer has excessive movement in the down swing where 345 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:05.759 they tend to slide the hips excessively. 346 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:10.559 And that's very common, right, there's so much, so many 347 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:13.759 people that I notice, and I'm guilty myself of just 348 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:15.480 left to right hip movement. 349 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:19.119 Yeah, you tend to see it quite a bit. And 350 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:23.119 again there's there's various reasons why that occurs. But if 351 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:26.599 it's excessive in the down swing, excuse me. A lot 352 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:29.599 of times you'll see kind of that knee, that left 353 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:34.000 knee kind of buckle out a little bit, if you 354 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:37.559 can kind of picture that so so on a. 355 00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:40.519 Right handed golfer on the back swing. And this is 356 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:43.640 something that we've talked about a lot with like Tony Manzoni, 357 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:47.960 at least I learned it from him. So many golfers 358 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:51.960 they'll on their back swing, they lift their left heel 359 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:56.680 on their back swing, and then their left knee points 360 00:21:57.319 --> 00:22:01.119 too hard. Well, it doesn't pointing towards the ball. It 361 00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:03.599 should be pointing towards the ball, right, it should be 362 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:07.640 out that No, it like cuts across their body. 363 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:10.880 Yeah, yep. And then on the downswing what happens is 364 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:15.200 the knee the hips will start to shift laterally and 365 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:19.599 the knee actually starts pointing out towards the target, So 366 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:24.000 it's almost like your legs in a sideways V shape, 367 00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:26.359 and it tends to put a lot of pressure on 368 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:31.759 the knee joint I mean, and that that slide move 369 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:34.680 I mean the swing flats called a slide where basically, 370 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:36.799 you know, your left side of the body for a 371 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:41.559 rained golfer is moving too much laterally. It puts a 372 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:43.119 lot of pressure on it can put a lot of 373 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:46.519 pressure on the knee and a lot of times, you know, 374 00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:52.720 golfers do that because either they have lack of range 375 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:56.200 of motion in their internal hip rotators. So as they're 376 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:00.200 coming down through the ball and they're starting to that 377 00:23:00.279 --> 00:23:03.200 lateral movement, there should be a slight lateral movement in 378 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:05.119 the hips, and then you want to start to rotate 379 00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:09.039 the hips, but they can't rotate because their internal hip 380 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:12.319 rotators on that side are tight and in some cases 381 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:16.039 extremely tight, so that's not allowing that freedom of movement 382 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:17.880 in the hip. So as the golfer is bringing a 383 00:23:17.880 --> 00:23:20.400 club down, they start the lateral movement, but then they 384 00:23:20.440 --> 00:23:24.640 can't stop it, so they keep moving laterally, so that 385 00:23:24.680 --> 00:23:26.759 tends to lead to that slide move and a lot 386 00:23:26.759 --> 00:23:29.519 of times that tends to lead to that knee just 387 00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:33.119 kind of pointing out towards the target. And again, you know, 388 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:35.559 you do that over and over and over again, and 389 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:37.519 you start putting a lot of pressure on that knee, 390 00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:39.880 especially if you know the ligaments on both sides of 391 00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:43.039 the knee. Uh, and it just takes a toll after 392 00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:43.519 a while. 393 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:53.240 Do you ever see issues that? And again, a very 394 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:56.640 common occurrence on the backswing when you have that left 395 00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:00.359 knee for a right handed golfer, the left knee cutting 396 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:04.039 across the body, pointing, you know, behind you versus pointing 397 00:24:04.119 --> 00:24:09.079 in front of you, the right knee tends to lock. Yeah, 398 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:14.559 And that's a very common mistake that I'm learning. Actually, 399 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:17.759 when I don't lock my knee, when I make sure 400 00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:20.720 that I keep someflection, Is that the right word in 401 00:24:20.759 --> 00:24:24.599