Let’s face it – if you haven’t already started you probably have 100 000 excuses not to! But that’s PRECISELY why starting mid-season is great, because you can have a soft landing and you can start with the all-important flexibility and stability and do everything that’s needed in an unhurried way. You will start to see changes happen easily and see your golf game improve “on its own”. I keep talking about stability work a LOT, not only because I also happen to be a Pilates teacher, but because I know how vitally important it is after so many years of training clients with various injuries and postural problems. Starting something new can be a bit tricky sometimes. Work, family, friends can all get in the way – I have a toddler in tow, so I also have a million excuses not to do things! But even a simple routine with just the very essential stretches and stability exercises will make a huge difference.
My very first post-baby round was delayed and delayed and when it finally happened, surprisingly I didn’t play as badly as I as would have thought. What really hit me was that I actually needed to improve my flexibility A LOT! Funnily enough, I actually felt pretty flexible in everyday life, but I definitely wasn’t sufficiently flexible for my golf game! As a junior I was very flexible so I didn’t pay any attention whatsoever to flexibility work, until after years of playing competitive golf and not stretching – I (suprisingly!) became very stiff. I stepped up my overall stretching game and got better at it, but I never was specific enough with muscles I needed to stretch for my body type, so some muscles groups were over working, never stretched and unfortunately I got injured. After fine tuning my stretching and stability work (with the help of a team of very smart people who later became colleagues), my game changed a lot in a very short period of time. Ever since that I have been a big fan of flexibility and stability work and always talk about it – even before I started working in the fitness industry! Flexibility should be part of everyone’s training program, unless you are over-flexible. Best part is that the results show up in a very short period of time!
Would you like to have a specific stretching program for yourself? Please get in touch by filling a form and till then – Happy stretching!
Best Riikka