backswing

[takinitdeep]

I am having stiffness getting left shoulder under chin on backswing; anyone have any exercises or tips to get me back to my usual 90 degrees?

[BrianW]

Re: backswing

Hi Tom,

There are two things that can help us with our backswing rotation:

Allow the left heel to come a little off the ground.

Flare out the right foot.

Hope these help?

[bill reed]

Re: backswing

hi
try putting your driver over your chest and cross your arms with your hands hold it there and then make your normal swin and see how far your club shaft turns, then do this about 20 times, you dont have to do it fast, think of it like your streching, you will find if you do that for 10 minuets a day you will feel real lose by the time you next play.
try it it does work if you do it every day.
bill

[TeachingPro]

Re: backswing

I'd like to suggest we take a more cautious approach on this. We have to be very careful about dispensing phycial excercise or stretching unless we know about your muscle tone, range of movement and muscle stretch/reflex abilities.

If you can't get your left shoulder under your chin on the back swing, it may not be a shoulder problem, it could be that the muscles in your lower back or side are not allowing the twisting (torquing) of the upper body.

It won't take long and shouldn't be expensive and look for a personal trainer in your area. He'll ask you to do some range of motion tests and he or she will be able to give you excercise that will help, not just your shoulder but all the muscles that work with the shoulder rotation.

[bill reed]

Re: backswing

hi Graham
thanks for pointing out that you can harm yourself doing muscle streches.
bill

[TeachingPro]

Re: backswing

Hi Bill,

Well you can injure yourself very easily especially if you don't know what you're doing or what you should be working on and how. Each set of muscles are best developed in a particular way and that takes specialist knowledge.

I'm always very cautious when it comes to physical excercise or stretching if I don't have a reasonable about of health or mobility history to work with. When ever I take on a new student I run through some basic health and wellness questions and mobility checks. If they're going to be a long-term student I send them to a local personal trainer and we develop their golf skills complemented with physical development if they need it. I'm a great believer in a holistic approach.

[Timothy Slaught]

Re: backswing

Hello All:

One thing I might suggest that would not pose any physical harm would be to simply check your set-up position and tension level.

Make sure your chin is off of your chest as you set-up. In our ever ending quest to keep our eyes on a ball that is not going anywhere until we hit it, we tend to hold our heads and chests in a slumped over fashion. If you assume a nice athletic posture, your chin should be off the chest enough to allow the left shoulder to rotate freely under it on the backswing. Especially with the driver, the head should also be allowed to move with the shoulders as long as you do not change your spine angle up and down as a result. A little lateral freedom of motion with your head can work wonders.

You may need to get used to viewing the ball more with periferal vision. Also when you get behind the ball as you should be, the ball should be viewed by the left eye (assuming you are a righty). If you fixate too much with the right eye, it forces you to lock your head in a position that will not allow freedom of motion required of the upper body (shoulders as mentioned) in a powerful golf swing.

If you cannot afford a personal trainer which I know many cannot, perhaps you could get advice from a local gym just to get started with some stretching. Let them know that it is for your golf game.

I also recommend a holistic approach. 18 of them every day if possible.