Golf at Altitude

Detailed pointers to improve your game.

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Turn to the Top

The Two Forgotten Fundamentals

by Tom F. Stickney II, G.S.E.D Director of Instruction, The Golf Academy at Cordillera

With the influence of Tiger Wood's fitness routine everyone these days is starting to focus on their own personal level of golf-fitness. This article explains a few sample stretches and the importance of each within your golf game. Remember you can never be too fit!

1. Standing rear deltoid stretch: Standing, pull the elbow with your opposite hand across your body until stretch is felt in the upper shoulder area.

In this stretching motion we are focusing on the rear deltoid, which is instrumental in allowing the arms, specifically the forward arm, to work across the body during the backstroke. This motion allows your shoulders to lead and power your backstroke instead of your arms to the top thus increasing your backstroke turn.

2. Sitting hip and low back stretch: Sitting on the floor, with one leg extended out and the other leg bent over the opposite knee, place your opposing elbow behind your opposite knee and gently push so you can look back behind you. Repeat in each direction for best results.

By stretching the lower back area you will have an easier time allowing more torque to be created between the upper body and lower body turns to the top. This motion, seen very successfully in the motion of Tiger Woods to the top, eliminates the tendency to lift your arms to the top and prevent faulty right knee action during the backswing.

3. Hamstring stretch: Lie on the floor, place your palms down at each side of you, with one knee up and the foot flat on the floor, and extend your opposite leg straight up toward ceiling. Repeat for each leg for best results.

When the hamstrings are stretched, your address posturel improves; when the hamstrings are tight there is little flexing of the knees at address or faulty posture from the waist. These two factors together permit the upper and lower body to move out of sync back and through the impact zone, allowing excessive hand action through impact.

4: Glute and hip stretch: Lie on the floor, extend one leg out, pull the opposite knee to your chest. Repeat on each side for best results.

When your glutes and hip flexors are tight you tend to slump over the ball causing imbalance by moving your center of gravity too close to the toes of your shoes. When this occurs the body tends to fall forward during the backswing and poor backswing movement results. This stretch is vital to maintain better balance at the address position and will free your body up to make a bigger turn to the top for more distance.

5. Hip and low back stretch: Lie on the floor, extend one leg out, pull the opposite leg to your chest with a bent knee, and gently pull this leg across your body toward the floor. Repeat on both sides for best results.

The motion between the upper and lower body to the top is vital for the production of torque and distance. The more flexibility between the upper and lower halves of your body the more you can wind up, increasing your X-Factor, and the farther you will hit the ball. If you are tight here, you will see poor hip action to the top and faulty right knee actions.

6. Obliques and low back stretch: In a standing position twist around a very stable lower body and hold. Do not bounce. Repeat in the other direction for best results.

The obliques are the main muscles involved in the twisting the top of the body over a more stable lower body - your X-Factor. The better you become at this motion the farther you will hit the ball within reason because you will be able to wind your torso up like a spring ready to explode. Players making this motion tend to keep the backstroke more on plane and do not lift the club to the top as easily; thus, they usually have better transitions. If you come “over the top” then this is the exercise for your game.

Tom F. Stickney II is director of golf instruction for The Club at Cordillera, located in Edwards, Colorado