This past Sunday for the first time since last summer, I (literally) dusted off my golf clubs and went out for a quick nine with my wife and my dad at the pitch and putt place close to my house. The shot of the day went to my dad, who had the closest shot either of us have ever been to a hole-in-one, on a 115 yard par 3 with a near slam dunk. His ball bounced about 8 inches from the hole, hit the flag stick ,and rolled to about 9 feet away. He hit the birdie putt too, by the way (aw yeah Dr. Ken!) We might be a little late getting out on the course for the first time this year, but hopefully this blog post finds you before you get your first golf injury of the season. Here's a few ways to prepare your body for the hopefully long and fun golf season ahead. 

1) Single Leg RDL  (Romanian deadlift) 

I've been rehabbing a knee injury of mine for a few months now, and this is one of my favorites because it does so many things relevant to so many sports. It trains your glutes and hamstrings, your low back, trains your posture, balance, and challenges your core in rotation, all of which are good for golf, but also running, soccer, lacrosse, rowing, or whatever your activity of choice is. Do yourself a favor and watch a few youtube videos  on good form or, better yet, ask me to run you through it at your next appointment. One tip I'll give you here is to make sure you keep your low back straight just like you would for a regular deadlift. You can use a weight like in the linked picture, or a band like I use at home, or just your body weight. It's a great exercise and you should probably be doing it. 

2) Wood Choppers 

Wood choppers are a great golf exercise because they so closely mimic a golf swing, and doing them with good form will help you swing a golf club with good spine mechanics (which will help both your back and your scorecard). You can do them low to high and high to low, rotating both ways. Keep the weight light and the rotation slow and controlled, especially in the beginning. Make sure you keep your low back long just like in the RDL, and keep your core muscles engaged throughout. This is another one you might want to ask your trainer, youtube, or your chiropractor (me) about if you aren't confident in it. It's a great exercise if you're doing it right, but, just like any other exercise, if you have bad mechanics you're setting yourself up for injury. 

3) Get Adjusted! 

I normally don't put this in blogs because it's kind of implied on a chiropractic blog, but I'm probably going to start because of how helpful adjustments are for athletics. Adjustments can help improve range of motion , coordination, decrease pain, improve short term motor control and strength , and overall just help you feel good, which is an important part of the Deion Sanders theory of maximizing performance . So do your golf game and your spine a favor and come on in for an adjustment before your next round. I'll happily take some of the credit if you play well and we can both blame your clubs if you don't. Have a great golf season!