Ever wonder how Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson can hit the ball 350 yards? You swing as hard as you can and it goes 245 and 120 of it is into the woods. The answer is that they practice a lot. Oh wait, they also have amazing ability to rotate through their upper back. This allows them to use their hips and core muscles to create power in their swing. People who lack mobility in their upper back tend to use their arms to create power. As we know, your hips, core, and legs are way more powerful than your arms. If you see in this picture below, Tiger Woods rotates in his back swing without his hips turning really at all. I consider this like a sling shot, he is winding up his back swing and as he comes through is able to create an immense amount of power.
Compensation
Lack of upper back rotation can cause you to compensate by rotation at your low back or hips.
- Lower back rotates to compensate for upper back tightness
- Hips shift back to compensate
- Elbows bend to compensate
All 3 of these things can lead to diminished power and possible pain and injury.
How do we get tight?
Our modern day desk jockey will probably find that they have trouble. This is due to the fact that if they are hunched at a desk all day they probably have a rounded upper back posture. A rounded spine is not a happy spine and therefore does not like rotation. Also a muscle imbalance in which the front of the body has more strength and is therefore tighter than the backside can cause the spine to lack rotation.
Assessment
How do we know what an ideal upper back looks like? Try this test out:
Inadequate-45 degrees or below
Adequate-65-75 degrees
Ideal-85-90 degrees
The fix
Include these in your warmup for golf or just do these everyday when you wake up.
-Upper back foam roll x 1:00
-Side lying windmills x 12 per side
-Hands and knees rotation x 12 per side
-PVC grab plus rotation x 12 per side
-Thread the needle x 12 per side
Creating Strength
Once we have the requisite mobility and this is not limiting us we need to add stength to our swing. I like adding some rotational and anti rotational exercises in. Here are my top 5:
-Med ball scoop toss x 8-10 per side (light ball)
-Split stance scoop toss x 8-10 per side
-Anti rotation band hold x :30 per side
-Banded Clamshells x 12 per side
-Suitcase Carry x 50ft a side
-Cable chop pull x 12 per side
Make sure to add these in to your golf routine. Also, a good warmup before playing is definitely key to keeping your swing steady. We have all had those times when we dont warmup and we pla ybetter on the back 9.
Any questions on improving your golf power or mobility please email me.
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