BACKSWING STRETCH

For the typical club golfer, training their body for golf comes a distant second behind training their technique. Yet it’s physical elements such as flexibility and strength that dictate the quality and consistency of your movement, as well as protecting you from injury. Training your body needn’t be timeconsuming or demand a gym membership; there are simple things you can do at home that take two or three minutes. Give them a try; just a little golf-specific training can take you a long way.

Wall reach

For this exercise stand side-on to a wall, your trail foot around 18 inches from it. Take your golf posture, arms crisscrossed across your chest. Rotate back through your rib-cage; From here, simply reach back until both palms are on the wall.

Slide the palms up

Once both palms are on the wall, slide your trail palm (right for the right-hander) upwards. If you can, try to slide the lead hand up to reach it. Maintain golfing posture as you do this. Hold the position for 10 seconds; you’ll feel a stretch through your arms, shoulders and upper back – areas where you need flexibility to create a wide, powerful swing arc. Repeat three times.

Advanced Increase the stretch

On its own, the Wall Reach can be a massive help with backswing length and extension. But to take this exercise to the next level, turn your lead hip and knee away from the wall while leaving your palms on it. Mimicking the upper/lower body separation that permits you to start the downswing from the ground up, this move will help you train a stronger downswing sequence.