Get To The Top Of Your Swing With Stretching

Just picture your arm position at the top of your swing. Get up and make a swing and look at your right arm (if you are right handed) and shoulder position.

Your shoulder is rotated outward exposing your armpit. If you have a rotational restriction on that shoulder, you will never achieve an optimal top of the backswing position.

If you have been struggling with this phase of your golf swing, this may be the cause. Take a look at the picture to the right. I am doing a dynamic overhead stretch with a club.

When doing this golf shoulder stretch exercises, make sure to keep your arms as straight as you can. You will find it difficult to get vertically above your head. Do this 10-15 times before you practice and play and it will make a big difference.

Strengthen And Stretch Your Rotator Cuff Muscles

The rotator cuff muscles are the critical ones to emphasize in your shoulder training program. The rotator cuffs play a crucial role in getting to the top of your backswing consistently, and making a full follow through in your finish.

Whenever I see a golfer who "chicken wings" his follow through, I know he has a diminished external rotation in his shoulders. With the simple golf stretching exercise above, along with a few others, you will be swinging perfectly

A simple golf strength and stretching exercise combo for your rotator cuffs is in the picture above. I apologize for the quality of the picture, and my attire, but I wanted to show you something in this article.

Improve Backswing With Stretches For Golf

You can also add specific stretches targeting your backswing shoulder muscles. Golf stretching exercises for this area would focus on the back of the lead shoulder and upper back muscles as well. Tightness in this area will create a higher level of tension early on in the backswing.

Get up and make a backswing and notice how early the tension creeps in with the back of your lead shoulder. My guess would be you feel it early on. Much sooner than reaching that 90 degree shoulder turn.

A Powerful Follow Through

The follow through is never emphasized with most golfers. Here is how I know. How many times have you looked at your backswing in the mirror, but never your follow through? How many times do you make a backswing at any point in the day, but not a follow through?

Stretching this area is focusing on the back of the non lead shoulder (ie. the right shoulder for a right-handed golfer) specific to the follow through. Do this and I promise you, you will hit the ball further since you will be swing "all the way through the ball".

By: Mike Pedersen

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