5 Training Tips For Golf And Tennis
The shoulder is made up of a group of four muscles called the rotator cuff. This muscle group stabilizes the shoulder and allows it to move. These muscles need to be worked using light resistance and properly stretched to avoid common overuse injuries.
Golf and Tennis each involve a lot of rotational movement, especially at the shoulder joint and through the torso. In order to prevent unnecessary injury and gain strength to improve your performance, focus some extra attention on these key muscle groups involved in your game.
5 Training tips for golf and tennis
1. Side plank
- Lie on the floor on your side. Place your lower hand on the floor and straighten your arm, raising the top half of your body off the ground. Raise the other arm straight over you or let it rest on your side.
- Keep your legs straight, resting the lower half of your body on your bottom leg. Raise your hips to hold a side plank position. This will engage most of your core muscles, including your Quadratus lumborum.
- Hold this position for 45-60 seconds and then repeat on the other side.
2. Back focus stretching
Perform a standing hamstring stretch to help loosen up your hamstring muscles to provide relief from tight lower back muscles.
- Hold on to a supportive railing or wall. Place your right leg on a slightly raised surface, like a step or a curb.
- Keep your hips facing forward and your standing knee slightly bent.
- Slowly bend your left knee until you feel a very mild pulling or stretch on the back of your right thigh. Hold for 20-30 seconds and switch legs.
3. Side-lying external rotation
- Lie down on your side.
- Bend your elbow to 90 degrees and rest the elbow on your side. Your forearm should rest down across your abdomen.
- Hold a light dumbbell and keep your elbow against your side, then slowly raise the dumbbell toward the ceiling. Stop rotating your arm if you feel the strain.
- Hold the dumbbell up for a few seconds, then return it to the start position with your arm down.
- Repeat for three sets of 10. Increase reps to 20, after 10 gets too easy.
4. Core focus QL
The Quadratus lumborum is a deep, stabilizing muscle that connects the upper and lower body. It’s an important muscle for stabilizing the hips and spine, and it also works with the diaphragm to allow deep breathing.
5. Core focus obliques
The muscles at the side of your waist are called the internal and external obliques. The obliques are important for stability, especially for movements that involve lateral (sideways) movements. To activate these muscles, you’ll need to perform exercises that involve side bending or twisting.
