Here’s the deal, everyone in my golf fitness world talk non stop about being mobile, improving mobility, flexibility, increasing rotation……basically, let’s make our joints move more.

Sorry to all you pro mobility people out there, but I’m going to head a different direction with this post and challenge you to consider another option.

I’m not saying to forget focusing on improving movement, but once statement that is often forgotten in the training world is that proximal stability improves distal mobility.  That means that if you want joint moving at their best, you better be able to stabilize them and that all starts from the center.

We talked about the glutes a few days ago, and they are definitely a part of this.  But for me, the game changer is grasping the roll of the lumbar spine and truly making it more stable.  Those 5 vertebrae are different from the rest of your spine and are not meant to rotate!  The only have 1-2 degrees per segment and equals a hole lot of nothing when it comes to swinging a golf club.  But, the lumbar spine takes a lot of crap form the rest of the body due to compensation.  If your hips and t-spine are not moving their best, they are going to ask the middle man to make up the difference.

In my experience though, if you place your focus on exercises to increase mobility in the hips and t-spine first, you are going to struggle up a storm with compensation.  Instead, teach you clients to truly understand how to utilize the muscles around the lumbar spine once they have achieved that awesome neutral spine.

Here are a few of my favorites for you to check out, the goal with all of them is maintain that spinal position and utilize those deep core muscles to get it done.  Once your client is effectively maintaining that position, then it’s time to ask them for some rotation or incorporate exercises that help provide feedback on any potential compensation.

As always, these exercises get way better if you have a cute puppy to assist 🙂

Have fun!

-S