Hip and thoracic rotation is important for activities in daily life and most of us would benefit from improving this movement. In this article, Oak Bay physiotherapist Grant Hutchings from Mountain Physiotherapy & Acupuncture will briefly address the advantages to optimizing hip and thoracic rotation for golfers, but he notes that there are many activities that benefit from bettering your body’s ability to rotate efficiently.
Rotation is an essential movement for your golf swing and the majority of this action occurs at your hips and thoracic spine. These areas work together with the other parts of your body to produce rhythm, tempo, and control. Rotation is also important for generating power, and helps to keep your clubface square to improve contact and accuracy.
Although there are many sport-specific ways to improve your rotation for golf, a baseline amount of rotation is often required to make progress. For most people, home exercises that improve rotation can help take your game to the next level. These exercises are intended to be pain-free and should not produce discomfort. If you have discomfort or significant movement limitations, please consider seeing a physiotherapist who is qualified to assess the cause for these restrictions and can diagnose the source of your pain.
1. Thoracic spine foam rolling
An effective way to improve thoracic rotation at home is with a foam roller.
“Although this exercise is not always comfortable for everybody, for those that tolerate this technique well, there aren’t many home strategies that can top foam rolling for improving thoracic extension which helps to improve rotation,” Hutchings says.
2. Knee drops and windshield wipers
There are also easy-to-do and gentle hip and low back rotational range of movement exercises. Hutchings has posted video demonstrations of these exercises at www.mtnpa.ca.
Finally, there is an exercise known as the Brettzel stretch that combines both hip and thoracic rotation and includes a breathing component to integrate the diaphragm.
“These exercises can be used daily in the morning and evening, or even as a warm up before rotational activities such as golf,” Hutchings says.
Visit www.mtnpa.ca and look under the ‘RESOURCES’ tab for free video demonstrations of the pictured exercises.
“In our next editorial, we will discuss our position on the importance of having a strong lower body base for golf, and will discuss some simple home exercises to develop leg and pelvic strength. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions at hello@mtnpa.ca. Enjoy the nice weather and have an awesome day!”