Flexibility

[piersm2]

So I am 30 and have had a terrible snap hook the last year.  Figured out last week that I am not rotating my hips enough.  Power my hips through and down the middle of the fairway.  I need to improve my flexibility.  Are there any programs out there that work for flexibility and light strength training?

[PlaidJacket]

https://www.fredericksgolf.com/

This is applicable at any age.

 

[hckymeyer]

That also sounds like an ideal scenario for some Yoga

[dlow206]

Are you sure the snap hook is being caused by lack of flexibility and not some other issue? 

[Jchris05]

Not sure if it’s applicable but I was having issues engaging my hips in the swing last year and was talking to my local golf pro about it. He told me to start doing side planks for a few minutes each day. It wasn’t the perfect solution but I did gain more rotation and power through it 

[dlow206]

Try these exercises:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAAqXShlqWa/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[tony@CIC]

That also sounds like an ideal scenario for some Yoga

I'll second the yoga. As a poster boy for inflexibility (age=73), I can attest to yoga working wonders.


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[GaDawg]

https://stretchcoach.com/articles/stretches-for-golf/

[808nation]

Yoga does wonders

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[cciciora13]

I absolutely love a pirformus stretch and butterfly stretch to open the hips up. Then alot of the light strengthening can come from basic core and hip exercises; such as a bridge or bent knee fall out. Look up lower trunk rotation which is also another good one to try.

  

[ZenGolfer]

Id recommend yoga as well.  Id also recommend doing traditional planks and side planks.  

[alfriday101]

I recommend two things.  
 

1.  Yoga.

 

2.  The Alexander Method, or other similar program.  

 

The two work together.  Yoga stretches, strengthens and stabilizes.  Nevertheless, it helps to examine why your hips are tight in the first place.  What are you doing that causes your hips to tighten?  If you don’t get to the root of the problem, you just get into a cycle of continuing your activity that tightens up the muscles and then stretching out those muscles. If you modify the behavior that is causing tight hips, your muscles will stay stretched and flexible for longer and the yoga will be much more effective.  
 

I speak from experience.  I have been doing yoga for a couple of years. I am 62.  It has helped a great deal.  But, it didn’t take long between sessions to tighten back up.  (Albeit, I would not get as tight as I was when not doing yoga.)

 

I stumbled upon the Alexander Method in February when I read the golf book “Golf Sense, Practical Tips on How to Play Golf in the Zone,” by Roy Palmer.  I had never heard of the Alexander Method.  It is an approach to discovering the unconscious actions people take which cause harm to their bodies.  Once discovered, the method is a way to break the bad, unconscious habit.  
 

I carried a lot of tension in my shoulders.  I found out that I was unconsciously tightening my neck which caused my shoulders to tighten and get stiff.  For example, when walking up stairs, I would look down at the stair treads, but I would bend my head forward by tightening my neck and bending forward from the base of neck/shoulders.  My  balance was thrown forward and I hunched over.  Now I go up stairs with my head and neck relaxed, and back, looking down with my eyes, and if necessary, my head tilting from the top of my neck joint (which is located about even with one’s ears).  A simpler little change with huge ramifications.  My back and shoulders stay loose.  
 

Similarly, I am working on how I sit in my office and in a car to help with tight hips.  It is a work in progress, but I’m getting there.  My hips are staying loose longer and continued yoga is helping to counteract years of bad habits when sitting.