Thoracic spine mobility exercises for golf might be the most important thing you learn this season.
Although golf does not require supreme athleticism, it does require the coordination of the movement of multiple body segments through a large range of motion. As a result, if you are limited in certain areas it can lead to a reduction in power in your swing and an increased risk for injury while golfing. The 2 most common areas where golfers are lacking in range of motion are the hips and thoracic spine. If your thoracic spine is tight, it can lead to problems in both the shoulders and lower back. Today I would like to show you thoracic spine mobility exercises for golf. It’s a 5-10 minute routine that you can do at home to improve your thoracic spine mobility and implement it into your golf swing.
If you like this, and want more detailed instructions we have more in depth programs for upper body mobility for golfers, and lower body mobility for golfers.
1. Start by foam rolling your thoracic spine
Place the roller behind your shoulder blades and slowly roll up and down from the base of your neck to just above your lower back. Try to extend your upper back, backwards over the roller as you go. Do this for about 3 minutes.
2. Active-assisted press-ups
On your hands and knees with your butt sitting on your heels and your chin tucked, extend up through your thoracic spine using your hands to press into the ground for help. Do about 20 repetitions.
3. Thoracic spine rotations
On your knees, sitting back on the heels place on forearm on the ground and the other one behind your back. From there try to rotate through thoracic spine, opening your chest and pivoting over the shoulder on the arm that is down. Perform about 10 repetitions on each side and then repeat the same thing but with your arm behind your head.
4. Golf stance shoulder turns
Now let’s start using your newfound thoracic rotation in golf posture. So stand in your typical 5 iron posture with an alignment rod across your chest and your head on a wall. Now without rotating your hips, try to rotate your shoulders back and forth without the alignment rod touching the wall. Do 20 repetitions.
5. Takeaways
Now practice the first part of your takeaway. Reach the arms back and let the shoulders rotate using your thoracic spine. Perform about 20 repetitions.
6. Followthroughs
Perform a practice swing and pause at your impact position. Then without moving anything else, try to rotate your arms and shoulders toward the target. Perform about 20 repetitions.
blog image: https://nypost.com/2018/08/10/jordan-spieth-admits-he-spent-months-wrecking-his-swing/
