You’re the typical type A personality. You can literally sit at your desk and do work for hours at a time without a break. Although your boss and your bottom line may benefit from this productivity, your golf game DOES NOT!
Upper Body Implications
What we see with the typical work station set up is that we are forced to take a posture that causes a rounding of our shoulders, a forward head posture, and an increased curvature of our thoracic spine. Pain can also go hand in hand with these postures. As the old saying goes, form follows function. Being in this position for most of the day will cause changes in body structures that are having a negative effect on making an optimal golf swing.
Rounded Shoulders
Tightness of pectoralis major/minor musculature and the inefficient position of the head of the humerus (upper arm bone) can prevent you from getting your arms to an efficient position in the top of your golf backswing.
Use this stretch to prevent tightness in the pectoralis musculature and pain in the neck and shoulders. Perform 2-3 x throughout the work day. Each time you perform this stretch you can do 3 repetitions holding each stretch for 30 seconds. You should be feeling a pulling sensation just below and in front of your shoulder. If you have had previous injury in your shoulder consult with your medical provider before trying this stretch.
Thoracic Kyphosis
This is the fancy word for increased arch in your upper back (the thoracic spine). What happens here is that the joints in the thoracic spine that allow that area of your back to move become less mobile with prolonged poor posture. This will literally wreak havoc in your golf swing because you need around 50 degrees of thoracic spine rotation at the top of your golf backswing to create any type of power and coil in the musculature. This coil is then released to exert energy into the golf ball.
Use this exercise to prevent lack of mobility in this area as well as neck, shoulder, and upper back pain. You can perform this exercise 2-3 x per day. Each time you perform the exercise you want to hold this end position shown below for around 5 seconds. Start in an upright sitting position. 10 repetitions each time is adequate. Make sure you are feeling this in-between your shoulder blades. You are basically using the top of the chair as a fulcrum to help mobilize your Thoracic Spine.
Cervical Spine
This is the neck and with a forward head posture we find that a lot of tension is developed in the musculature on the back side of your neck which leads to neck pain and headaches. This occurs because you have now created an increased demand of trying to hold your head up against the force of gravity! Your head is not a light part of your body. Some of us even know co workers who have REALLY BIG HEADS! With the continued load of gravity pushing it further down, the ligaments, bony structures, and musculature have to counter that movement.
What also happens in the above scenario is that the musculature that is deep in the front of your neck becomes weak, this can effect your neck\\\’s ability to move. During the golf swing you need around 70 degrees of cervical rotation.
Use this exercise to ensure the deep neck flexor musculature stays strong and that you are preventing increased loads on your neck which may lead to pain. Always remember that when the neck is stacked directly over your shoulders, gravity is just applying compression, not flexion (bending forward) which is what can cause neck pain. Perform this exercise 4-6 x throughout your day. Each time you perform it you can hold for around 5 seconds and perform 10 repetitions. The idea is to make a double chin, but remember you want to be gentle. Double chin is in!
