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IN THIS ISSUE

Pilates and Golf—

The Perfect Match

1

The Chair 2

Prevention and

Detection of Posture

Problems

3

“Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting cen-turies for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.”

– G.M. Trevelyan

PILATES AND GOLF ‒ THE PERFECT MATCHMost of the professional golf-ers on the PGA TOUR are exercising to improve their bodies and their games, and many of them including Tiger Woods and Camilo Villegas are using Pilates. Golfers of all levels find that consistent Pilates practice improves their games and reduces pain and injuries. However, golfers practicing golf specific Pilates experience superior results in less time.

The golf swing is a complex, asymmetrical, full body move-ment. For the right handed (left side dominant) swing, the left or leading side of the body is more commonly injured than the right or trailing side, and vice versa. Golf stresses the body in unique ways that can lead to acute and chronic

injuries. Luckily, pre-ventive meas-ures can minimize golf-related inju-ries of the

back, shoulders, elbows, hands, and wrists. For exam-ple, maintaining optimum dynamic posture and spine angle can reduce lower back strain and improved shoulder girdle stability can relieve shoulder, wrist and elbow pain. Proper mechanics and swing plane require strength, flexibility, and a strong core, all of which can be attained in 15 minutes a day of golf specific Pilates exercises combined with technical as-sistance from a PGA Profes-sional. Golf specific Pilates gives golfers the edge they have been looking for.

Joseph Pilates was born in Germany and developed what he called Contrology in the early 1900s. Pilates prin-ciples match perfectly with golf and golf exercise (more on this in the next article). Due to its effectiveness Pi-lates is now one of the fastest growing fitness systems in the world, nearly doubling in

participants every year. Pi-lates lengthens and strength-ens muscles while building a uniformly developed bal-anced body, focusing on core strength----abs, gluteals, lower back, pelvic muscles, inner thighs, and intrinsic, deep stabilizers throughout all joints of the body. Pilates is whole body exercise just as the golf swing is. Pilates works all 7 physical perform-ance factors and demands integration of breath, control, flexibility, strength, precision, and body awareness. When you develop awareness of moving from your core first, you will initiate every shot or putt from the same place, leading to increased repeat-able and consistent shots and putts.

While classical Pilates is great for all around condition-ing and will certainly help you perform better in all as-pects of your life, golf spe-cific Pilates is functional be-

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cause you are mirroring functional golf positions relating to various swing phases. Joseph Pilates also developed machines and equip-ment to work the body in various other ways that challenge balance and coordination while lengthen-ing and strengthening muscles. Hundreds of exercises can be done using the Universal Re-former and other Pilates appara-tus. Individualized instruction by a qualified specialist is critical.

Pilates Patio will help you delve into the core and relate the princi-ples of Pilates directly to the prin-

necessary). Walk out hand after hand until you are in a straight plank push up position, breathing as needed. Keeping buttocks squeezed and abs engaged, inhale as you bend elbows until chest is close to the mat, exhale to extend arms. Repeat 3-5 times. Return by piking hips to ceiling and walking back towards your feet, finally rolling back up to standing one vertebrae at a time.

ciples of Golf.

In the meantime, here is a great Pi-lates exercise for you to try at home. The Roll Down to Push Up may look like a traditional push up, but it has a twist. The rolling down and walking out and back requires balance, flexi-bility, stability, and strength due to the dynamic sequencing. It's not easy, but the results are worth it!

Begin standing with feet hip bone width apart in good posture with abs pulled in and shoulders down. Inhale and as you exhale bow your head and roll down your spine until your hands touch the floor (bend knees if

Continued: Pilates and Golf—The Perfect Match

Next to Reformer, the Stability Chair is another popular piece of equipment for Pilates training. It doesn’t take up space and can easily fit anywhere in a room. You may even watch TV while doing your favourite exercise!

Like the name itself, the chair is great for stability and functional training. Though many of the workouts are similar to those on the reformers, the chair be design offers less supporting surface adding to the stability challenge. Most of the exercises are per-formed either sitting or standing.

Therefore, it is recommended that clients have some form of basic Pi-lates training on both the mat and reformer before taking attempting the chair.

The handles on both sides are for support when performing upper or lower body work. Handles can be dismantled to provide a full surface support when body is lying down to perform more advance workouts. For more challenging footwork, a sitting position can be on all sides to press the pedal down for internal rotation, external rotation, parallel etc.

Pedals can be locked to perform regular press down or reciprocal/unilateral arm/leg movements when pedals are split. Spring tensions can be varied to suit individual strengths.

The height of the chair suits almost every body. Some exercises require additional props such as a box or platform extender all of which can

be found in any studio. These props allow so support to the body when performing certain exercises. The exercises on the chair, as with any piece of equipment used in Pilates, is quite varied working all areas of the body in a very functional way. All exercises provide a good train-ing for balance in the torso region, stability and strength such as Torso press sitting prep requires a box from behind for arm support when body roll back from the seated posi-tion. As well, a platform extender is needed for One Arm Push on the Floor. You may also stand facing/backing away from the chair to work on hip/knee/ankle movements while pressing the pedal down. That’s only a few examples. Chair provides lots of exercises which are very functional; good for torso bal-ance, stability and strength develop-ment on multi plane movements.

By: Nelly Ching, Certified Stott Pi-lates Instructor, Toronto, ON, 647-887-4619

THE CHAIR

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PREVENTION AND DETECTION OF POSTURE PROBLEMS

The most important step of prevent-ing postural problems is detection. For some it is obvious that they have pronounced posture problems. For others it is not as obvious. An ap-propriate practitioner or specialist can help determine postural prob-lems such as your Pilates instructor, personal trainer, chiropractor or physiotherapist. It is not just static posture that is important it is also your posture while you’re moving, your dynamic posture. Through functional movements you or some-one observing you, such your Pilates

tween the length of the muscle and the contractile tension that it can ex-ert. Usually hip flexors are tight and glutes are weak. Strengthening the glutes and stretching out the hip flexors can help. A good way of doing this is through multi-joint leg exercises. For example, the Pilates mat exercise single leg stretch or the bend and stretch series of exercises on the reformer with feet in the loops are good exercises for both hips and glutes. You just have to be mindful of which muscles are being con-tracted during which movement.

instructor, can help you determine which muscles need to be strength-ened or loosened up to help improve your posture.

The muscles closest to your body’s centre of gravity and spine need to be in good condition, as a start, to maintain good posture. In most cases this means strengthening the core muscles, abdominals, back muscles, muscles that run along the spine and muscles that maintain sta-bility in the lumbo-pelvic-hip com-plex. Performing core exercises properly will teach your body to maintain proper dynamic postural alignment throughout any exercise you do. This will in turn improve your static posture.

The lumbo-pelvic hip complex is is composed of the hip, lower back and the pelvis. The hips and glutes are central to the lumbo-pelvic hip complex. These muscles need to be in the proper length-tension re-lationship between one another. This refers to the relationship be-

Lumbo-pelvic-hip complex

Single Leg Stretch

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