Pilates for Golf For All Ages
the Safest Alternative to Get Fit For Golf
Background
The original Pilates exercises were founded by Joseph Pilates in the early 1900’s. His story is quite fascinating. He was German living and working in England as a circus performer and a boxer.
During WW1 he was interned in England and it was here where he developed exercises to help his fellow interns overcome injuries and deseases. His driving force to help others rehabiltate from injuries came from previous experience he had in fitness. He endured illness as child and all this culminated in his quest on overcoming illness.
His exercises were all based on body resistance this enabled him to help his imates with limited mobility. You can look him up on wikipedia and read more there to gain a better understanding of the Pilates method.
He never formalized any official training program before he died in 1967 at age 87. This resulted in many different versions of his method being taught today.
Pilates and golf
The basis of some new methods still incorporate most of his original mat exercises. You may be asking, why should I do pilates for golf? I’ll give you my story a little later in this article how it helped me.
The exercises are great for golf. They focus on building core strength, in particular, your skeletal muscles. The ones that basically hold you up. They improve muscular imbalances, posture, co ordination, strength and flexibility, and best of all, they increase your breathing capacity.
Every golfer needs to improve their core muscles in order to maintain a consistent posture and withstand the continual rotating and twisting of the core during the swing! Pilates is the perfect answer to strengthen your core and the safest exercises for achieving this.
Who does Pilates?
You would be surprized to know that Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam incorporated Pilates into their fitness routines and many other touring Professionals followed suite, Rich Beem, Phil Michelson, Rocco Mediate, and Camilo Villegas to name a few.
Besides them…
Here is My Story
I am living proof of what Pilates can do for you. In 2003 I experienced soreness and stiffness in my lower back (right side)while playing golf. I also had discomfort when I slept.
It got so bad that I could barely finish 9 holes without being in total discomfort, and unable to swing properly. Very frustrating for someone who makes a living out of golf.
The frightening thought crossed my mind a few times it was the end of my playing days.
In my desperation, I visited a chiropractor, and after 5 sessions over a few weeks had no improvement at all.(With no disrespect to them.)
Feeling rather dejected by this time, a friend recommended me to a Pilates instructor. Being sceptical and not knowing what to expect I started seeing her and my wife joined me every week for an hour session, and I also did the exercises on my own at home twice a week.
We did the mat exercises and many of the difficult ones are done while lying on your back. I felt safe with all the exercises and had no fear of injuring my back further. Afterall I wanted to play again.
After 3 months I started to feel a huge difference with these wonderful exercises. The stiffness and soreness began to go away, and I could play 18 holes with only a little stiffness after the game.
My wife also had severe back pain and joined me after an earlier diagnosis she had with osteoporosis. She has not had any pain again since doing the exercises. (and she only attended our once per week session wit the instructor!)
After about 9 months I felt much stronger in my abdominal area, and more flexible than I have felt in a long time. This all contributed to hitting the ball further than I did before and I was very happy.
After my initial recovery I continued with Pilates for 4 years and I must say, the best golf fitness decision I have ever made.
I would recommend pilates for golf to anyone with or without a back problem. The mat exercises are the safest exercises you can do no matter what your age is.
Get these Resources
Once you are stronger get yourself this book. I have a copy. Fix our Body, Fix Your Swing by Joey Diovisalvi and Steve Steinberg
It’s easy to follow and to implement and has exercises programs all laid out for you to follow. What I like most is the Biomechanics test that is offered and then Joey shows you the exercises to do for improving your weak areas.
This kind of information is not dated and it probably won’t date for many years to come. And, you can experience improvement relatively quickly.
Another very good book especially adapted for golf is, The Golfers Guide To Pilates. These exercises are more specifically aimed at your core golf muscles and it would not do any harm to invest in this book and get to know more about what Pilates can do for your body and health.
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Louis
