Students Of Success

Flexibility is quite often a misunderstood principle, but most
of us know it is important to golf. Before we discuss
flexibility and its relevance to golf we need to start with:
“What in the #$%#%$#% is flexibility anyways?”

It is a simple question yet one that is not easy to answer. I
imagine that most of you come up with some definition that is
something to the effect of “Flexibility is stretching, right?”
That answer is partially correct. Flexibility training
incorporates stretching techniques. However, it is NOT limited
to traditional stretching, and the two terms cannot be used
interchangeably.

We Should Talk About What Flexibility Means

According the National Academy of Sports Medicine, flexibility
can be defined as the normal extensibility of all soft tissues
that allow full range of motion of a joint. You will note that
nowhere in the definition of flexibility is the word stretching
used. To help further explain, understand, and clearly define
flexibility, let us take the definition and break it down into
three parts. The first part of the definition, “the normal
extensibility,” is best understood by thinking of the muscles in
your body. Each muscle in your body has what is termed a “normal
length-tension relationship.” When the muscle is at its “normal
length-tension relationship,” it functions correctly. When the
muscles contract and extend (i.e. when you “flex” your bicep in
the mirror, your bicep muscle is contracting and your tricep is
extending) they enable you to create movement of your skeleton.
Often, athletes cause a disruption of the “normal length-tension
relationship” through training, which leads to one muscle
becoming shorter or longer than its normal length-tension
relationship. When this happens, the body begins to have
difficulty moving the skeleton in a safe and efficient manner,
which will be magnified when trying to perform athletic
movements.

The second portion of the definition of flexibility discusses
“all soft tissues.” This part of the definition is quite easy.
As you know, the human body is comprised of numerous types of
cells and tissues. Soft tissues are simply a categorization of
certain types of tissues in your body including muscles,
ligaments, and tendons.

The final part of the definition reads: “that allow full range
of motion of a joint.” Every joint (where two bones are
connected in your body, i.e. shoulder, hip, elbow, etc.) moves
through a specified range of motion determined by the design of
the joint. The anatomical structure of a joint determines the
amount, direction and type of movement through which a joint
moves. This is known as the range of motion. To achieve a full
range of motion, the surrounding muscles and connective tissue
have to be flexible enough to allow the joint to move through
that range of motion. To demonstrate what a full range of motion
is, bend your elbow as much as you can (brining your hand as
close to your shoulder as possible) and then straighten it. Each
joint in the body has a range of motion that is unique to the
design of the joint. For example, the shoulder joint is
classified as a ball and socket joint, which has a range of
motion of 360 degrees (a much greater range of motion than the
elbow).

Once broken down, flexibility is simply defined as: every
ligament, tendon, and muscle (soft tissues) in your body, having
the correct length-tension relationship (normal extensibility)
to allow every joint in your body to move through its full range
of motion. This concludes the first part of this article. We now
have a pretty simple working definition of flexibility. In the
next section of this article we will discuss the question: “Why
is flexibility important to the golf swing?”

The Real Meat of the Article…Flexibility and the Golf Swing

So now we have a “working definition” of flexibility. We
probably need to discuss the golf swing briefly to create the
connection between “your” flexibility and “your” golf swing.

Breaking down the golf swing, we know that it is categorized
into different phases: address, take away, back swing,
transition, down swing, contact, and follow through. Your local
swing coach has probably discussed the importance of these
phases of the swing in order to create a good swing. I am sure
you also are aware that the body must “move through” these
phases in a certain sequence for a correct swing to occur. The
key phrase when it comes to the golf swing and flexibility is
“move through.”

Go back to the definition of flexibility. What does it tell you?
In general, it says that every muscle, ligament, and tendon in
your body must have the correct range of motion within itself to
perform the activity you ask of it. Take that definition and
place it upon what movements are required of the golf swing. It
essentially states that your individual body MUST have the
required flexibility parameters within every muscle, ligament,
and tendon to execute the golf swing correctly.

Now the kicker question: what happens if your body does not have
the needed flexibility parameters to swing a club on the correct
path? Is the answer, “Forget about golf and go grab your fishing
pole?” No, that is not the correct answer. Your body is a little
smarter than that one wise-crack answer. If you ask your body to
do something, nine out of ten times it will “try” to do what you
are asking it to do. When your brain tells your body to do this
and this and this in a certain order, your body is going to try
as hard as it possibly can to complete the task. The task (in
our case the golf swing) may get completed, but probably not
exactly as we would like. In the golf swing, this results in
shots that we are really not happy about (slices, hooks, blocks,
etc.)

When the body does not have the needed flexibility to swing a
club on the correct path is what we term “compensation.”
Compensation is the body’s way of making up for inefficiencies
it may have within it. If you do not have the flexibility
properties in, say, your hamstrings for the golf swing, your
body will create compensation patterns in your swing to “make
up” for the lack of flexibility in your lower body. So the
reality of the situation becomes that, regardless of how hard
you work on your swing and how much you practice, until you
correct the flexibility issues within your body it will be very
difficult to correct your swing. So there you have it! The
connection between flexibility and the golf swing is a very
important connection if you are looking to make good shots on
the course.

How do I get it?

We have discussed flexibility and the golf swing. You now have
an understanding about the definition of flexibility, the
importance of flexibility as it relates to the golf swing, and
what happens if you do not have it (flexibility for the golf
swing, that is). Now the final question to answer is: “How to I
get it if I don’t have it!” That is a question to answer in
another article, or take a look at our web site
www.bioforcegolf.com for more answers.