Injuries bothering you through your summer golf season? Lower back soreness after consecutive days of play? Shoulder or neck pain? With the days getting shorter and less opportunities to get out for a full round of play, now is the perfect time to problem solve and make a specific plan to address these so you are in great shape for the year ahead.

In this post, I will introduce 3 reasons why September is the perfect time to book in for a TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) Golf physiotherapy assessment to set yourself up for success.

1. Identify swing inefficiencies to correct for next season:

As the golf season draws to an end, it is now time to focus on the swing faults that have affected  your scores and may have caused injuries throughout the season. 

As a TPI practitioner, I conduct a full analysis of your golf swing to identify the 12 main characteristics that can be affecting performance, consistency and be a possible cause of injuries. Once analyzed, I will then custom design specific golf-related exercises to address your swing limitations and body restrictions.

Additionally, manual therapy and/or clinical Pilates may be recommended to further address joint stiffness, poor stability and control; all of which are vital to strengthen in order to perfect your golf swing.

2. Injury prevention:

Pain during or after golf?  Now is the time to target rehab!

Another part of the TPI Golf Assessment involves a physical screening, which tests 16 different functional movements of the body. Strength and mobility in these 16 areas are required in order to improve and perfect the mechanics of your golf swing. It has also been proven that a weakness or reduced mobility in one of more of these areas has been linked to golf injuries.

As such, any difficulty in these tests will identify specific restrictions within the body, and together with your swing analysis, will provide a comprehensive picture of your body-swing connection.

By targeting this connection with exercise and clinical pilates, we should see improvements in swing consistency and reduce the risk of injury.

3. Ample time for progression:

If we start early now with developing a plan to focus on improving your body restrictions, we will have plenty of time until the 2021 season starts to implement the plan and for the rehab to take effect. We will be able to monitor and track your swing and body changes/improvements as the rehab progresses.

This extra time will also allow us the ability to mimic the TPI professionals on tour with the pros by being able to repeat the physical screen and swing analysis after a few months, so that we can see actual measures of development since the initial assessment.

Ultimately, we should see an improved golf swing and more importantly, improved stability and strength, thereby reducing the risk of injury and improving overall performance.

Lastly, the TPI golf assessment is not just for seasoned players. For those of you who are fairly new to golf or thinking about starting the next season, the assessment can help by giving you some initial swing basics to work on at the driving range. It will also highlight bad habits to avoid, which are usually the cause of inconsistency, lack of power and injury when playing.

The game of golf is challenging enough and in the words of Gary Player “the more I work and practice, the luckier I seem to get”, so book in your TPI assessment now to ensure your golf game is working above par and you are practicing efficiently.

Author:

James McDermott, Registered Physiotherapist.

Certified  in TPI Golf Physiotherapy Assessment and Clinical Pilates.