Wednesday is sport day. Today I want to talk about Pilates for golf.
There are a growing number of “Pilates for golf” type books and DVDs on the market. As a keen golfer (I have never had the time to get my handicap below 18 though), I must say that many of these publications strike me as people jumping on the bandwagon rather than a serious attempt to improve a golfer’s performance. Many are written by people who have clearly never swung a golf club, and others are so general that they could be a book to improve golf/running/tennis/most other sports.
But the biggest criticism I have is that to actually be useful to golfers, any such material must be written in a way that actually engages club golfers. The average club golfer may have never exercised. Most I work with have never been to a gym or attended an exercise session. I joke that most golfer’s warm-up is a bacon sandwich, and cool-down is a pint of lager! Whilst golf is increasingly a younger person’s game and it is crossing the gender barrier, the basic fact remains that it is still dominated at club level by middle-aged and retired men. As Pilates teachers, I am sure we all know that this demographic is possible the hardest one to get engaged in Pilates!
Those of you who have read my blog before will know that it is a crusade of mine to get more men doing Pilates (for example see “You do Pilates, are you gay?” and “Men do Pilates”) and the fact remains that that nearly all golfers I have ever met would see a big improvement in their game if they did Pilates. So why is this?
I have worked with many golf Pro’s as by working together on technique and body function, we can get the best results. Whilst a golf pro can say to a golfer “swing this way”, many golfer’s cannot swing the way they should because their body can’t physically do it. By doing Pilates, a golfer can make corrections to their body; strengthen the core, increase flexibility, build stability in the pelvis and shoulder girdles, and balance both sides of the body, all of which will allow the golfer to hit the ball farther, straighter and more accurately. But these are just some of the benefits that Pilates can have.
The most successful way for a golfer to reduce their handicap and improve consistency is not to spend hundreds of pounds on new clubs. It is the golfer that plays the game, and not his equipment. As long as the clubs are capable, the biggest results can be achieved by changing the qualities of the golfer. It is for this reason that Pilates has been used by professional golfers such as Tiger Woods for many years.
Why is Pilates so good for golf? I produced a document for the World Golf Federation in which I tried to simply explain the benefits using the most common questions that I have been asked throughout the years by club golfers. To view this document please click the link below.
I hope that this will help many club golfers to understand exactly why they should be doing regular Pilates, not just from a book or DVD, but from their local Pilates teacher! You can also click on www.sportcorestrength.com to see how Pilates can help other sportsmen and women.
Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength. He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona, as well as retreats. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.
Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.
