Poor grip training and hand, wrist, and elbow training on the PGA Tour will continue to cause hand, wrist, and elbow injuries. People in the know who report on the PGA Tour ought to be aware of this hole in the boat. The concepts of basic hand and grip strength exercises have been overlooked because traditional “fist only” hand training has become organically acceptable over the years.
When I was a mini golfer, I was also told to hold a tennis ball to strengthen my hand… bad advice!
The back of our hands, wrists, and elbows house the muscle group that stabilizes the fist. Every time we grip anything (think gym, exercise and play), these muscles contract to support the grip. Otherwise, the hand and fingers will collapse. It is a joint contraction, meaning the ‘opening hand’ muscles contract to support the action of the ‘hand closing’ muscles. We call this joint contraction GRIP! But we either don’t get it…or we don’t coach our golfers like we do.
The problem is that the muscles that open the hand (the fist stabilizers) contract One fixed position over and over, thus building a The extensor band is fixed It is very easy to get injured, especially under the pressure of a golf stroke… Infinitely multiplied by high roughs, more by wet rocks and more by boulders and tree roots…
Thus, hand, wrist, and elbow imbalances are common in golf and injury after injury after injury will occur at an unnecessarily high rate…hand, wrist, and elbow especially. It’s the same ‘way’ cause – hand muscle imbalance – not tree roots alone!
Yes, golf is a contact sport for these areas, but if the core structures are trained consistently, producing inflexible muscle chains and poor blood flow, they have very little chance of escaping injury, especially as the golfer ages..
We have developed a complete and easy workout that will solve this training and golf imbalance inherent in every single player. I am a former professional golfer. I’ve seen bad training myself. I’ve worked with thousands of athletes and musicians. All (every one!) are strong in flexion and weak in extension. The same thing over and over until we work with them. Shouldn’t this be a very obvious hint? We have many professional golfers who use our products and they do very well.
But this imbalance isn’t just an older golfer’s injury problem. It is also a performance issue for all golfers. The stronger the fist stabilizer muscles, the stronger the hand, and the more relaxed the player is and still has control of the club, the better the player can negotiate with less risk of injury when needed.
It is my hope that we can raise awareness of golfers and outstanding fitness and training professionals in the golf industry, especially ex-players. Now this Tiger wood and John Daly both suffer from elbow injuries, and the spotlight is on this issue more than ever. Mike Weir is another notable golfer, Aaron Olberholser, Ness Price, Julie Inkster, Lanny Wadkins, Doug Tewell, etc…etc…etc…and the whole list including hand and wrist injuries is exhausting…
If you are a golfer, therapist, coach or involved in any grip activity, understand that the hand opening muscles are just as important as the hand closing muscles in grip performance, speed, strength, flexibility, endurance and injury reduction in the hand, wrist, carpal tunnel and elbow.
0 Comments