Golf THESE HIPS DON’T LIE As you age, flexibility decreases, often due to a more sedentary lifestyle and reduced use of your hip muscles. For senior golfers, a lack of hip flexibility is the leading cause of lost power and accuracy. It’s important that over the winter, you don’t lose the range of motion which you gained golfing over the last six months. Here are five hip exercises to help prevent stiffness and keep your muscles limber come spring. Hip Loaders Three Ways There are three versions of this exercise. Each will improve your range of motion in different ways. The first works your hips forwards and backwards; the second works them side-to-side; and the final variation rotates them. All of these exercises are aimed at stimulating the motion which you use in your golf swing. The only equipment that you need is a chair with arms. As the last page of the 2020 calendar turns, we leave the pandemic of 2020 and enter a new year. We long not for a winter of discontent, but for a spring that arrives with eternal hope for a vaccine, an end to the coronavirus and a more normal golf season. In the interim, take time to find gratitude and give thanks for the silver linings which COVID-19 brought. Golf is one of these gifts. Unlike some sectors of the economy − such as the live music industry − golf was one of the first allowed to reopen. Built into the game is the fact that it’s played outdoors and features an inherent ability to social distance. Golf proved to be the perfect pastime to still see friends, socialize and get exercise, in a season when many activities were cancelled or temporarily put on hold. The private club which I work at recorded a tee sheet that had never been busier. Tee times were booked solid from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. From St. John’s to Victoria, this trend played out. Some clubs saw as much as a 25 per cent increase in overall rounds played. Booking a tee time for some was as hard as scoring concert tickets to the must-see show in a normal year. The other good news: many newcomers tried golf for the first time. For many snowbirds who, by the time the last leaves change colours, are usually packing their bags and their clubs and dreaming of warmer climes – their annual sojourn south (or west) did not happen. Many still felt fear of travelling, and rightly so, until a vaccine is discovered and proves effective at killing this virus. So, what happened? Until the first snowfall − and with some courses being closed later than normal − people donned their woollies and toques and squeezed in every last game that they could. Alas, as you read this, courses are closed in most of the country, and the question becomes what now? If you can’t golf this winter, how can you stay in golf shape and remain active until the spring? The key is to realize all of the health benefits of golf and work on maintaining these during the coming indoor months. Front and Back Hip Loader Follow these six steps: 1. Place a sturdy chair in front of you; 2. Put your right foot on the chair; 3. Keeping your back and shoulders straight, stretch both hands towards your right foot as far as you find comfortable; 4. Return to your original position; 5. Perform two sets of 8-12 repetitions; then 6. Switch legs and repeat. Side-to-side Hip Loader Follow these five steps: 1. Put your right foot on the chair; 2. Raise your right arm and reach over to bend your torso over your hip on the left side; 3. Return to your original position; 4. Perform two sets of 8-12 repetitions; then 5. Switch legs and repeat in the opposite direction. Rotational Hip Loader Follow these five steps: 1. Put your right foot on the chair; 2. Rotate your torso and reach around your right side as far as is comfortable; 3. Return to your original position; 4. Perform two sets of 8-12 repetitions; then 5. Switch legs and repeat in the opposite direction. Sitting Hip Stretch I: Sit in your favourite chair but, again, make sure that it has arms. Keep your knees and hips facing forward and lengthen your spine. Place your left hand on your right knee and slowly twist to the right, using your right hand on the arm for leverage. Hold this twist for a few seconds, come back through centre and repeat on the left side. SittingHip Stretch II: Still sitting in the chair, bring your right ankle up to rest on top of your left knee. Use your right hand to gently press down on your right knee, so that it is parallel to the floor. Be sure to let up if you feel any pain or strain. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat on the left side. 46 | www.snowbirds.org
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