Lesson #2
How to improve one’s chipping and to reduce one’s shoulder, elbow, and forearm pain.
To chip well one needs to have the side lifting low back muscle, the quadratus lumborum (Lesson #1) plus a certain shoulder and upper arm muscle in excellent stretch condition. The longer the latissimus dorsi and the tricep muscles can be stretched, the stronger they become. The stronger they become, less of the muscle mass is needed to work, leading to less fatigue and more accuracy.
As I have explained in previous Boomers articles, any muscle which can be safely lengthened with Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy, and therapeutic stretch exercises specific for that muscle, will increase in strength. So any golfer given this specific treatment and stretch for the latissimus dorsi and tricep muscles could develop more accuracy.
On the other hand, any trauma to the latissimus dorsi and tricep muscles, causing them to shorten, will make them weaker and lose accuracy. If they become a lot shorter, then predictable pain patterns can develop referring pain to the bottom of the shoulder blade, the elbow, or forearm. Since the pain is not where the muscle is located, the average clinician may mistakenly think something may be wrong with the shoulder blade, elbow, or forearm. Therefore, any treatments applied to the pain areas will be ineffective. Below are the two exercises which if performed five times a day, three repetitions each, will correct or prevent the above mentioned pains. When the pains are gone, performing the exercise once before each golf course hole, will keep the pain away and the accuracy will improve.
Next month’s Lesson #3 will teach one how to improve their putting and reduce wrist and hand pain.
Exercise 1
- Grasp arm at wrist
- Stretch arm directly up
Exercise 2
- Maintain pull upward while leaning to side
Exercise 3
- Reach arm straight over head with the palm facing backward
- Bend at elbow and place hand on shoulder
- Keep elbow in close to the side of the head
- With the opposite hand pull the elbow backward