I recently went to play golf for the first time in 20 years. I played on a golf course in Pilkko, Joensuu. I was overcome by a feeling, I didn’t think I’d ever feel. I thought it was really fun! The weather was amazing, the company was perfect (perhaps because we went together as a family) and golf Professional Tomi was really fun and he knows what he is doing.
I professionally coached a few golf players in the past, but I haven’t played golf myself. Perhaps some of you might wonder how is this possible? But on my work, I focus on providing tips on how to best utilize your body and to maximize your physical aspects. I know how your body works and how you can maximize its performance. I’ve also trained figure skaters and I’ve never tried the sport myself. Although the first ever skates I got were actually figure skates. My dad had gotten them for a bargain and painted them black in order for them to look like ice-hockey skates to fool me. Naturally as a kid, I wouldn’t have wanted to wear figure skates since they were deemed to be girl’s skates!
The great thing about golf is that it suits people of all ages. It’s great for kids as well as the elderly. The outdoors and the slow paced movement are also combined with balance, speed and body control, which makes it a great way to exercise.
On top of this, the best part of golf is the way it teaches you to control your mind. If you try too much, you won’t succeed with your swing. You therefore need to relax your mind in order to succeed. You must stop worrying and forget all the troubles bothering you. And this to me, makes golf such a great sport. It helps you to control your mind and to only focus on the essential, which is the next shot.
I’ve had plenty of clients in the past who have wondered about the different aches they’ve received after playing golf. There are usually three reasons these pains occur. First, It might be that you play too much in comparison to your overall fitness level and this will strain your body. The other reason might be a problem in the kinetic chain, which basically means that your performance isn’t technically optimal. You’re most likely straining your body in the wrong way. You perform some strokes wrong either because you don’t know how to do them right or because you can’t do them right.
These are both luckily relatively easy problems to fix. You can start playing within the boundaries of your fitness level and slowly start improving your abilities. Often, in order to better your technique, you need to focus on other things beside just the way you stroke. Your upper spine might be too stiff or the nerving in your bottom isn’t working properly; there are many possible reasons.
The third reason is something I don’t wish for anybody. It might just be that your body, for one reason or another, doesn’t fair well when you play golf. This can be no matter what tricks and tips you try. Luckily, this doesn’t happen very often.
Actually, I just realized a fourth reason for the pain. This one is a positive one. My own muscles are a bit sore right now. But that is because playing golf once every 20 years isn’t enough practice for all the muscles you need to use to play golf. And I must admit, my technique isn’t perfect yet either.
All in all, I now understand better all of you who have been bitten by the ‘golf bug’. I think I might have gotten bitten as well!
