Addressing the Fitness Needs of the Aging Golfer

​Throughout my years serving golfers at various clubs and courses in the Rochester, NY area, it is evident that everyone is unique in how they move and ultimately swing the club.  However, through the TPI screen and working with hundreds of golfers I find that the aging golfers I work with typically have the following in common:
-Poor Balance
-Limited Mobility (Primarily in the lats, thoracic spine, and calves)
-Deconditioned energy systems
Balance
As we age balance becomes a concern in many areas of life, but to a golf fitness professional improving a clients balance can be some of the lowest hanging fruit out there.  Limited balance typically correlates to lower swing speeds, less distance off the tee, and usually a loss of confidence.  Many of my 70+ year old golfers have gone through stretches where they limited their play or stopped all together due to their worry about their loss of distance, balance, coordination, etc.  I have helped numerous aging males get over the fear of embarrassment of golfing with their buddies as they age and they are able to enjoy the game that they love.
The golf swing starts from the ground up, and if we struggle to balance on our feet our power output and confidence will be limited.  Balance does not have to be yoga, but that can certainly help!  Weight shift drills with bands, cables, dumbbells and/or kettlebells are key.  Redeveloping the lead and trail leg through single leg exercises are a staple in my aging clients’ programs.  You can find numerous examples online, but here are some I love.  Along with poor balance I usually find numerous mobility limitations in an aging golfer.  The three most common are tight lats, thoracic spine, and calves.
Mobility
Keeping with the theme of ground up, most of the older golfers I see have very tight calves.  When the muscles in your calf are tight it will lead to limited ankle mobility and tight posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, low back).  Tight calves also lead to difficulty squatting in training and ultimately weak glutes and hips that will limit your ability to swing the golf club.  If this sounds like you, the best advice I can give is to start holding static calf stretches on a regular basis and addressing the muscles and fascia with foam rolling, massage stick, Theragun, etc.  Once you have started to work on this area, try your calf mobility before doing a set of TRX or air squats and feel the difference in depth!
Moving up the body, the thoracic spine is the middle section of your back and we lose range and mobility as we A) age and B) spend time in a seated, shoulders rounded position.  Think desk work, reading, driving, phone/tablet, etc.  As we round our shoulders forward in these activities, our thoracic spine loses the ability to move well.  Exercises I like for the “T-Spine,” are side-lying thoracic rotations for something dynamic and foam roller thoracic extension for a held/static stretch.  Limited thoracic and tight lats typically go hand-in-hand. 
A tight lat typically causes the individual to have limited overhead reach, loss of range in their backswing, and can also lead to low back pain.  Tight lats develop from the same causes as limited thoracic, seated position and excessive forward rounding.  Try a banded shoulder distraction to help gain some range in your lat/overhead position.
Energy Systems
Most aging golfers describe not feeling as good as they did when they were 50,60,70, etc.  They struggle to keep up with some of their usual golf partners and sometimes need to stop short during a round, commit to playing less holes, or give the game up all together. Unless there are additional health problems that are getting in the way, the most usual culprit is lack of conditioning/fitness. 
As we age and typically become more sedentary activities that used to be no problem begin to pose a challenge.  Instead of just spending more time exercising, I find a blend of long and short cardiovascular training to be helpful to the aging golfer.  This can work with any cardio machine; however I find the Concept2 Rowing Machine to be ideal.  Once comfortable using the machine, the client can go “long,” and slow or “short,” and fast.  My most common recommendation is to alternate a long day vs. a short day. 
Long days will usually start at 5:00 or 10:00 on the machine and add 1:00 to 2:00 minutes per week until the reach a certain point such as 10:00 or 20:00, then I advise starting over with the original time with a higher output of effort and repeat the process. 
Short days can start with an interval style where the client completes 0:30 second of rowing then rests for 0:30 second.  They would repeat this for a total of 5-10 rounds/minutes.  If this goes well, we can either increase the effort/output in the 0:30 or increase the time of effort and decrease the time of rest. Ex) 0:40 ON/0:20 OFF for the same number of rounds.
For the aging golfer a blend of balance work, mobility training, and cardiovascular work will cover most of the basics that they may be missing.  If you would like help implementing these aspects of fitness to your workouts feel free to send me a message!