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Last Updated on August 4, 2020
Golfing is a sport that can be played by people of any age. However, while golf is a great sport for seniors, it’s still important to prepare yourself well to prevent injury if you’re getting on in years.
Exercising the right muscles and stretching out properly is essential for playing well while out on the course and avoiding any accidents. Luckily, there are some great stretches that can go a long way in heightening your physical ability, boosting balance, and improving your overall fitness.
Ranging from walking, stretches, golf twists, and bridges, there are endless exercises that senior golfers can utilize to improve their health and be better prepared for a round of golf. While practicing golf at home is one great way to prepare for the course, using the right exercises is also very important.
If you’re looking for a quick overview of some exercises to get started with you’re in the right place. Below we’ll look at the best golf exercises for seniors. Each of these exercises can help you improve your flexibility and strength and will help prepare you for your next trip to the course.
Stretching Exercises
Stretching is one of the best things you can do to increase flexibility and prepare yourself for the motions you’ll take during a game of golf.
Here are a few stretching exercises you may want to add to your exercise routine:
1. Rotating Shoulder Stretch
The rotating shoulder stretch is just as simple as it sounds. All that you need to do is swing the whole arm back and forth.
Rotating shoulder stretches benefit you by boosting your range of motion, which in turn reduces the incidences of unforeseen joint injuries. This includes dislocation due to overswings.
2. Ankle Stretch
For ankle stretches, you can perform either calf raises or ankle rotations. Since the ankle is a sensitive joint that is vital for body balance while golfing, seniors can do both clockwise and counter-clockwise moves when rotating the ankle back and forth.
When doing the calf raises, you’ll need to stand to ensure maximum efficiency. Stretching your muscles around the ankle increases your overall flexibility and boosts stability.
3. Hip Stretches
Golfing involves intense swinging of the waist or hip section of the body. This is why it’s important to do simple stretching exercises like hip drops and hip stretches. You can use some additional weights of up to 5kgs to intensify the workout.
Hip exercises require a chair, bench, or low lying table. All that you have to do is to place your right ankle above your left thigh, then make sure to push down with the help of your right forearm.
4. Quadriceps Stretch
Torso rotations work great when combined with quadriceps stretches.
To do this stretch exercise, follow these steps:
- Cross your arms, and stand on a stable chair or a low table.
- Next, put your right foot on top of the table. Ensure that the balance with the right knee is reliable.
- Finally, tighten the right buttock muscle to feel stretches in your thigh.
Strength and Flexibility Workouts
You can also do workouts to increase your strength. This can be very helpful during a game of golf.
Working out in combination with stretches can help add to the fitness, flexibility, and stability health benefits that you’ll get. You’ll likely want to do 3-5 sets for each of the identified exercises below to ensure maximum efficiency.
1. Side Leg Circles
As age catches up with you, the hip section of the leg begins to lose not only its flexibility but also its overall strength to withstand golfing movements.
To do this workout, follow these steps:
- First, you need to lie on your side.
- Then, lift or raise the top of your leg slightly. Make sure to support your body and stability by maintaining the apt arm above your head.
- Begin drawing circular movements in the air, but be careful not to compromise your pelvis.
- Keep going for 2-5 sets and change to the other leg.
The benefit of side leg circles is that they enhance hip rotation and flexibility.
2. Golf Twists
There’s no doubt that swinging the golf club requires plenty of practice and high endurance. Golf twists are one of the best golf exercises for seniors and are perfect for widening your range of motion and relieving shoulder pressure. This will eventually heighten shoulder flexibility.
To do this exercise, follow these steps:
- First, assume a balanced position of your choosing.
- Hold anything that you can swing.
- Then, begin swinging like you would a golf club.
Keep doing this as long as you need until you feel a difference in muscle strain. To ensure maximum efficiency, you can stretch and extend the leg to ease back flexing.
3. Bridges With In-Toes
This exercise is simple as it appears on paper.
Follow these steps:
- Put your feet and arms flat on the ground.
- Turn your toes into the inner section of your body, then raise your pelvis and keep it away from the ground.
- Finally, maintain the position for as long as you can then
- Repeat the exercise, performing up to 10 sets.
The advantage of this exercise is it stretches both the inner and external muscles of your legs and thighs.
4. Body Crawl Pattern
This exercise involves a lot of standing. It can also be referred to as the standing cross-body crawl pattern because you have to stand up and raise your hands to shoulder level.
Follow these steps:
- Raise your right foot and right hand simultaneously to a distance that does not exceed 6 inches.
- Keep doing this for at least 20 times since it involves less muscle strain.
This is one of the best golf exercises for seniors, so be sure you add it to your routine.
Yoga For Golf
Older golfing adults stand a higher chance of benefiting from yoga exercises as opposed to any other population because it involves minimal mobility exercises.
For yoga, all you need to do is assume a particular position for as long as you can. Yoga exercises include plank pose, warrior pose, seated twist, and finally cat and cow positions.
You can check out this article to get more tips on how you can use yoga as a senior golfer.
Final Thoughts
If you’re a senior and want to be ready for playing golf, you need to make sure you exercise often and warm up before heading out to the course.
Old age is perhaps one of the most dreaded cycles of life for many people in society because of the endless chronic illnesses such as cardiac-related complexities, anxiety, and diabetes. While these health issues may seem impossible to prevent with old age, any golfer who is over 50 will need to be aware of their body and its limitations.
Be sure to use some of these best golf exercises for seniors in your stretching and exercise routines if you want to be at the top of your game.
Looking for the right clubs to use on the course? Check out this list of great golf clubs for senior ladies now.
