Injuries are not always caused by one single event. They quite often are also caused by a build up over time, and due to multiple reason. One such reason can be our daily posture while walking, standing and sitting. A poor or compromised posture can cause certain areas of our body to feel stressed which may lead to injuries in the future. Have you ever thought about your posture when walking around the Golf course or when carrying your clubs or pushing the trolley around?
Here is a video that talks through how we can be more aware of our posture, as well as some tips, guidance and exercises on how to make a few simple changes to improve your posture.
Video by Tilly
Postural Exercises from Krishna
Postural Lift or the Pinocchio exercise
This exercise can be done while sitting or standing, every time you find you are slouching or stooping forwards:
- Imagine there is a rope coming from above attaching onto your head (just like Pinocchio), lifting you upwards. You should feel your chest lift upwards, and overall feel a bit taller.
- The lift comes from your thorax and not from your neck and lower back arching
- Hold for 10-15 seconds and then relax back into neutral. Repeat 3-4 times.
Caution: The lift should come from your thorax and not your lower back. If you find your lower back is arching, or your neck is straining go back to neutral and try again. You can also have someone watching you do this exercise to inform you if you are arching your lower back or stressing your neck
Shoulder Rolls
If your find your shoulders and too rounded forwards try this set of simple shoulder rolls.
- Lift your Right shoulder up towards your Right ear,
- Rotate your shoulder backwards and then let it gently drop back down
- Your shoulder should now be slightly further backwards than when you first started
- Now repeat the process with the Left shoulder, and alternating right to left repeat the whole process 3-4 times.
Caution: The shoulder rolls is a gentle exercise, try not to tense your neck or shoulder muscles when lifting your shoulder upwards and when dropping it back down.
If any of these exercises cause any discomfort, please do not continue with them and seek some professional guidance