The statistics speak for themselves to anyone willing to listen. With big hitters being affected by physical and muscular strains so severe they have to Out from tournaments it is vital that all golfers of every level take the evidence seriously! Golf is a workout, a taxing game that even at its most casual is requiring your body to exert itself almost constantly. We at iGOSports have been leading a charge to keep Golf Clubs supplied with top-notch equipment for this very reason: Keeping all golfers of every level equipped to be healthy, fit, and safe. We believe every Golfer should be able to commit to golf injury prevention and spend as much time of course as possible. We can't all be the number 1, and so it's vital golfers take responsibility of their fitness and support both on and off the course.
Today we'll be discussing the muscles worked hardest through a golf swing and showing you which garments and gear are best used to manage pain and reduce muscle strain.
The best products for longevity and muscular upkeep don't just cover the course, but should become a part of your training off the course too. Injury prevention isn't something you can turn on and off, you have to work on your body and give it the respect it deserves for the consistency we ask of ourselves on the course.
What muscles does a golf swing use? Credit to the interactive anatomy maps on innerbody for these great highlights External Abdominal Obliques
The sheer number of muscles working to go into a Golf Swing is, in itself, a reason to give them the best treatment you can to prepare and unwind from a session. Your body needs to stay poised and able to rotate freely and in a controlled manner, so the External Abdominal Obliques are vital. These muscles control the outside of your core and help manage the relationship between your lower and upper body. Without this muscle group helping your body stretch and turn you would never be able to complete a Backswing to a Follow-through without falling over (And we're sure you've seen some people who have, regardless!). The Obliques help you stay controlled in Golf. With this muscle group being so vital we recommend clothing that can be put on and forgotten about that helps support your torso. The KYMIRA Split Neck Mandarin (£95) for women or the KYMIRA Mock Turtle (£90) for men both provide infrared apparel options to enhance your natural abilities with increased oxygenation and many more effects we'll get to later. For now, just know your Obliques work enough to earn the support of KYMIRA's breakthrough tech!
Gluteus Maximus (Yep, that one)
We're sure there are some people out there who watch golf just for this reason, but as a part of the sport it's important not to forget about the muscle groups going into your stability and poise. The Gluteus Maximus are muscles controlling your backside, an area that actually requires some degree of positioning and adjustment when Golfing. Without your Gluteus Maximus holding your body tightly together as your knees bend and your back straightens you would never be able to stand over a golf ball in the first place. The Gluteus Maximus Muscles help you stay stable in Golf. These muscles can be hard to "Look after" in an active sense, and you don't want to be getting a massage there mid-session out on the course (Even if there is a bunker to hide in)! KYMIRA Golf have designed and developed leggings for both men and women (£80) that, using their infrared technology and breathable fabrics makes all the leg muscles and the Gluteus Maximus far happier. The gear is flexible but has form, keeping your energy up and your muscles working when you need them.
Latissimus Dorsi
These muscles are positioned from the armpit into the arm, and you can imagine why they are vital for a golfer. The Latissimus Dorsi Muscles help keep a golfer flexible and able to rotate smoothly through the swing. Just as your Abdominal Obliques are ensuring your body can rotate, your Latissimus Dorsi are making sure your arms can follow suit and complete the swing with minimal deviation. The Latissimus Dorsi help you stay flexible in golf. The easiest way to cover and complement the Latissimus Dorsi is a KYMIRA ¼ Zip (£115). These are bulkier than the Tee-s but manage to still cling to the body and feel entirely natural. The added support around the entire arm and down the side of your torso makes the various Latissimus Dorsi you use doubly supported when compared to a simple mock turtle. Also those long sleeves on the ¼ zip aren't going to overheat you, thanks to KYMIRA's determination to design.
Deltoid Shoulder Muscle
The Deltoid Muscle is a triangular, stable muscle making up a good portion of your shoulder. The Muscle is similar to the Obliques in that it acts as a sort of bridge between the center of your body and your limbs. The Deltoid not only attached to the shoulder but down onto the arm too, making it key for any golfer. If you have shoulder strain when golfing, consider the effect your swing is having not just in the shoulder itself, but on the tip of the Deltoid that reaches your arm. This relationship between shoulder and arm is vital to golf. The Deltoid affects almost every aspect of a swing in golf. The easiest way to cover and complement the Deltoid is a KYMIRA Base Layer Top (£85). These are light, tight tops that manage to cling to the body and yet feel entirely natural. The Deltoid will have a comfortable level of movement and breathability to allow your rotation to be on point.
There is Golf Clothing to help your workout!
We have been exploring how longevity is a killer for golfers, ending tours early and causing long-term damage if constant upkeep isn't done. Well, our next product is unique in that it is not a separate device or tool to aid in recovery or prevention, but is recovery and prevention built in to clothing! KYMIRA Golf have managed to fuse form and function into a series of clothes for men and women that cover every aspect of your game. The breathable, flexible build makes the clothing adaptable to any weather (Especially with the SPF 35 rated equipment) and the Infrared technology used in the clothing makes the gear a step above simple peripherals. KYMIRA gear is simply worn, and takes effect, allowing you to focus on your game. The technology involved ensures you are energised and in the game, while the actual clothing itself is snug and genuinely wearable!
Product Name: KYMIRA Golf
Price Range: £15 - £140
Main Focus: Constant Passive Muscle Strain Support
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The Kymira infrared 1/4 Zip, perfect to help Latissimus Dorsi Excercises
The Kymira infrared Leggings, ideal for Gluteus Maximus support and stable golfing
The Kymira infrared base top, an incredible amount of muscle coverage tuned well to your Deltoid Shoulder Muscles
The Kymira infrared Mock Turtle, topwear that gives support to your core and shoulders. This helps utilise your External Abdominal Obliques
What's the best way to remove Muscle Tightness and Knots from golf?
With all those muscles going to work to ensure you have a great workout and the control you deserve over your swings it's no surprise you can cramp up, feel tightness, or feel knotted under the surface after a session. Pounding away these knots and allowing your muscles to return to their natural states is an important part of healthy golfing. If you finish a session and your muscles cannot rest, cannot return to a position they are not still activated from the constant golfing, then you are actually going to be experiencing Muscle Strain for potentially hours after the session!
So, to look after those muscles and make sure they are whacked back into shape we recommend a Pulseroll Massage Gun. These are great, portable bits of kit that pound away knots and ensure with minimal effort that knots are obliterated. If we could have a masseuse on every course we would, but the Puleroll range are a close second. In fact, some golfers prefer the ability to accurately self-target the areas that are causing the most pain or need the most recuperation. You can spend a few minutes going over every muscle group, or simply 30 seconds assaulting a single knot you have noticed. Adaptability and portability are key here, as we can't have a masseuse follow us everywhere. You can take control of your golf injury prevention.
Name: Pulseroll Massage Guns
Price Ranges: £89.99 – £224.99
Main Focus: Muscle Strain Relief and Knot Removal
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The Pulseroll range are all powerful in golf injury prevention
Stop the problems with your posture before they start!
Golfing poise and posture is a constant struggle for everyone serious about the game. If you aren't an extension of your club, of the course itself, naturally holding yourself with power and precision then you will find not only are your strokes less consistent but your muscles find it harder to cope with the variations in stress. This is where supports like the My Posture range come in. These harnesses and supports can be slipped on easily for a session and make an excellent complement to any golfer's bag.
With your back and core supported, and encouraged to maintain a posture that benefits your muscles, you will find you can stay golfing for longer and feel less fatigued afterwards. Both the My Posture Reflex Corrector and the My Posture Reflex Lower Lumbar Support Mesh Cushion use strong stitching to make a performance-ready golfing aid.
Product Name: My Posture Reflex
Price Ranges: £12.99 - £29.99
Main Focus: Muscle Strain Avoidance and Muscle Upkeep
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My Posture are committed to lumbar and general back support to relieve Muscle Strain
There are Golfing Muscle Supports for individual groups
With so many muscles going into your game and your swings varying in strain as you adapt to a course, LP Supports are great way to prevent golf injury. In golf, strain and long-term stress are real vices so any and all support these muscle groups get is going to increase your performance simply by keeping your more comfortable longer. These wrappings aren't bolstering your golfing ability or forcing your body to stay stiff, instead they allow the golfer to enhance their own style and swing by ensuring that when you need your muscles, they're ready.
By removing a large number of risks like bursitis, tendonitis, displacements and dislocations the LP Support products let you focus on what you want to home in on. With each limb having a completely specialised LP Support you also get to have the assurance that you have the exact tool for the job rather than using a generic muscle wrap. Prevention is better than cure, but LP can help with both.
Product Name: LP Support
Price Range: £7.99 - £34.99
Main Focus: Individually Targeted Muscle Strain and Golf Injury Prevention
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Knee Strains
Elbow Strains
Thigh Strains
The Feud About Abs, do Core muscles matter to golfers?
There can be no denying that golf exerts a huge amount of energy on a huge amount of muscle groups, but there are still the odd comment and hushed whisper about the typical body-builder physiques that creep into the sport. Ideally golfers want to actively avoid becoming too muscular because flexibility and strength start becoming mutually exclusive as they grow. However, that didn't stop another tournament Out - Bryson DeChambeau – criticising Koepka about his lack of defined Abs a couple of years ago. Koepka did admit he was "2 short of a 6 pack!"
Witty? Slightly. Braggy? Definitely
With Koepka making waves and proving how ridiculous the assessment of his Abs was it got a few people thinking about core strength and golf. Injury prevention requires a minimal level of fitness in every inch of muscle you have and your core is no exception.
Adding a simple Ab training tool like the Pro Ab Wheel to your workout will prepare and invigorate you for anything the course throws at you, and ensure that as the My Posture gear increases your positioning that your muscles have the core strength to upkeep that posture without the peripherals when needed.
Product Name: Pro Ab Wheel
Price Range: £19.12
Main Focus: Core Workouts
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Keep the wheels turning on your golf injury prevention!
Things to do after a golf session to ensure maximum fitness:
We've mentioned here how it's not just your performance on the course and your control of your muscles in a swing that matters. Your physical health is a constant factor and needs maintenance constantly because of that. I'm not suggesting you never stop working out! We have lives outside of our bodies and fitness! I am simply highlighting that after a session or workout people often forget to finalise their progress and bank it! Just like not getting rid of muscle tension and knots immediately, if you let yourself end a session without properly finishing then your muscles and mind will not relax properly. To prevent any negative effects of exhaustion, fatigue, or muscle exertion you should consider adding a small Yoga routine on the backside of your sessions. Stretching is often raved about, but Yoga specifically manages to encapsulate that winding-down of the body while also addressing your mood. A Yoga routine just 5 or so minutes long can book-end your workout and make the session feel complete, feel whole. You bank your progress as I said before, and it ensures you don't lose any good feelings from the course to muscle pains later! Using a Yoga Wheel makes your body more reactive and relaxed after a session, or prepares the Abs and core for the session! Book-ending your games with this style of work-up and wind-down is a great way to stop the long-term strain of golf taking hold every session.
Product Name: Physical Yoga Wheel
Price Range: £16.74
Main Focus: Stretching and Relaxing Before and After a Session
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Your body won't quite be able to bend this much, but it'll get close!
How to look after your muscle strain playing Golf:
Golfing uses almost every muscle you can name. The rotation of your body into a backswing, the strain on your knees and legs staying poised above the ball as you swing, the strength needed to keep your follow-through clean and stable without dropping the club or over-rotating or downright falling over! All of these actions become muscle memory for a golfer. Your muscles are doing a lot of work for you both in terms of exertion and memory, so it makes sense to look after them. The best way to look after your body when golfing is to really pay attention to each muscle group. Your shoulder might need some lower power shots to relax, your torso might not be rotating as smoothly as you'd like, and it's all up to you to notice and care about. Once you identify an issue you can begin working with the products here to eliminate it and get back to enjoying the game.
Whether you want general protection and increased muscle care over your whole body through a KYMIRA device, or if you know you have a specific issue with your knee or arm and go for a specific LP Support piece; either way your investment into your muscular health and removing muscle strain during golf is vital. I urge each golfer reading this to consider how they can improve their muscle routine be it in a session or out, because the more time you spend golfing out on the course the better! No one wants to be stuck in physio or recovery and I encourage everyone to take control, use your agency over your safety to ensure that you and your muscles are always ready. You can't trust the wind or the terrain, but you should always be able to trust your muscles.