HOW can Pilates make you a better golfer? In this and forthcoming articles I will explain why, how and what it does – and the fantastic benefits it provides. We will work on three categories;

Relaxation – Breathing, tension, concentration
Centre – Core stability, balance
Posture – Alignment, postural muscles

One of the most important aspects of Pilates is relaxation. A relaxed state doesn’t mean sitting down in front of the television, it means doing whatever you are doing with as little effort as possible. That doesn’t mean not trying, but utilising the exact amount of energy to accomplish the task at hand.

Tension is a perfect example of unutilised energy. Tension, as any golfer will tell you, is almost as much a part of the game as swinging a club. But it doesn’t have to be. The swing is a large sweeping arc around the body; the club head (an extension of the arm) rotates around the centre. Your centre must be strong, but not rigid, allowing for fluidity and control. But to make the clubhead flow –

SWINGBUILD

style, the last thing needed is tension and rigidity. The mind can find it difficult to communicate coherently with the body at the best of times, always interfering and trying to show who’s boss. During the second or so that it takes to swing a club the mind doesn’t stand a chance, so calming the mind, focusing on the task at hand and loosening tension in the body before you take that swing is essential.

BREATHING

is a big part of that process. People have been breathing since the day they were slapped on the back, so if they haven’t turned blue and fallen over by now, they’re breathing fine. But lateral breathing is a whole, different thing and at first many people find the concept very difficult and may become tenser trying. But they should persevere. Air enters the body through the mouth and throat so it is very important to have a relaxed airway. Many golfers tighten their jaw during the swing causing tension in the upper body. This can be detrimental to a fluid stroke. There are lots of theories behind breathing during the swing, but one thing is for certain, the breath should be calm and meditative. Holding the breath can cause a block on the ‘down’ swing and make it difficult to transfer the weight from the right to the left leg, resulting in topping the ball. Not breathing out can result in distortion of the neutral spine and (you guessed it) tension.

A good exercise for the golfer is the basic Hip Roll as this involves breathing and rotation in a very controlled environment. The Hip Roll is one of the exercises that we will cover in later issues. We must be aware of our natural breathing and not interrupt it. Breathing correctly inspires fluid movements – anywhere and everywhere.

Follow my advice, practise Pilates and you will start to understand breathing correctly will help ease tension and make you a better player – without even one practice swing on the range!