Golf Fitness 101: How to use a foam roller to get ready for golf

Applying slow, steady and sustained pressure with a foam roller is a simple and effective way to break up adhesions and knots in your body to begin feeling loose before you play golf.

What does priming the body mean?

Priming the body is all about preparing your body for sports and the demands of daily life. It's about getting our body feeling flexible, activated, and strong. And in the long term, it's about making your joints more resilient.

We have a web of connective tissue running through our bodies. A movement in our legs connects, through our body, to our arms. If you're feeling tight, you can't move freely in space or get into proper positions throughout your golf swing. So, we have to break those structural adhesions up and get our muscles firing to prepare our bodies for the rigors of the golf swing.

Even for everyday activities, if you find yourself waking up feeling stiff, priming your body can be a legitimate life-changer.

Prime your body for golf

The concept of self-myofascial release is a great way to get your body ready to play. That's a big term that essentially means applying steady pressure into the tissues of your body with a foam roller. You can relate it to kneading a ball of pizza dough. You need to work the dough in order to make it more pliable and easy to shape.

Slow, steady, and sustained pressure is a simple and effective way to break up those adhesions and knots in your body to begin feeling loose before you play. If you don't own a foam roller, you can also use something like a lacrosse ball or even a tennis ball to help alleviate some of the tightness within your body.

The two major areas that are important for golfers to focus on are your hips and your shoulders. These are the primary areas that help you generate high-speed rotational force. The GOLFFOREVER program features several specific videos on how you can use a foam roller to improve flexibility and mobility in your hip joint which will directly improve your range of motion in your backswing and follow-through.

Here are two great golf exercises that utilize a foam roller:

Pec-Lat Stretch with Foam Roller

Upper-Back Extension

By working through simple priming exercises with a foam roller, you will find yourself moving more freely. This will enable you to get the most out of your golf swing from the get-go and eliminate the old expression of "needing a few holes to warm up."

Add priming your body to your daily routine

The concept of priming your body is especially important if you're dealing with an injury or if you have tendonitis. It will be incredibly beneficial to your physical health to remember to utilize a foam roller before you exercise or play sports.

Once you spend some time "rolling out" your body, you'll feel the difference in your body and it will be something you will want to continue practicing going forward. As we love to say at GOLFFOREVER, change comes with commitment. So, commit to priming your body before you begin your round, and you'll find yourself feeling looser and ready to swing before you step up to the opening tee.

Key Takeaways:

• Use pressure to loosen tissues in the body to become more flexible prior to playing to generate high-speed rotational force
• "Knead" the body like a pizza etc ….
• Areas to focus on for golfers: hips and shoulders

Want to learn more? Visit GOLFFOREVER.COM to build flexibility, mobility, strength and more confidence in your game than ever before.

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All GOLFFOREVER content and exercises are presented with the expressed understanding that you should visit a doctor to determine the cause of any pain you may be feeling and in some rare cases that can include cancer, fractures, infection and more. It should also be understood that you are strongly advised to first receive clearance from a physician before following any exercises or advice presented on this site, and that Morning Read and its partner, GOLFFOREVER, are not liable for any injuries that may occur.