Blog · November 7, 2022
Golf and Hip Mobility: Why You Need Both to Improve Your Game
Golf requires a great deal of skill and precision, and one of the most overlooked aspects of golfing success is hip mobility. Mobile hips give you the ability to make a bigger turn, which helps you generate more power and distance on your shots.
Many golfers spend heavily on private lessons to reach an ideal posture or position without the physical ability, range of motion, or motor control to actually get there and hold it. That's backwards: the body has to be able to do what the lesson asks.
Stretching alone isn't enough
A common misconception is that static stretching alone improves hip mobility. The most important part of a balanced mobility routine is STRENGTHENING in end-range, potentially vulnerable positions. Those end-range positions are where athletic injuries happen, and loading them activates the proprioceptors inside the joint capsule, converting stretch into usable, lasting range of motion. The result: more pliability, better body control, and ease of motion that staves off injury now and in the future.
The 90/90 routine
- Get into the 90/90 position, sternum up and back straight. Hinge forward until you feel a stretch in the right hip. Hold 45 seconds.
- Push the right foot down into the floor (using your right hip muscles), gradually increasing tension for 12–15 seconds.
- Relax, take up the new tension, hinge further to the new stretch point, and hold 45 seconds.
- Push the right knee down into the floor, gradually increasing tension for 12–15 seconds.
- Relax into the deep stretch AND reach the left arm up and across toward 2 o'clock for spinal rotation. Hold 45 seconds.
- Same position: keep the left foot planted and slowly raise the left knee toward the ceiling, engaging the whole left hip. 2 sets of 10.
- Finally: lift the left foot toward the ceiling, trunk as tall as possible (right hand on right knee if you can). 2 sets of 10.
These take 5–10 minutes at the end of a normal workout. Questions about the routine, or want a full golf-performance screen? Connect with us for a consultation.