A cautionary tale about warming up...

[StrangelyBrown]

So here I sit, bored and in pain so I thought I'd share some of my thoughts... Make sure you do a few stretches before you tee off. Yesterday I didn't and my back went on the first shot. I tried to walk it off but had to walk in midway down the third.

Now, i'm off to the MyTPI site to look for exercises to strengthen my back.

Stay healthy
SB

 

[bobmac]

Sad. Keep it rested and get well soon

 

[StrangelyBrown]

Cheers Bob. On the plus side i'm keeping the wife amused. Apparently the sight of me trying to walk is utterly hilarious.

 

[chrisd]

Cheers Bob. On the plus side i'm keeping the wife amused. Apparently the sight of me trying to walk is utterly hilarious.

bet you look like the Scottish footie team yesterday!


Get well soon


Chris

 

[surefire]

Generally:

Warming up before a round is good.
Stretching before a round is not so good.

Many people confuse the two, but they are different things.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I always do some stretching and hit some balls even if I'm pushed for time and just hit a few easy wedges to get the muscles loose

 

[Sandy]

Really sorry about the back. Ouch.

Generally:

Warming up before a round is good.
Stretching before a round is not so good.

Many people confuse the two, but they are different things.

What's wrong with stretching eh? has to be better than leaping straight out of the car and contorting your back with a full on driver swing, certainly if you can't factor in a few warm up shots.

 

[Losttheplot]

Stretching is only focusing on a specific muscle group where as warming up tends to be more of the 'getting loose' and 'shaking the cobwebs off' type of movements where its all in one.

For me they go hand in hand. You should always try and do both if your going to do it at all.

I remember years ago I was playing quite a high standard cricket match (won't name names...) and the coaches had a new way of getting us all ready before the match.
It consisted of warming up and not involving any stretches. Basically gentle jogging with various jumps/turns etc. Then into fielding drills.
By the end of the mornings session we had 3 people including myself badly injured with muscle injuries. (2 of us with groin injuries, the other a torn hamstring). We hardly ever lost anyone to injury on the day of a match before that day.
Safe to say the coaches decided we needed to do both to ensure it didn't happen again.

Lesson learned.

 

[SGC001]

Dynamic stretching for warm ups, static stretching (which a lot of people think of as just stretching) is more appropriae for cooling down.

Here's a link to a site that'll explain it in more detail

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/warmup.htm

 

[Losttheplot]

Dynamic stretching for warm ups, static stretching (which a lot of people think of as just stretching) is more appropriae for cooling down.

Here's a link to a site that'll explain it in more detail

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/warmup.htm

You had to get all technical didnt you.... Check you out!!

 

[Iaing]

Got as far as 5 to 10 mins. jogging and had to go for a lie down.
Think I'll stick to swinging 2 clubs.

 

[palindromicbob]

Dynamic stretching for warm ups, static stretching (which a lot of people think of as just stretching) is more appropriae for cooling down.

Here's a link to a site that'll explain it in more detail

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/warmup.htm

"Do not confuse dynamic stretching with ballistic stretching"

All I can picture is using missiles as part of the warm up routine!

 

[surefire]

What's wrong with stretching eh? has to be better than leaping straight out of the car and contorting your back with a full on driver swing, certainly if you can't factor in a few warm up shots.

There have been lots of studies on stretching.

In fact most clinical studies actually suggest that either stretching has no effect on reducing the likelihood of injury, or even that stretching is more likely to cause injury, rather than prevent it - I'll skip the geeky information, but can add it if anyone is interested.
The cricket story may seem to suggest the opposite, but I'll go with the clinical studies over the anecdote any time.

Add to this the fact that stretching actually reduces muscle strength and power in the short term. Is reducing strength and power really what you want to do before trying to boom your first drive?

By warming up I mean getting the bodies temperature and blood circulation up. Moving through the motion you will use when swinging, but not stretching.

In my opinion, most injuries that people get through playing golf are likely to be due to poor swing mechanics, or poor general physical condition.
If you're unhealthy and in poor shape (Not necessarily fat, maybe just bad posture, muscle imbalances or weakness, range of motion limitations etc..) 5 mins of warm up, is not going to make up for a lifetime of neglect to the body.

 

[bluewolf]

If you're unhealthy and in poor shape (Not necessarily fat, maybe just bad posture, muscle imbalances or weakness, range of motion limitations etc..) 5 mins of warm up, is not going to make up for a lifetime of neglect to the body.

Damn....

 

[StrangelyBrown]

fat

True.

I normally stretch my calf muscles out but that is to help my flat feet and shin splints. My back is weak, there isn't any way that I can deny that so I need to work on my back and my abs to help stabilise things.

Anyways, if this thread can help raise awareness of the importance of warming up and saves someone from popping their back then some good has come from my injury.

Play well
SB

P.S. I'm only 29, so this can happen to any one at any age.