How to Stretch Arms and Shoulders for Golf

If you are like a lot of people and you get to the golf course, you don't have enough time to hit some balls and get to the first tee on time let me make a couple of suggestions. You do not want to be out there and be real stiff, hit a bad shot. Take a minute and do a few stretches. Here are a couple that the doctors here at Duke, the physical therapists, recommend to help you get loose. They are not real difficult, they do not take a lot of time.

• Spread your feet about your 7-iron width, spine nice and straight, put the club across your back, keeping your face straight forward, let's try to get some rotation of that upper body and hold that stretch for about 30 seconds.
• That is really the key, getting to that max point, not hurting yourself but feeling that stretch.
• Hold, our doctors ask you to hold it a minute, but really 30 seconds if you can get that in, then slowly going the other way so that you are getting both sides of that stretch.
• Trying to keep that head as straight as you can.
• You will feel I there in your glutes and you will get some nice stretch in here with your upper body. So that several times, both sides, especially back in here.

You know how a lot of people do not have very much of a turn when they are stiff.

• Another one, put the club straight out in front of you, legs straight ahead, feet straight ahead, and just bend on down and feel that stretch right in there, work your way back up, feel those knees working a little bit.
• This one is very easy, does not take very long, and you just hold it. It is nice to hold it down here if you can for 30 seconds.

The other thing that we are concerned about is your shoulders because they get so much work.

• If you just hook your left hand behind the elbow of the right arm and pull that shoulder a little bit on this side.
• Again you are holding it for a minute right there. We don't really have time to hold it the whole time right here but we want you to.
• Same thing on the left shoulder. Especially on that left shoulder you are going to get a lot of pull and stretch on that in the golf swing.
• Then we would like to see you get it back in here.
• Depending on your flexibility you can hook your hand in here and pull your shoulder. If you are not fliexible enough to do this you can take a club and do the same thing right here just by pulling down.
• Of course again, you are holding that for if you can one minute, but anything is better than nothing.
• Same thing on the other side or again if you can just get in here I like this one to get in here and really feel that stretch.

Now I would like to do a couple more over here on the golf cart.