Pilates for golfers

When it comes to helping your golf game, there are literally thousands of options available out there. Some opt for buying specialized golf clubs that promise to increase the distance and the accuracy of your shot. Others may purchase video footage that can help them to develop the perfect swing. Still others may pay extensively in order to have an instructor judge their golf game. While these are all methods that may work to improve your tee shot, there is an alternative form of golf training that may seem odd to some.

Pilates is an exercise program that was created by a German man named Joseph Pilates while he was an internment camp during the first World War. The program was invented by Joseph in order to help those who were bedridden in the internment camp to exercise and get their bodies back into fitness. Since then, the exercise program has truly caught on around the world. Celebrities trumpet the benefits of the pilates program to a great extent, and pilates workout centers have sprung up around the world. There are some specialized forms of pilates that can be used to help women who have given birth to get their bodies back into shape. One subgroup of people who wouldn’t assume that pilates can help them with their problem is golfers. Where there is a will, there is a way, though, and some pilates centers have begun to offer pilates programs that promise to help golfers to overcome their golfing problems by getting their bodies into shape via the program. The pilates program has numerous benefits, including an increased flexibility, an added strength of the muscles of the abdomen and the back, and a better sense of balance. Posture is also improved through the regular use of a pilates exercise program, as the exercises focus on increasing the strength and flexibility of the spine. Pilates instructors argue that these differences in the body can be tantamount to developing a better golf game.

Through increasing the strength of the core (the muscles that are located in and around the abdomen and the back), pilates instructors hope to help golfers to develop a more powerful swing. They also argue that the body awareness that one gains through getting in touch with their body using pilates can be of assistance in making the proper motions in order to get a golfer’s swings to be more accurate. Breath control is also stressed in pilates, and many seasoned athletes have realized that the timing of breath can be crucial to a proper body movement. Free throws in basketball, for instance, are taught to be performed at the same point of breath every time, aiding the consistency of the movement. The goals of the program are sound, and consistent with the needs of a golfer who needs improvement. While it may not be a complete solution to poor golfing, it is a viable method of increasing your body control that you may want to consider participating in.