A Golfers Guide to Better Shoulders

The shoulder is one of the most mobile joints in the entire human body, and although most golfers focus on hip and thoracic spine mobility to improve their swing, the shoulder remains one of the most underrated components of a consistent, powerful golf shot.

The shoulder is comprised of two distinct joints/movement segments and both need to be addressed to allow for perfect golf form. The glenohumeral joint is the actual arm-shoulder blade connection that most associate with the shoulder. The rotator cuff, a group of four small but powerful muscles, hold the arm bone in place while allowing for an incredible range of  movements to occur. The scapulothoracic joint is less often thought of, but is the critical connection between the shoulder blade and the rib cage. This is a unique joint in that its only bony connection is the clavicle (collar bone) and the rest of its connections are a variety of  muscles, such as the trapezius (upper, middle and lower), rhomboids and levator scapulae.  

The congruent and unrestricted movement of these two components is what allows us to position the club consistently in our back swing and deliver accurate club head placement during impact. Another significantly important reason to improve shoulder mobility is to allow  for ample room to decelerate the club during the backswing. If your shoulders are restricted  your body will anticipate the need to slow the club down earlier in the swing arc and will subsequently slow down your club head speed before the ball is struck. With the importance of  shoulder mobility now laid out for you, let’s breakdown a comprehensive shoulder mobility workout that you can do to improve your shoulders right now at home or in the gym. 

The first exercise in this sequence is called a banded Cuban press. 

• Grab a LIGHT resistance band and attach it to a fixed point at eye level. 
• Stand back with your arms outstretched to  begin. 

This movement has three parts and it's important to do all three parts slowly and with intention, DO NOT skip steps! 

• The first movement is a row and requires you to drive your elbows straight back behind you. 
• With your elbows bent to 90 degrees and level with your shoulders you’re going to turn your hands up and back keeping your elbow fixed. You should  now be in another 90 degree angle, but now with your hands above your head and the elbows are still at shoulder height. 
• From this point you are going to imagine that your elbows are  behind a glass wall and press the band up and out into a Y formation. 
• At this point you will  reverse all three movements to return to the starting position and repeat for 3 sets of 15  repetitions.  

The second movement is called a banded passover and is quite simple. 

• Grab a golf club or  light resistance band with a wide overhand grip in front of your waist. 
• From this point you’re going to take the club or band all the way over your head and end with the implement behind  your back. This may be difficult at first if you have very limited shoulder range of motion. To  increase the accessibility just take a wider grip or only proceed through the range of motion  that is available to you. 
• Continue with three sets of 15 repetitions on this one as well.  

We’re going to follow these two banded exercises with a shoulder controlled articular rotation (CAR). It is IMPERATIVE that this exercise is performed SOLWLY. 

• Start with your hands at your sides and make two fists. 
• Now, one arm at a time you’re going to make the biggest circle you  possibly can with your shoulder, fighting for every millimetre of range that you can achieve.  
• Start with your palm facing in and raise your arm as straight as possible.
• At the top of this movement you will begin to turn your palm outward until you can’t go any further. 
• From here you can begin to take your arm back behind you and down while continuing to turn your palm outward as far as you possible can. 
• Once your arm returns to your side your palm should be turned as far as you are capable of. 

At this point we reverse the movement slowly. 

• As you take your arm backwards and upwards you can slowly let your palm unwind so at the top of the  movement it is once again facing in towards your body. 
• After slowly lowering from there back to the starting position you will repeat on the other side. 
• This exercise is done for 2-3 very slow,  controlled repetitions per side.

The last two exercises in this sequence are active stretches using a protocol that is called  PAILs/RAILs contractions. The two stretch positions are shown in the video and will not be described here but I’ll walk you through the stretch process. 

• Once in the proper stretch  position you begin by just gently stretching for one minute/60 seconds. 
• After a period of  passive stretching you will begin to gently press against the stretch, contracting all of the tissue  that you are stretching, this is the PAILs portion. This process takes another 60 seconds and as  the time passes you incrementally increase the amount of pressure you are exerting against the  stretch. At the end of the 60 second PAILs sequence you should be pushing against the stretch  as hard as you possibly can.
• At this point you will attempt to take your arm away from the  stretched position, this is called the RAILs contraction. For 10 seconds you will be trying with  maximum effort to take your arm away from the stretch, although you may not physically be  able to move your arm, maximum effort is essential. After 10 seconds has elapsed you will  relax and take your arm to the new position of passive stretch and repeat the entire sequence one or two more times for each arm in each stretch position.  

This program is a comprehensive shoulder mobility workout that hits all of the major muscle groups involved in both the glenohumeral and scapulothoracic joints. If you are having issues with shoulder mobility in your golf swing give this workout a try 3-4 times a week for 4 weeks  and I’m certain you’ll notice a difference. If you find that you are restricted in all of the movements you may need to address thoracic spine mobility first. Check out our blog on golf related thoracic spine mobility here.  

If you’re looking for more way to improve your golf game, check out our TPI Golf Performance programs, or give us a call today!