Contrary to popular belief, playing golf is among the toughest sports to master. Although it is not a strenuous activity, victory in golf needs patience, timing, and focus. Golfers frequently practice different sports simultaneously to improve their game and boost their attention. These sports include swimming, which contributes to a golfer’s winning streak.
Hydro golf training is a term used for the pre-gold preparation process that involves swimming. This term is gaining popularity, unlike the earlier times when it was a belief that swimming and golf are exactly the opposite of each other, owing to the huge environmental difference between them.
Players like Michael Phelps are living examples that prove both sports can be played together with efficiency. Physically benefiting similarities between swimming and golf lets you build more endurance. Some of these swimming techniques involving rotation and alignment can make you a better golfer.
In addition to the practical application of swimming in golf, many key players have cited that it has a mental effect. Swimming for a long time helps players maintain calm and composure during golf games as it requires a lot of patience to win. There are many aspects that state swimming is a part of golf training with medical explanations. Here are some of the best reasons why swimming can make you a better golfer.
Reasons why swimming can make you better at golf
Swimming facilitates swinging movements during golf
Swimming facilitates Rotatory Movements during golf as you have to hit the ball similarly. Besides moving forward, the rotatory movement of swimming utilises similar muscles in human bodies that the twisting motion in golf does. This area of the human body is medically termed as Thoracic Spine.
It encompasses the connection between the rib cage and the spinal cord at the back. Swimming is a useful approach to achieve a strong thoracic rotation and practice twisting for golf. An efficient and painless twist of this area results in seamless thoracic movements in golf to win the game.
Another benefit of swimming in your adelaide pool is that it is a great exercise to strengthen your core in a straight position. Other exercises like squats and crunches lay more importance on the back but focus less on the strengthening of the core in a 90-degree back. Swimming helps you to maintain the correct posture while keeping your core straight even in constant motion.
This further helps during golf swings as you need to keep an upright posture with a stable core. To become a better golfer, you should swim by putting your back and shoulder in continuous movements of effort while maintaining the correct posture. This helps you to bend more efficiently and avoid any potential backaches for increased golf playing hours.
Swimming relaxes muscle tension for golf
Unlike strength training with heavy weights and equipment, swimming is a free-hand exercise that gives your limbs freedom. The lactic build-up tenses your muscles during weight-lifting and accessing heavy equipment at the gym.
When you start to play golf with tensed and sore muscles, performance would drastically decrease resulting in quick energy drain out. Swimming on the other hand does not tense up your muscles, instead relaxes them even after indulging in the activity for long hours. Playing golf in a healthy state of muscles with no tension enhances the experience and facilitates swings.
Apart from the tension in muscles, there is a danger involved in lifting heavy weights as a person might not be habitual enough to cause any injury. In Swimming, you need to learn techniques for traversing through the waters.
Another aspect of swimming is that water puts pressure on your body and experts consider it to slightly massage against it. The therapeutic effect of swimming enhances the circulation of blood and eliminates soreness of muscles after a strenuous gym workout. Such relaxation keeps your body and mind in a sound state alike, increasing your interest and fun while playing golf.
What experts say
Expert players and coaches believe that there are several similarities between Swimming and Golf. Generating Torque during a golf game is essential for rotatory movement. Experts teach you that quick torque generation is powered by movements practiced during the swim.
Such rotation is again associated with the connection between the bottom of the Spinal Cord and the rib cage. These flawless swings help you align your body to an upright posture and the rapid motion of your shoulders lets you hit that golf ball!
Michael Phelps is a renowned swimmer cum golf player who excels at both sports. He talks about similarities between swimming and golf comparing the breathing techniques that no one talks about. Golf requires proper inhalation for an effective rotation because increased oxygen regulates blood circulation.
The swimmer-golfer finds both the sports same as both the sports require the similar effort of swings, concentration and hard work. The player holds World records in Swimming and Golf, proving the fact that each of them enhances the other. In addition to proper breathing before the shot, swimming teaches you about the art of suppressing nervousness in a mental state that can be adapted in golf too.
Conclusion
We can now understand that the two diverse sports of swimming and golf are majorly interconnected through muscle movements, swings, posture, and alignment. Practising one sport may get you better at the other, making swimming the right choice for golf-related training. Studies show that rotatory motion during swimming has a direct correlation to torque generation for a golf swing.
This is because some muscles and organs facilitate this movement that goes on for hitting the ball. Swimming fixes your posture by keeping your core straight and strengthening it through rapid motion. Regular use of limbs in water prepares you well for the alignment of shoulders during golf.
There are certain therapeutic aspects of swimming that involve water putting pressure against your body to relax the nerves. Practicing shoulder and hip movements with correct posture in swimming enables you to reduce the chances of injury in golf. Most of these golf accidents include shoulder and elbow injuries.
More than 30 cases of such golf accidents are reported every day. To save yourself from potential risks, incorporating swimming is a good way to enhance your golf game. Apart from all these advantages, swimming has a mental connection to golf for patience, according to top-notch players like Michael Phelps.
