In this post we look at how to improve your trunk rotation for golf with a simple exercise.
How to assess your trunk rotation.
First let’s assess if one side is more limited than the other.
Sit tall on a chair with your feet firmly planted on the floor. Keeping your hips still and your arms loosely folded across your chest, gently rotate your torso as far as you can one way.
Make a note of how far you are able to go. Come back to the centre position and now slowly rotate the other way.
Did one side feel tighter than the other?
Good, we’ll start with that side.
How to improve trunk rotation for golf.
Rotate slowly towards the restricted side and have a partner provide a brace on the front of your shoulder when you get to the end of the range.
Now very gently rotate your torso into your partner’s hand whilst keeping your trunk tall and stable.
Focus on keeping the intensity very low, it should feel as if you’re barely trying. Hold for 6 seconds and then return to the centre position.
Repeat this exercise 6 times, each time rotating as far as you can and then very gently rotating your trunk into your partner’s hand once you have reached the end of your range.
What do you notice?
You should see your torso rotation improve and the feelings of tightness reduce.
By improving the ability of muscles in your trunk to contract, you have improved range of motion.
Repeat this exercise when you notice a restriction in your rotation, or use it as a warm up before you play.
This will have a direct influence on the power and accuracy of your swing.
If you’d like to improve your internal hip rotation for golf this post will show you how.