An Odd Pair: Golf and Yoga
There are people that take up golf and you have people who take up yoga.
These two activities and types of people are thought to be on opposite spectrums of the sports and fitness world.
However, if you really think about it, golf and yoga have more in common than what might first come to mind, and serious golfers are seeing how practicing certain moves in yoga can help their golf game.
Mental Focus
To be successful in golf, you must have strong mental focus and have the ability to block everything out.
Yoga teaches this difficult skill.
It is extremely hard to focus when your body is under physical or emotional stress, and golf yoga classes specialize in teaching you to focus during these times.
This helps your golf game in spades.
Flexibility
The golf swing coils and uncoils the spine over the lower body.
If you do not have the flexibility needed to achieve full range, your swing will not be as powerful.
There is no doubt that a golfer with a higher level of flexibility will improve their swing and their game over a player who has little to no flexibility.
This is an area that most golfers would agree that they need the most help with.
Balance
Yoga will improve balance.
Good balance is important in most sports and this includes golf. An uneven or awkward lie can impede a player’s balance. Along with balance, yoga also helps stability.
A strong golf swing must include good stability.
Think about your average middle-aged golfer and think about how much better their golf game would be with improved balance and stability.
It is no wonder many players are seeking a type of practice to help them.
Strength and Endurance
Yoga increases muscle strength and endurance.
When most people think of yoga, flexibility is the first quality thought of. It is true that yoga will improve your flexibility, but yoga first requires strength.
It takes a lot of muscle strength and endurance to hold yoga poses.
While yoga strengthens almost every muscle in the body, the most important muscles yoga strengthens are the abdominal and back muscles.
Golf players receive many benefits to strengthening these core muscles.
It helps them in every aspect of their game.
Overall Usefulness
Golf often receives the reputation that you do not necessarily have to be fit and in shape to play this particular sport. Make no mistake, golfers are athletes and athletes should keep their bodies in shape.
The golf swing alone is a complex motion, which involves many parts of the body.
Golf requires flexibility, strength, and balance to play at peak performance.
Because yoga helps golfers in so many ways, there are various golf yoga classes available that focus on poses and activities that will help golf players in specific.
Any yoga class would help, but specialist yoga golf classes really target what golfers want to improve on.
Golf and yoga both use mind and body to achieve success.
It makes sense that one of these activities would help the other.
Keiser University’s College of Golf is ready to help you get in shape to start your golf career. Contact us or call us today at 888-355-4465.
