I love the internet! It has allowed me the freedom and opportunity to launch my full time business and train golfers around the globe! However, along with great resources available to us is the reality that there are also myths and untruths that are being offered next to the same wonderful and accurate resources you can find as you search the internet.

A couple of weeks ago, I came across a well read and frequented website discussing the tendencies of junior golfers to be unstable in their swings, specifically their backswings. It went on to say that all juniors were over flexible to some degree and the author stated that ‘no golfer under the age of 25 should be stretching’.

I could not disagree more with this statement and would like an opportunity to explain some of the things I have seen in junior golf as it relates to their flexibility.

First, let’s look at some important developmental issues which affect their flexibility.

• From the ages of 6 to 10, shoulder mobility and hip range of motion is reduced.

• Spinal flexibility (which allows for a full shoulder turn) reaches its natural maximum at ages 8 or 9.

• Ages 10 to 13 is when flexibility is most important to train because children begin gaining mass faster than weight and are becoming stronger.

• During the growth spurt years of 13 to 15, height is increasing more rapidly and injuries can be more prevalent.

• Growth spurt changes can also contribute to upper bodies increasing in unequal proportions relative to lower bodies. The result is increased range of motion in the shoulders and spine with excessive tightness in the hips.

This stretch will loosen up those tight hamstrings. Use a stretch strap or long golf towel to help you get a better stretch.

Flexibility can be quite deceiving in youth golfers. It is very typical to find many young male golfers with overly flexible spines and shoulders resulting in the ‘overswinging’ and instability at the top of the backswing as this author pointed out. However, in this same golfer, you will also find the ‘overswinging’ can occur as a result of very tight hips. So, where one area may be very flexible, another area is in dire need of flexibility training.

As a junior golfer or a parent of a junior golfer, be aware of a particularly tight area affecting your golf swing, then make sure you use a dynamic stretch sequence to unlock the area. Try a method of dynamic stretching which takes the stretched muscle to a point of slight tension and holding for no more than 2 seconds before releasing. Repeat 10 to 12 times per side.

Ref: Children and Sports Training by Jozef Drabik, Ph.D.

Susan Hill is a CHEK golf biomechanic, sports nutritionist and fitness trainer. For more information on her golf specific programs, visit http://www.fitnessforgolf.com.