I have always considered my work as a teacher a true blessing. I am able to blend my passions for golf and yoga and I have the opportunity to help golfers play better and live healthier lives. Additionally, I have the honor of working with some of the most talented golf instructors in the world. This summer I have been teaching a golf school with one of my favorite teachers, Hank Haney. Teaching with Hank offers me an opportunity to learn an unprecedented amount of information about the golf swing and to emulate his constant curiosity about the golf swing.

During the golf schools we work with cross section of golfers – varying handicaps, fitness levels, quality of equipment, etc… They all share one common thread, a deep desire for improvement. Having taught fitness for golfers for twenty years I can tell you that most golfers are looking for more distance. How do you get more distance? You will need to increase your range of motion, specifically your ability to turn your trunk and shoulders in relationship to your hips! The “X-factor”! I use Jim McLean’s term to describe the ratio of shoulder turn to hip turn. According to Jim the optimal “x-factor” is a 90 degree shoulder turn to a 45 degree hip rotation. What does the “X-factor” mean to you? When I teach with Hank our objective is to make your swing as good as your swing can be. The goal of this series is to provide you with the tools, yoga poses and balance ball exercises, to help you achieve your optimal “X-factor”.

The range of motion in your trunk directly correlates to the ability to generate club head speed, maintain your spine angle for more consistency, efficiently generate power transferred from the lower body and maintain your endurance.

This week will use a series of yoga poses based on the Crescent lunge and trunk rotation. Training the body to rotate the shoulders separately from the hips will increase your ”X-Factor” and increase your ability to generate power from the trunk.

Let’s get started!

Crescent lunge pose with extended club - trunk rotation:

Begin with the right leg bent at a ninety degree angle and slide your left leg back placing your knee on the floor. (Note: if your knee is sensitive place a towel under your left knee)

Place the club in your hands, extend your arms to shoulder height and take a deep breathe. Draw your navel towards your spine and elongate your waist.

Inhale and rotate the trunk to the right. (Note: lead the twist with your base of your spine and rotate up to your thoracic spine). Twist to the left and repeat this rotation ten times over the right legs, switch legs and twist over the left leg.

 

Crescent lunge pose with club crossed over the chest:

Begin in the crescent lunge position again. The objective in this pose is to stabilize the hips and rotate the trunk and shoulders. Inhale deeply as you draw the navel towards the spine, lift the ribcage off the waist and focus on stabilizing the lower body.


 

On your exhalation twist to the right and left ten times and switch sides.

 

Katherine Roberts is founder and president of Katherine Roberts Yoga for Golfers, a 10-year-old publishing and fitness consulting company based in Scottsdale, Arizona. As a fitness expert and a regular contributor for The Golf Channel, she has appeared on The Big Break, Makeover Challenge, Your Game Night, the PGA Merchandising Show Recap and How Low Can you Go? Katherine is the producer of nine DVDs and author of the ground-breaking book Yoga for Golfers (McGraw-Hill). Roberts’ unique approach to golf conditioning is a hybrid of western biomechanical research and eastern mind/body conditioning for performance. Yoga for Golfers is dedicated to helping people achieve balanced performance both on and off the course. www.yogaforgolfers.com