A VERY Important Lesson I Learned In 2009 That Still Holds True Today.

A few weeks back on social media, I shared a video discussing one of the most common questions I get regarding shoulder pain when throwing sidearm. It’s, unfortunately, a very common complaint in disc golf. Which is probably why it was seen over 28,000 times on FB alone.

If you have yet to see the video, you can watch it at the link below.

Shoulder Pain When Throwing Disc Golf Sidearm.  Bad Technique?

Back in 2009, I traveled to Arizona for a few days to get certified by the Titleist Performance Institute as a Golf Fitness Instructor. At that time, a majority of golfers did not believe that improving the strength, mobility, and stability of their bodies would help them play better golf.  Golf fitness wasn’t really taken seriously in the golf community.

These days, fitness plays a big role in many golfers routines, especially at the pro level.

There is even a fitness trailer that travels to all the major pro tournaments for golfers to exercise before and after rounds.

Source: gettyimages.com

Most of the attendees at this certification were golf swing instructors just looking for a reason to travel to Scottsdale to play a few rounds and network.

Out of roughly 100 attendees, I was only one of two strength coaches in attendance.

Why?

Because most of the golfing community believed that in order to get better at golf, you needed either more technique lessons or the hottest new driver guaranteed to add 20 yards of distance off the tee. 

The Director of the Titleist Performance Institute, Dr. Greg Rose, said something very impactful during the course that changed a lot of minds that weekend.

He looked around the room at the faces of half-interested golf pros and said, “During the backswing, you can tell your student to rotate over his back leg till your face turns blue, but if he has very little mobility in his hip, he’s never going to be able to do it.  You are wasting your time, and his money.”

You cannot achieve “good technique” if your body is not physically able to move into or through those positions.

That lesson has stuck with me ever since and is one of the driving forces behind Disc Golf Strong.

If you lack adequate mobility, stability, and strength in your shoulder and upper back, your body is going to have to compensate in order to make the sidearm throw happen.

Compensation means improper movement patterns, which increases the risk of pain and injury while also limiting performance. Can you throw sidearm, crush it, and never experience an injury?  Absolutely.  But why take the risk when there are simple but effective exercises you can do that will improve your performance and lower your risk.

Since releasing the video, I’ve had numerous messages asking what exercises can help with improving the shoulder and upper back for sidearm throws.

T-Spine Rotations

A first essential exercise to incorporate is the T-Spine Rotations. Being able to rotate efficiently through your upper back will take strain off your shoulder when throwing sidearm.

If you’ve already downloaded the free pre-round warm up e-book, this exercise will look very familiar to you.

Click here to watch the video showing T-Spine Rotations-> Click here to watch! 

The key to success, however, is not in knowing what to do, but in actually doing it.

So make sure you’ve downloaded the programs if you haven’t yet already and start implementing them consistently.

Once you do, you will be well on your way to playing Disc Golf Strong.

Seth

P.S. If you haven’t yet downloaded your free pre-round warm up, make sure to do so!  You will also receive, as a bonus, my FREE jump start bodyweight training program.