Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for the stretching exercises, it just makes me feel better about myself in general since doing the core exercise last tip. I believe that the hamstrings are so important to many other parts of body. As I age, 65 in a week from today, my legs and feet are letting me know that I am not exercising and I so glad you are on this site to educate us on all areas to improve our bodies which improves our game! I will be adding today’s tip to my new found program. By the way if you switch from Tomatoe to Chickin Noodle I hear the acoustics are better. (Sorry but I couldn’t pass that up)
Have a great 4th and I look forward to your next visit
Mike
Jeremy, Sorry for being late but I was travelling and didn’t see the tip until now. I have very tight hamstrings and work them with a rope every day but I cannot get my knee as straight as you. When I tried your hamstring stretch, I found that the only way I could have a straight leg was to limit my hamstring to less than vertical. My question is, which is better, a straight knee and less than vertical leg or a vertical leg with a bent knee to stretch to get to the stage you are? Thank you for any information you may provide.
Hi Roy,
Great question about the hamstrings. The answer to your question is: Both. Each stretch puts stress on the tissue in the back of the leg. Intensity is important… too much and your muscle will react as if it’s guarding from injury/strain… too little and you won’t get much improvement. Moderate intensity daily is the best.
*Before golf, exercise or any other stressful activity do a number of repetitions of your stretches with a 5-10 second hold.
*After activity or on a day you don’t plan to stress your body too hard go ahead and increase the hold time to 30 seconds or greater with less repetitions. Reason: our muscle is slightly weaker after long stretches.
If you’re having trouble progressing, have a medical professional perform massage on the hamstrings and calves. Directly after the massage begin your stretches. I’ve seen 30 degrees or more of improvement with just one session. Neural Tension is also a concern… a physical therapist will be able to help you identify if this is what is holding back any progression. While lying on your back, 80 degrees of a straight leg raise is my typical goal for a golfer.
Thanks,
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
Jeremy ,THE basis of PAUL’s instruction is THE fast forward rotation of THE hips ,
In THE Video demonstrating his SOMAX hip trainer ,Bill PRICHARD shows a test to find out If you have a limited flexibility in turning your hips :lie on your stomach ,bring your legs up at 90
All these exercises you show are excellent ,JEREMY ,I already commented on them quite some time ago,and I have intoduced them in my program.
In the exercise where your are kneeling on one knee, the other leg flexed at 90 degrees at the knee ,shouldn’t you practice an “improved “version of it by rotating the upper torso towards the side where the knee is bent ?
Hi Raymond,
I see where you’re going with this. I would consider those 2 different exercises. The above is for hip flexor flexibility. Some golfers need to focus on this to help low back and hip discomfort. The exercise you mention above (Half-kneeling torso rotation) is more of a focus on lower body stability and upper torso mobility. I wouldn’t consider it an upgrade to the hip flexor stretch, just a different exercise with a focus on rotational mobility. Both are fantastic in different ways.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
Hi Michael,
This one is tricky sometimes. If your surgeon doesn’t want you to kneel, even with a lot of padding under the knee, you have a couple other options. Lying on your back and hanging your leg off the side or end of your bed is an option (just make sure to pull the other leg toward your chest as the other leg hangs off). A basic Bridge exercise can open up the front of your hips. Lastly, lying prone with your distal thigh elevated on a pillow, you can bend that knee (heel to butt) for a nice quad and hip flexor stretch.
Hope that helps,
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
Hi Jeremy. I have considerable trouble initiating the downswing by rotating the hips before the arms start moving. This problem is particularly acute on full swings so I believe the reason is an inability to rotate the hips when the club is at the top. I don’t seem to have the problem on half swings, I.e. short wedges. Is there a particular exercise which will create the separation needed to rotate the hips when the backswing reaches its maximum turn?
Hmmm… this sounds like a spine rotation issue. When you take a half-swing you have “slack” left in your spine so it’s easy to rotate your hips the other direction and initiate your swing. I’m guessing during the full swing you have no “slack” left in your spine to allow your pelvis to rotate the other direction. In other words, if you rotate your spine 100% to the right in the backswing, it’s impossible for your pelvis to rotate left without the shoulders turning left too. If this is the case you’ll need to work either on taking less of a backswing so you don’t completely max out your turn or you’ll need to gain flexibility in your spine rotation.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
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12 Responses to “How To Gain More Power Through Better Hip Mobility”
July 5, 2012
MikePlummerHi Jeremy,
Thanks for the stretching exercises, it just makes me feel better about myself in general since doing the core exercise last tip. I believe that the hamstrings are so important to many other parts of body. As I age, 65 in a week from today, my legs and feet are letting me know that I am not exercising and I so glad you are on this site to educate us on all areas to improve our bodies which improves our game! I will be adding today’s tip to my new found program. By the way if you switch from Tomatoe to Chickin Noodle I hear the acoustics are better. (Sorry but I couldn’t pass that up)
Have a great 4th and I look forward to your next visit
Mike
July 7, 2012
RoyMatthewsJeremy, Sorry for being late but I was travelling and didn’t see the tip until now. I have very tight hamstrings and work them with a rope every day but I cannot get my knee as straight as you. When I tried your hamstring stretch, I found that the only way I could have a straight leg was to limit my hamstring to less than vertical. My question is, which is better, a straight knee and less than vertical leg or a vertical leg with a bent knee to stretch to get to the stage you are? Thank you for any information you may provide.
July 9, 2012
Jeremy KlinkhamerHi Roy,
Great question about the hamstrings. The answer to your question is: Both. Each stretch puts stress on the tissue in the back of the leg. Intensity is important… too much and your muscle will react as if it’s guarding from injury/strain… too little and you won’t get much improvement. Moderate intensity daily is the best.
*Before golf, exercise or any other stressful activity do a number of repetitions of your stretches with a 5-10 second hold.
*After activity or on a day you don’t plan to stress your body too hard go ahead and increase the hold time to 30 seconds or greater with less repetitions. Reason: our muscle is slightly weaker after long stretches.
If you’re having trouble progressing, have a medical professional perform massage on the hamstrings and calves. Directly after the massage begin your stretches. I’ve seen 30 degrees or more of improvement with just one session. Neural Tension is also a concern… a physical therapist will be able to help you identify if this is what is holding back any progression. While lying on your back, 80 degrees of a straight leg raise is my typical goal for a golfer.
Thanks,
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
July 6, 2013
RaymondCHASTELJeremy ,THE basis of PAUL’s instruction is THE fast forward rotation of THE hips ,
In THE Video demonstrating his SOMAX hip trainer ,Bill PRICHARD shows a test to find out If you have a limited flexibility in turning your hips :lie on your stomach ,bring your legs up at 90
July 8, 2013
Jeremy KlinkhamerSounds like you’re looking for internal rotation of the hip. The two you mention are great. Try this one too: http://www.fitgolf.com/wp-content/uploads/Exercises/Reeducate/hiptwistersupported.pdf
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
October 25, 2013
RaymondCHASTELAll these exercises you show are excellent ,JEREMY ,I already commented on them quite some time ago,and I have intoduced them in my program.
In the exercise where your are kneeling on one knee, the other leg flexed at 90 degrees at the knee ,shouldn’t you practice an “improved “version of it by rotating the upper torso towards the side where the knee is bent ?
October 25, 2013
Jeremy KlinkhamerHi Raymond,
I see where you’re going with this. I would consider those 2 different exercises. The above is for hip flexor flexibility. Some golfers need to focus on this to help low back and hip discomfort. The exercise you mention above (Half-kneeling torso rotation) is more of a focus on lower body stability and upper torso mobility. I wouldn’t consider it an upgrade to the hip flexor stretch, just a different exercise with a focus on rotational mobility. Both are fantastic in different ways.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
August 6, 2015
MichaelDramanjeremy…for the hip flexors i have an artificial knee and cannot balance on it as you show…any other moves that work?…thks
August 6, 2015
Jeremy KlinkhamerHi Michael,
This one is tricky sometimes. If your surgeon doesn’t want you to kneel, even with a lot of padding under the knee, you have a couple other options. Lying on your back and hanging your leg off the side or end of your bed is an option (just make sure to pull the other leg toward your chest as the other leg hangs off). A basic Bridge exercise can open up the front of your hips. Lastly, lying prone with your distal thigh elevated on a pillow, you can bend that knee (heel to butt) for a nice quad and hip flexor stretch.
Hope that helps,
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
August 6, 2015
RonCalabreseHi Jeremy. I have considerable trouble initiating the downswing by rotating the hips before the arms start moving. This problem is particularly acute on full swings so I believe the reason is an inability to rotate the hips when the club is at the top. I don’t seem to have the problem on half swings, I.e. short wedges. Is there a particular exercise which will create the separation needed to rotate the hips when the backswing reaches its maximum turn?
Thanks, Ron
August 6, 2015
Jeremy KlinkhamerHmmm… this sounds like a spine rotation issue. When you take a half-swing you have “slack” left in your spine so it’s easy to rotate your hips the other direction and initiate your swing. I’m guessing during the full swing you have no “slack” left in your spine to allow your pelvis to rotate the other direction. In other words, if you rotate your spine 100% to the right in the backswing, it’s impossible for your pelvis to rotate left without the shoulders turning left too. If this is the case you’ll need to work either on taking less of a backswing so you don’t completely max out your turn or you’ll need to gain flexibility in your spine rotation.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
September 13, 2024
BillFreemanJeremy, Just terrific exercises! Thank you. So important!
Bill Freeman