Hi Jeremy I use straightening my left leg (right handed) to start the lower body first in the downswing. My question is , are there any specific excersises , to strengthen this leg to decrease chance of injury, or stretches to take some of the tension of. thanks
Hi Barry,
Great question. Preventing lead knee injury is crucial. There are a couple things that can happen:
*Knee hyper-extension is common in golfers that straighten the knee with a lot of force either by choice or by lie. To prevent this you should really keep the quadricep muscles strong to counteract that force by doing squats or leg extensions.
*Another common knee issue is when the knee stays bent for too long. This causes the knee to be the primary pivot joint. The knee is not made to rotate more than a couple degrees, therefore a lot of shear force can cause meniscus and ligament injury. The hip on the other hand is made to rotate quite nicely. Therefore, to prevent a prolonged bent-knee, golfers should concentrate on hamstring, calf and hip strengthening. We might do a video on this soon.
*As far as stretching goes, concentrate on getting your hamstrings to a supine straight leg raise past 80 degrees. Also, the calves and gluteal muscles are very important to stretch for a good post position.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
Hi Jeremy
Since watching your foam rubber videos I am heading out to purchase one today. I think they are a great idea and many thanks for the great demonstrations and advice. I hope you can help me with one injury. Over the past 3 weeks I have developed a sore right foot. It starts under the sole on the left hand side and moves up but only on the left-hand side of the right foot. It is a dull but constant pain. Do you have any small exercise equipment that I could use to heal. I am now going to my physio for treatment this afternoon. Many thanks Jeremy. ps can you give any suggestions as to why this is happening. I can only say it must be golf as I play 2/3 times a week. I am a 68 yo semi active female and have been playing for 22 months.
Hi MJ,
Thanks so much for all the kind words. I’m sorry to hear about your foot injury. It sounds consistent with plantarfascitis but please confirm that with a medical professional. Without knowing your history I would hate to speculate further… I’d like someone to rule out a fracture before you treat it and certainly before I give advice from a distance. Care for your foot would be drastically different depending on your diagnosis. Let me know what your MD and physio say and maybe I can be of better assistance after that. In the meantime, wear shoes with nice stability and arch support and stay away from barefoot as much as possible until you learn more. Best of luck. I look forward to more info soon.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
Hi Jeremy
Been and had my foot checked out. No fracture but a stress down the right hand side of my right leg and this is causing the foot to react. I am told to do calf warm up exercises. Do you have any of these? Also bought the foam roller and eager to get into this. I am after more flexibility in my body. Thank you for the advice to wear my arch support and good stable shoes. I do walk a bit on my barefoot on tiles so will change this as well. Please keep up the absolutely excellent work you do Jeremy as it is invaluable to lots of us.
Hi MJ,
Glad to see the fracture is ruled out! Do your best to let the injury heal. Get some clarification on “calf warm-up exercises” from the medical professional you saw if you’re not sure. That could mean anything from a light stretch with your heels off a step to actual calf pumps to exercise the muscle and make it stronger. It could even be that they want you to do both. Let me know which direction they’re taking you (stretch vs. strength) and I’ll help out the best I can. Once again, thank you so much for your kind post.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
Hi, Jeremy. Your use of the foam roller intrigues me. I would like to get one but am unaware of the benefits of smooth vs patterned rollers, and, short vs long rollers. Any direction would be welcome.
My greatest area of need at his time is tight hamstrings.
Hi Anthony,
Thanks for the message. I’m a fan of the original 3ft length smooth roller… 6 inch diameter. I like it because of it’s universal qualities. As for the tight hamstrings specifically, you could use any roller on the market. Using the roller for the hamstrings will only be a warm up tool. The actual stretching of the hamstring is the most important in your case. The roller won’t get deep enough to make actual tissue change… it will only improve blood flow which may feel better as a pre-stretch routine. Hope that helps.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
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8 Responses to “Release Your Hamstrings with the Foam Roller”
April 13, 2013
barrybowerHi Jeremy I use straightening my left leg (right handed) to start the lower body first in the downswing. My question is , are there any specific excersises , to strengthen this leg to decrease chance of injury, or stretches to take some of the tension of. thanks
April 15, 2013
Jeremy KlinkhamerHi Barry,
Great question. Preventing lead knee injury is crucial. There are a couple things that can happen:
*Knee hyper-extension is common in golfers that straighten the knee with a lot of force either by choice or by lie. To prevent this you should really keep the quadricep muscles strong to counteract that force by doing squats or leg extensions.
*Another common knee issue is when the knee stays bent for too long. This causes the knee to be the primary pivot joint. The knee is not made to rotate more than a couple degrees, therefore a lot of shear force can cause meniscus and ligament injury. The hip on the other hand is made to rotate quite nicely. Therefore, to prevent a prolonged bent-knee, golfers should concentrate on hamstring, calf and hip strengthening. We might do a video on this soon.
*As far as stretching goes, concentrate on getting your hamstrings to a supine straight leg raise past 80 degrees. Also, the calves and gluteal muscles are very important to stretch for a good post position.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
January 28, 2016
MJHi Jeremy
Since watching your foam rubber videos I am heading out to purchase one today. I think they are a great idea and many thanks for the great demonstrations and advice. I hope you can help me with one injury. Over the past 3 weeks I have developed a sore right foot. It starts under the sole on the left hand side and moves up but only on the left-hand side of the right foot. It is a dull but constant pain. Do you have any small exercise equipment that I could use to heal. I am now going to my physio for treatment this afternoon. Many thanks Jeremy. ps can you give any suggestions as to why this is happening. I can only say it must be golf as I play 2/3 times a week. I am a 68 yo semi active female and have been playing for 22 months.
January 29, 2016
Jeremy KlinkhamerHi MJ,
Thanks so much for all the kind words. I’m sorry to hear about your foot injury. It sounds consistent with plantarfascitis but please confirm that with a medical professional. Without knowing your history I would hate to speculate further… I’d like someone to rule out a fracture before you treat it and certainly before I give advice from a distance. Care for your foot would be drastically different depending on your diagnosis. Let me know what your MD and physio say and maybe I can be of better assistance after that. In the meantime, wear shoes with nice stability and arch support and stay away from barefoot as much as possible until you learn more. Best of luck. I look forward to more info soon.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
January 30, 2016
MJHi Jeremy
Been and had my foot checked out. No fracture but a stress down the right hand side of my right leg and this is causing the foot to react. I am told to do calf warm up exercises. Do you have any of these? Also bought the foam roller and eager to get into this. I am after more flexibility in my body. Thank you for the advice to wear my arch support and good stable shoes. I do walk a bit on my barefoot on tiles so will change this as well. Please keep up the absolutely excellent work you do Jeremy as it is invaluable to lots of us.
February 1, 2016
Jeremy KlinkhamerHi MJ,
Glad to see the fracture is ruled out! Do your best to let the injury heal. Get some clarification on “calf warm-up exercises” from the medical professional you saw if you’re not sure. That could mean anything from a light stretch with your heels off a step to actual calf pumps to exercise the muscle and make it stronger. It could even be that they want you to do both. Let me know which direction they’re taking you (stretch vs. strength) and I’ll help out the best I can. Once again, thank you so much for your kind post.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT
December 19, 2019
AnthonyScarfoneHi, Jeremy. Your use of the foam roller intrigues me. I would like to get one but am unaware of the benefits of smooth vs patterned rollers, and, short vs long rollers. Any direction would be welcome.
My greatest area of need at his time is tight hamstrings.
Thank you.
Anthony
December 20, 2019
Jeremy KlinkhamerHi Anthony,
Thanks for the message. I’m a fan of the original 3ft length smooth roller… 6 inch diameter. I like it because of it’s universal qualities. As for the tight hamstrings specifically, you could use any roller on the market. Using the roller for the hamstrings will only be a warm up tool. The actual stretching of the hamstring is the most important in your case. The roller won’t get deep enough to make actual tissue change… it will only improve blood flow which may feel better as a pre-stretch routine. Hope that helps.
Jeremy Klinkhamer, PT