The single most important thing for my golf...

...I "teased" this a bit on Tuesday's post. On Monday night, some distance from a course, green or range, I discovered what is currently the single most important factor for me if I wish to improve at golf. It's something I always thought of as important, knew I was far from perfect at it and I've already done a few things to try to improve it; however I was unprepared for just how limited my situation was.

I'm talking of course about flexibility. I know I'm not supple- I was a tall teenager, at an age where all you want is to fit in, so you hunch to try to shrink back into the herd. I also played rugby, and finished up playing prop forward as my fitness levels fell (and abdominal girth increased!) what weights I did focused in the main on the obvious muscles and not their opposing groups. Added to that I have a job where I'm often hunched over trying to speak with an older person and you have a recipe for poor flexibility, even if you don't consider my years of lower activity before rediscovering sport through golf.

I'm very lucky to work (day-job work!) with an excellent physiotherapist (thanks Lisa!), and even luckier that she does some shifts for a sports injury clinic with Karen Young, a young, dynamic yet vastly experienced physio who in 2005 was appointed Lead Golf Physiotherapist for the Scottish Institute of Sport, co-ordinating and providing physiotherapy for the male and female Scottish National golf squads. £30 for a 30 minute consultation that over ran substantially. I shudder to think what the medical equivalent would cost privately.

Karen gave me an extremely thorough once over, and found that I have numerous physical restrictions, one in particular (absence of rotation in mid spine, meaning swing is all done by my arms) that's restricting my length.

I have a set of exercises to do, and now do some if working at my desk and needing a quick break. I've undertaken to do a half hour every day, and although I was tempted to aim higher I know what happens if I am over-ambitious; I shall stick to this for a while and perhaps step it up at a later date.

This might all sound like a piece of nonsense, but both Kendal and Scott commented on how rigid I looked at address, and had targeted relaxation as what they thought I should focus on. I had of course found this difficult to do, and now know why this was the case. I therefore think that my flexibility was the rate limiting step of my improvement, so I'm delighted to have tackled it. There is work to be done, but it's amazing how easy it is to motivate yourself when you have the utmost faith in your physiotherapist's assessment.

Some may be wondering why I didn't choose TPI; don't think there's anyone near me, and also would have chosen Karen's expertise over a TPI-certified instructor; this isn't as much a comment on TPI as their goals are for the most part laudable, but I don't feel that even a motivated golf pro with a good knowledge of anatomy and physiology could work at Karen's level following a few courses. If you're a golf pro reading this and disagree, imagine if the tables were turned and she were to go on courses of equivalent duration and then look to teach golfers.

That's not to say don't use TPI as I would have happily gone if they had been the only therapists nearby. All I'm suggesting is that you ask around to see if there's anyone like Karen near you, giving you the option of seeing one or other.

For anyone in close to Aberdeen and keen to see Karen, her biography is on their website. I can't speak highly enough of her.

Enough of this (this was meant to be a short post!) I'm awa' off tae stretch.