Get Golf Ready: Golfer's Massage

For a sport with a reputation as a slow, gentile game, Golf can be stressful. Missing a short putt or hitting a ball out bounds can send the blood pressure skywards! However, most golfers give little thought to the stresses and strains the game puts on their bodies. Walking long distances with a heavy bag on their shoulders, walking on uneven ground and swinging the club over 80 times during the round can do unseen damage and put pressure on the joints and muscles.

Regular stretching before and after the round is one way of remedying pain and discomfort caused by golf. But one of the best ways of ensuring you’re at your best on the golf course is to get a Golfer’s Massage.

Joanna Mowbray is a massage therapist and beautician with 3 years’ experience of giving golfers massages in St Andrews and recently she performed the Golfer’s Massage on me.

As I said, golf can be a stressful game. It can turn mild-mannered men and women into raving lunatics in the space of a few hours, and massage can help emotionally as well as physically. Massage helps to relieve stress, anxiety and aid a good sleep as it helps to relax the mind. Massage calms aggressive behaviours, which fortunately I don’t usually suffer from, but from time to time on the golf course? Oh yeah, maybe!

Massage decreases depression and helps to promote a healthy mind, which is perfect for getting rid of the memory of that double-bogey on the Road Hole! A blend of calming background music, witty chat, specialist oils and the motion of the massage assists in relaxing the golfer after their exertions on the golf course.

In addition to the emotional impact of a massage for a golfer, a massage can have notable health benefits including increasing white blood cells to improve immunity, aiding recovery from surgery and alleviating age-related disorders, sleep disorders and decreases illness-related fatigue.

However, it is the physical benefits which are perhaps the most important element of getting a Golfer’s Massage. Golfer’s Massage specifically targets the muscle groups used within golf and so can improve play and range of movement within the hips and shoulders. This in turn can improve the golfers swing and prevent straining and pulling of the muscles.

However, it cannot turn you in to Rory McIlroy overnight!

The Golfer’s Massage, as with any massage, is performed on a specialised massage table, usually around 6 feet in length in a specific massage room. The massage includes a shoulder, back and neck massage where the therapist works the muscles in your shoulders, the top and bottom of your back and stretches your arms. The massage helps to loosen any knots caused by stress on the body.

The therapist then goes on to perform a number of stretches on specific parts of the body impacted by golf, such as the knees, calves and hips. The Gluteals (the muscles which make up your butt, to me and you!) and Hamstrings are worked because they usually have an impact upon lower back pain, which golfers especially can suffer from.

A variety of stretches are then performed on the leg, all within the ability of the golfer.

The calves are then stretched by bending the leg to 90 degrees, and the therapist works the Soleus, a powerful muscle within the calf. With the knee still bent the leg is lifted off the table, I must confess at this point I thought I was going to fall off! The leg is then swung gently back and forth to stretch psoas and hip flexors.

The Golfer’s Massage then concludes by stretching the quads by bringing the ankle towards the gluteals. The massage usually lasts between 50 and 70 minutes and believe me, when I next played golf the difference was remarkable. I felt looser and was able to make a much freer swing each time.

Massage has long been used in professional sports, including golfers on tour, but at an affordable cost, the Golfer’s Massage is something every avid golfer should get with regularity.

Joanna’s experience of attending to golfers makes her a must visit for any golfer visiting St Andrews this summer!