Golf is one of the few sports that folks can enjoy playing through their later years. That’s one of the many reasons why golf is such an incredible game!

However, seniors will have to find ways to increase strength, flexibility, and balance if they want to play golf into their 70s and beyond.

In this article, we’ll review the golf exercises that can help make that goal a reality. We’ve also included a video demonstration of each exercise to help you visualize how to do them.

1. Weighted Golf Swings

Take a swing weight and snap it onto the end of a golf club. Here’s the one mentioned in the video above:

You can also purchase a weighted golf club. Take your normal stance and complete your normal golf swing a few times to warm up.

After the muscles are nice and warm, complete 20 to 30 swings with only your left arm. After this, do the same amount of reps with the right arm.

Why It’s Important

This is great to do as part of your warm-up exercises before a round of golf. Weighted swings can also help seniors maintain muscle strength and swing speed during the winter months.

This exercise will help keep your lower back, hips, shoulders, obliques, and forearms loose and strong.

2. Golf Swing Wall Stretch

Lean into a wall with your right hand high above your head. Place your left hand lower than the right hand to simulate the top of your backswing (for a right-handed golfer). Your chin will rest comfortably on your left shoulder.

Turn the left hip in until you feel a deep stretch. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds then twist to the left side and do the same stretch.

Why It’s Important

This hip stretch can help senior golfers increase flexibility and swing speed. This exercise can be done before practice sessions as part of a thorough warm-up routine. Since the golf swing requires lots of rotation, the hips must be nice and warm before practicing or playing.

3. Tubing Around Ankles

Grab any loop or theraband, wrap it around both ankles, and place any golf club or stick across your chest. Start with your feet close together, but take your right foot and step far away. You should be a little further than shoulder-width apart.

Next, simulate your backswing by rotating away from your target as far as possible and moving most of your weight to the back leg. Transition your weight to your front leg and complete the downswing with your right toe releasing off the ground.

Then return to your starting position with the feet close together.

Why It’s Important

This is a fantastic way for senior golfers to work their quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, hips, and surrounding muscles. The added strength will lead to less stiffness in the legs and hips and more distance off the tee. A nice thing about this exercise is that you don’t have to be in a gym.

4. Prone Press Up

Lie flat on your stomach while resting on your elbows. Stretch out your lower back by pushing up through your elbows. Hold the stretch at the top before going back to the starting position. Complete 10 reps to get some good movement through the spine.

Why It’s Important

This stretch will help senior golfers relieve lower back pain, one of the most common injuries in golf. The golf swing is incredibly taxing on the lower back, so these golf flexibility exercises are vitally important.

5. Figure Four Stretch While Seated

While seated in a chair or golf cart, take your right foot and place it on your left knee. Stretch the hip flexors by taking your hand and slightly pushing down on the side of your right knee. Count to ten before switching to the other leg. Complete 3 reps per leg.

Why It’s Important

This is one of my favorite stretches, and I like to do it before teeing off on each hole. The figure four will help seniors stretch out their hip flexors. This will increase flexibility and will allow for a much smoother backswing.

6. Medicine Ball Side Twists

Sit on an exercise mat with your legs in the air and slightly bent. Hold a medicine ball (any weight you are comfortable with) with both hands.

Quickly swing the ball to your right side and tap it against the mat. Then, rotate and touch the other side of the mat with the ball. If you have any lower back pain, put your heels on the ground instead of keeping them in the air.

Why It’s Important

This exercise is simple but does a phenomenal job of working the oblique muscles, which play a crucial role in the golf swing. Keeping the core in good shape can lead to more yardage off the tee and lower your chances of any type of back injury.

7. Seated Lower Back Stretch

Sit comfortably on the edge of a chair (preferably one with arms). Make sure your hips and knees are facing forward. Rotate your torso toward your left leg and press your right hand against your knee.

To deepen the stretch more fully, rest your left hand on the arm of the chair for extra support and leverage. After holding the stretch for 30 seconds, rotate toward your right leg and complete the same stretch.

Why It’s Important

This exercise is great to do each day to stretch out the lower back and oblique muscles. It’s also a good idea to do this before a round of golf to prevent any type of muscle pulls. The nice thing is it can be done while sitting in a chair or on the ground.

8. Hip Flexor Exercise With Chair

Step about two feet behind a chair and put both hands on top of it. Make sure the chair is tall enough to reach your hips. Keep your feet shoulder-width apart.

Raise your left knee as high as possible. The goal is to raise it to the top of the chair, but don’t overextend yourself to the point of discomfort.

Keep each rep slow and controlled by counting to three, both on the way up and on the way down. Do 8 to 15 reps before switching to the right knee and doing the same.

Why It’s Important

This exercise adds strength and flexibility to the hip flexor muscles, which are used quite a bit during the swing. It also helps with balance, hip mobility, and coordination, which are three critical ingredients to a more fluid swing.

Mike Noblin

Mike has been involved with sports for over 30 years. He’s been an avid golfer for more than 10 years and is obsessed with watching the Golf Channel and taking notes on a daily basis. He also holds a degree in Sports Psychology.

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Golfer’s elbow is one of the worst feelings you can experience on the course, and it’s particularly painful. It’s caused by overworking the muscles in the forearm and is a result of playing too much golf. There’s not much worse than that.

In this guide, we’ll go over some of the best exercises for golfer’s elbow to get you back playing in no time. If you keep practising these simple stretches even once you’ve recovered, you might never get golfer’s elbow ever again.

What is golfer’s elbow?

Golfer’s elbow (also known as medial epicondylitis) is caused by overusing the muscles in the forearm, particularly from flexing the wrist and fingers. This results in inflammation of the tendons throughout the forearm, causing a painful sensation on the inside of the elbow.

If you’re struggling to grip properly, feeling stiff in the elbow region, or simply experiencing forearm pain, you could be suffering from golfer’s elbow.

Given the necessity to employ these muscles when holding a golf club, the term ‘golfer’s elbow’ was born. However, it’s a condition which can affect athletes participating in a variety of sporting activities, from weightlifting to off-road cycling.

Golfer’s elbow is a painful and extremely frustrating condition. There’s not much worse than being kept away from the course because of an injury. The good news is that it’s not permanent, and with the proper stretches, it can become a thing of the past.

Before you try any exercises, the most important step is to rest. Don’t rush into any exercises until the pain has subsided and you’re ready. Otherwise, you risk further injury. You should also contact a professional physiotherapist if you’re experiencing symptoms.

Applying ice is also one of the most basic and effective ways to begin treating golfer’s elbow. Apply an icepack or a bag of frozen peas to the painful area. This is a good way to start soothing the pain without overexerting yourself. It’s essential to use a layer of protection between the ice and your skin, such as a tea towel.

With all of that in mind, here are some of the best exercises for golfer’s elbow.

Exercises for golfer’s elbow

In the early stages of physio, it’s advisable to begin your recovery with stretches and exercises which don’t require the use of weights or exercise bands. These will help alleviate some of the pain without risking further injury.

1. Self-massage

To reduce tension, simply self-massaging the painful area is another effective technique. Make sure you’re supporting your arm on a flat surface and gently rub along your forearm between the wrist and elbow. Don’t press too hard, and if you begin to experience more pain than before, stop.

2. Elbow flex

This is another straightforward exercise. Bend your elbow so that your fingers are touching your shoulder. Keep it there for a couple of seconds, before re-extending so that your palm is flat and facing the ceiling.

Like many of these exercises, you may experience some discomfort; however, if the pain becomes unbearable, stop immediately.

3. Palm up/palm down

Staying simple, this exercise requires only a table. Rest the back of your hand on a table and slowly rotate your forearm inwards towards your body so that your palm rests on the table.

4. Wrist extension

Now we can start thinking about working on the wrist itself. Stretch your affected arm out in front of you with your palm facing upwards. With your other hand, pull your hand down so that you can feel your wrist stretch and your fingers point to the ground.

You should also try the inverse of this. Begin with your palm facing downwards, then have your other hand pull your hand upwards so that your fingers are pointing towards the ceiling.

5. Wrist flexion

Rest the back of your forearm on a table with your wrist over the edge and your palm facing upwards, clench your fist and lower it. Then, return it to its starting position. Make sure you are doing this slowly. Discomfort is normal; extreme pain is not.

To move this exercise on once you’re ready, return your fist to its starting position and then flex it up slightly further.

6. Squeezing a ball

A really simple exercise for golfer’s elbow involves placing a tennis or resistance ball in the palm of your hand and squeezing it gently.

Using weights in exercises for golfer’s elbow

Once your strength is returning, you can introduce weights to your routine.

7. Wrist flexion with weight

Rest your affected arm on a table and let your wrist hang off the end. Ensure your palm is facing upward.

In that hand, place a light dumbbell (between 0.5 and 2kg). Now, lower the weight below the table and then bring it back up, flexing your wrist muscles.

Make sure you’re doing this slowly without pushing deep into the pain barrier. If it hurts too much, stop.

8. Wrist extension with weight

This is the inverse of the above instruction. Place your forearm on a table as before, but this time face your palm towards the ground.

Hold your light dumbbell in your hand and allow your hand to hang below the table. Now, extend it upwards while keeping your arm on the table and repeat.

Using exercise bands to treat golfer’s elbow

If you have access to them, exercise bands are a useful aid when it comes to carrying out a broader range of exercises for golfer’s elbow.

9. Forearm pronation 

For these stretches involving exercise bands, it’s important to be seated.

On the side of your affected arm, hold the band at one end with your palm facing the ceiling. With the same foot (for example, if your right arm is injured, use your right foot), step on the other end so it’s trapped underneath your foot. Rest your forearm on your knee.

Now, rotate your hand inwards so the back of your fist is facing the ceiling. Only rotate as far as you can go without experiencing too much pain. Like the rest of these exercises, it’s important not to add more pain on top of the golfer’s elbow you’re trying to treat.

10. Forearm supination

Now, try the reverse of the above exercise. Set up as you would for the forearm pronation exercise, but this time begin with the back of your hand facing the ceiling.

This time, rotate your hand and wrist outward so that your palm faces the ceiling.

Living with golfer’s elbow

Unfortunately, there’s no single exercise that will quickly fix your golfer’s elbow. Recovering involves a combination of rest, physio and avoiding activities which will exacerbate the injury. For example, while you’re recovering, limit strenuous activities such as heavy lifting. You can still exercise while suffering from the condition, but avoid activities which target the wrist and forearm.

Once you start doing these exercises, it’s important to know your limits. If your pain increases at any point, stop the exercise. If you’re still experiencing symptoms after multiple months, consult a medical professional.

Mild cases can heal after two to four weeks, but a typical case can take as long as six months to be fixed. In this scenario, it’s best to consult a professional physiotherapist to aid in your recovery.  It’s crucial to remember that the best treatment is prevention. Prioritise your technique on the golf course, and you’re less likely to experience golfer’s elbow.

Specialist golf insurance through Golf Care

No matter how well-practised you are as a golfer, you’ll know all too well that there’s still a risk of injuring yourself on the course. That’s why you may want to consider protecting yourself and your equipment with specialist golf insurance.

Through Golf Care, policies include Equipment Cover up to £7,500, Public Liability of up to £10m, and Personal Accident Cover up to £50,000. Get a quote online today.

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