Chair Shaped
Last week I mentioned back pain and sitting. I could go on and on about sitting posture, but I won't. It's important, we know we should sit up straight, let's just leave it at that.
Naturally, we should have a slight hollow in our lower back. Sitting tends to put the spine in a bent forwards position, and we lose the hollow. Chair manufacturers and car seat makers are trying to combat this with "lumbar supports", but despite best efforts we become rounded in our lower backs.
Our hips also get tight as they get used to being at 90°, and our hamstrings get tight as our knees are held bent.
All in all very unnatural.
The single best thing you can do to counteract the evils of sitting is to reverse the stresses when you stand up. Leaning backwards with your hands in your lower back isn't just for when you have back pain, it should be done to prevent it too. (B) Even better, but less practical, is to lie down on your front and arch backwards, which takes weight bearing out of the equation. (A)
Next week I'll look at those hamstrings and hips. Until then, keep flexible.
The Physio Corner is proving a great success with Chris helping golfers' with their flexibility and strength. Pete Yeoman has asked if he could endorse Chris' services;
"As an avid reader of Marks Blog, I was interested to hear about Chris Holloway undertaking Physio consultation in Marks Swing room. So on Sunday I arranged to meet up with Chris. I have an ongoing problem with an upper neck/shoulder injury & after having previous physiotherapy late last year which unfortunately failed to resolve the issue, I decided to see Chris.
Following an in depth initial consultation & examination Chris explained in simple terms the root cause of my continued discomfort. He then spent the rest of the session giving "hands on physio".
This then was followed up by constructive advice and exercises I could do myself to alleviate the pain & rehabilitate the problem areas."
"I can confidently confirm that Chris is very well qualified & knowledge in his area of expertise as a physiotherapist & would gladly recommend him to any reader of Mark's newsletter who wishes to avail him of his services."
Pete Yeoman - Stamford Golf Club member.
Lowe Trophy
This week certainly wasn't going to be difficult to find a headline. The first major of the year found its way around the calendar and a positive number of entrants took part, in their attempt to inscribe their name inside the clubhouse. It was a blustery Saturday but conditions were fair, particularly after the late snow fall we received. It was doubtful we would even get the event underway, but surprisingly as it arrived it was soon gone. With thanks to that, two hardened golfers' posted potentially the round of their season. Beginning with Mr Majestic Coffee, Steve Moores who recently re-joined us, he managed to finish with back to back Birdies for a 68 Gross Nett 62. That left him 4 shots clear of 3rd place Chris Easter (Nett 66) and 5 shots clear of second best Gross Andy Bent (Gross 73). That score for Steve was good enough to help his handicap back to 5 and a return visit to category 1.
Top spot however was Tony Bowden. The ex Police man has an eye for a major, as last years' Captains weekend winner, he managed an impressive 73 gross (matching that of in-form Andy Bent) minus all 12 shots of his handicap to pip Steve Moores by 1 stroke with a Nett 61… NETT 61!!! That was good enough to leave him grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
Congratulations Tony, a superb score in testing conditions!
Wednesday Winner 4/5/16
As an introduction to the opening 2016 Wednesday Stableford, it was agreed that the "Winner takes all". Congratulations to Simon Marvel carding 29 points over the first 12 holes. He was closely followed by Dan Fox who narrowly missed out on the big prize by just one stroke.
