Don't let shoulder pain stop your game - get the Rotater!

All too often we hear about golfers suffering from rotator cuff injuries. We honestly feel that with a little bit of flexibility and strength training these injuries can be avoided, or at the very least reduced.

One of the best tools we’ve ever come across is The Rotater developed by Chris Melton and Scott Kay of Joint Mechanix.

Granted, some injuries simply cannot be avoided-for instance an injury incurred due to participation in a contact sport-but, the likelihood can be reduced with proper training. The Rotater allows for just that. This device is an easy to use tool that makes stretching and strengthening the muscles of the rotator cuff a breeze. Once you understand how to properly use this tool (that takes all of about 5 minutes after watching the short video provided with the Rotater) all it takes is about 10-15 minutes of implementing the stretches and strength exercises to gain the benefit of these movements.

What is the Rotator Cuff?

The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that connect the upper arm to the shoulder blade.

The muscles (S.I.T.S. is the way to remember them according to the previously mentioned A&P classes) and their respective functions are:

• Supraspinatus - abduction of the upper arm (i.e. raises it to the side of the body)
  
• Infraspinatus - external rotation of the upper arm (i.e. rotates it toward the backside of the body)
  
• Teres minor - external rotation of the upper arm (i.e. rotates it toward the backside of the body)
  
• Subscapularis - internal rotation of the upper arm (i.e. rotates it toward the front of the body)

All four of the muscles function to stabilize the shoulder joint.

The Rotater is a simple tool that allows for stretching and strengthening the internal and external rotation function through multiple angles.

We’ve been testing this device for quite some time now and are very impressed so far. It only takes a couple of minutes of playing around with it to become comfortable with how it operates.

The device comes with a wrist strap (which you need for the stretching exercises), the strong-arm band which can be easily adjusted to provide more or less tension depending on your strength levels, an instruction sheet, and a DVD that gives a great overview of the shoulder joint, the function of the rotator cuff muscles, and directions for using the Rotater to stretch and strengthen the rotator cuff.

The video basically demonstrates three positions each for stretching the internal and external rotation function and three positions each for strengthening the internal and external rotation function. Once you get accustomed to these basic movements, the video encourages you to explore other arm positions since the shoulder is not static.

Who is The Rotater good for? Everyone! Certainly golfers will benefit from this device, but anyone else, regardless of your sport or fitness levels, will as well. It is a highly effective, very easy to use, and inexpensive piece of equipment that will provide tremendous benefits if you use it consistently. We recommend it highly!

Click here to visit our store and purchase your own Rotater!

-EP Golf

Healthy Habit Building Tips to Improve Your Golf Game: #6 Use a Foam Roller

In May 2013, Golf Digest published a great article describing a 42 point, six week get fit planhttp://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2013-05/get-fit-six-week-plan.

We’re expanding on the points and adding insights and perspectives. The list was authored by Ben Shear, who trains many of the game's top players, including Luke Donald, Jason Day and Webb Simpson. Embrace his suggestions, and it won't be long before you look better, feel better and, yes, play better golf.

Buy a $12 foam roller, and knead the muscles of your body three times a week while you watch TV--especially your hips. Click here to get your foam roller now!

Good hip and spine mobility benefits everyone, especially golfers. Hip and spine mobility provide the foundations for a powerful and explosive golf swing. It helps relieve our backs from the stress of sitting behind a desk all day and from every day bending over to pick things up. Our hips are the hinge point upon which most activity depends. Keeping them flexible and capable through their entire range of motion will benefit your swing and reduce your chance of injury.

Foam rolling is a form of self-massage. Muscles and other soft and connective tissue can become damaged or inflamed due to injuries. Golfers place stresses on the shoulders, neck, back, hips, legs, and feet which can result in injury and inflammation.

Injuries stimulate the body to create scar tissue. Scar tissue forms in concentrated areas of muscles and connective tissue and does not stretch like healthy muscle tissue. Thus scar tissue cannot be easily repaired using flexibility and mobility exercises and often requires more intense therapy. A massage therapist or other soft tissue therapist can be very beneficial for treating muscles with scar tissue.

Not all golfers have access to visit a soft tissue or massage therapist when needed, so foam rolling provides an excellent alternative. Foam rolling is a very effective form of tissue therapy. It is also a great way to increase the benefits gained from the work performed by soft tissue and massage therapists.

The basic foam roller soft tissue work is simple. We include foam roller movements for the glutes, hip flexors, IT Band (side of the hip), hamstrings, calves, back, and lats in the ep-golf fitness program. Click here to join the EP Golf Club and get access t the entire EP Golf Fitness Program!

You may initially hurt a little bit and feel minor pains in some spots and your back may crack a few times. You’re tenderizing and loosening tight spots and possible minor scar tissue. Make sure to roll slowly and pause over any areas that feel especially tight or sore. Going up and down gently over short distances and then moving on to a different spot, rather than just doing a few quick sweeps, can be beneficial.

The movements are easy to do while watching TV and make you feel great. Start a foam rolling habit and feel better through the week and during your round.

-EP Golf

Healthy Habit Building Tips to Improve Your Golf Game: #5 Take the Stairs

In May 2013, Golf Digest published a great article describing a 42 point, six week get fit planhttp://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2013-05/get-fit-six-week-plan.

 We’re expanding on the points and adding insights and perspectives. The list was authored by Ben Shear, who trains many of the game's top players, including Luke Donald, Jason Day and Webb Simpson. Embrace his suggestions, and it won't be long before you look better, feel better and, yes, play better golf.

Take the stairs; two at a time if you can.

The fact is that most of us spend a large percent of our lives in an office or at a desk. We stay in the same location most of each work day, which isn’t helping our general fitness level or our golf games. Even if you cannot find time for a strenuous daily workout, you can use the environment around you during the day to help tone your body and prepare it for the weekend round. You can be active around the office and you can do it so no really notices. A simple way to incorporate beneficial activity into your daily routine is to take advantage of the stairways.

Stairways are accessible throughout the day either at the office or in shopping areas. Sometimes you must look for them beside or behind the elevators. They provide quick benefits because the elevation change requires additional effort to scale them as you climb. The best way to achieve fitness benefit from the stairs is to take them whenever you have the opportunity. Take them two at a time to increase the workload a bit. That single action during each day can provide improvements to your body and your heart which will enhance the preparation for your weekend round.

If you want to do more, you can try Stair Jumps. Jumping up the stairs increases difficulty for your muscles and heart and the associated benefit. Plyometric movements like jumping help increase the body’s ability to generate explosive force which is necessary for long drives and iron shots.

Another way to increase difficulty (and benefit) is to climb the stairs with some type of load in your hands. Take the stairs while carrying a box of paper or your brief case or your computer backpack. Adding some load to the stair walk can get your breathing and heart rate up a little more. A third way to utilize the stairs is to increase the intensity by sprinting up the stairs. If you don’t want to feel self-conscious, simply use the excuse that you’re late for an important meeting.

Using the stairs on a daily basis is a simple, effective way to prepare your body for golf and gain an edge on the course.

-EP Golf