Mobility - good mobility, especially in the hips and thoracic spine, is essential in developing a large swing arc to develop more torque. It is also a key component in preventing low back pain.

Flexibility can be thought of as a component of mobility. You may have good muscle length but still have limited mobility. But you can not have good mobility without good flexibility.

Just like flexibility, mobility can vary quite substantially between people. Young females, for example, tend to have increased mobility at their joints.

Mobility has an inverse relationship to stability. The more mobile a joint is, like the shoulder, the less stable it will be. The shoulder is a very shallow ball and socket joint. Like a ball sitting on a saucer. It is a very mobile joint but lacks inherent bony stability. The stability is provided by soft tissue structures; the ligaments, joint capsule, and muscles. On the other hand the hip joint is a deep ball and socket joint and has significant bony stability but much less range of motion.

Mobility can be divided into three subdivisions; normal mobility, hypermobility, and hypomobility.

• Normal mobility is the expected amount of motion at a joint with the limit of the motion being provided by the appropriate structures.
• Hypermobility is an excessive amount of motion at a joint. This can be attributed to several causes including stretched or torn ligaments or joint capsule, degenerative joint surfaces, fractures. The causes of hypermobility can vary between sprains to compensations for nearby joints that are not moving optimally. Hypermobility can lead to an unstable joint. Trying to increase mobility at a joint without also increasing its strength and stability is a recipe for injury and poor performance.
• Hypomobility is a restriction in the normal joint motion. This can be from adhesions, scar tissue, degeneration or arthritis, capsular tightness and even poor posture and mechanics.

Decreased mobility can cause increased stress on the involved joint or neighboring joints in order to compensate. Key joints for having good mobility are the ankle, hip, and thoracic spine. Good mobility is important for all joints but these are more prone to be stiff. If you don't have good hip mobility you may rotate more in the low back which is a risk factor for developing a back injury. You will also not develop as much power which translates into less club head speed.

mobility

flexibility

stability

The Swing

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