UK Golf Federation news

15 years ago Linda Segerstam was told she should never play golf again.

Persistent back injuries were a huge problem, but instead of hanging up her clubs for good she took up Pilates. She is now a better golfer, injury free and has made teaching Pilates for Golf her career.

She set up her company, The Intelligent Core, in 2014 to teach Pilates for golf. In the last couple of years there has been a big change in the golf industry with more golfers adding Pilates, yoga and strength conditioning to keep fit for golf, and the likes of Rory McIlroy and Colin Montgomery embracing Pilates (reluctantly at first!) help create awareness. Golf is an athletic sport and being prepared physically helps avoid injury and creates stamina to last 18 holes. It can be tricky to figure out what exercise will actually improve your golf so the key is to tone the whole body so all muscles work in harmony and then identify some key areas.

We know that Lower Back Pain is very common for golfers so strength and flexibility above and below is a good place to start. Increasing core strength can improve hip rotation, range of motion in the shoulders and back stability, leading to more powerful and accurate golf shots. What she loves about Pilates is that it is a full body exercise routine that works all muscles, it is easy on the joints, and improves your posture.

You can make the exercises easier or harder as you go along. It is her passion to teach golfers how to keep injury free and move better so she does talks and taster sessions at golf clubs to speak about the benefits of Pilates training.

Is Pilates for me? • Easy to start • Effective • Inexpensive • No equipment • Lengthen playing life Linda Segerstam has worked with major sports and corporate brands for 20 years.

She is also a writer, public speaker and PGA level 1 golf coach. Linda worked with Body Control Pilates, the largest Pilates teaching organisation in Europe, developing the Pilates for Golfers teaching programme. Linda is a brand ambassador for Honma golf and Duca del Cosma golf shoes. She works with individual golfers, golf clubs, county teams and also trains Pilates teachers.

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