Many people come to us talking about issues with their knees. We have clients that go from minor knee pain to complete replacements of both knees. And when you lose the ability to bend the knee it causes issues up and down the chain.
What is the Knee?
Really in terms of movement capability there is only knee flexion and knee extension. But it really has a lot more going on. It is supposed to be a stable joint helping to provide stability for the hips and ankles on both sides of it. That's where you hear about the ACL, PCL, MCL and LCL. Those are all strong ligaments that are there to help keep the knee stable. It's funny when you think about it the knee only moves two ways but it is so much more complex than that, which obviously means more issues can come up.
The biggest issue in golf is the rotation. The knee is stable joint that moves two directions. We need it to do so much more during the swing. Watch your knees in your golf swing. You will notice a lot of motion. And if your ankles or hips are stiff the knee will make up for their stiffness and give mobility, something it's not made to do.
How is the knee used in the golf swing?
We actually need to be able to bend the knee and have the MCL hold strong while the knee collapses in and helps us create pressure on the left leg as we rotate back. Then the same will happen on the right leg as we go through the swing as we also extend the left leg at impact to increase power. As you can see the knee needs to be a very strong joint but strong joints are also capable of handling a lot of motion.
Now what are some simple things you can do to work on your knee mobility?
First we can foam roll the quadriceps. This will be the easiest way to add motion to the knee in terms of flexion. It may also give some relief to the hips because the rectus femoris crosses the knee and the hip.
Next we will just stretch the quadricep.
Try those out and let us know if they gave some relief to your knee?