Ankle Mobility

Article by Dr Larry Callaway

BIO - Specific Chiropractic Center - Dr Callaway Blog

I have learned through studying with the Titleist Performance Institute that having great ankle mobility is needed to have a fully functional, non-compensating swing. Intellectually I understood what TPI was talking about, but I had not had experience with Ankle Mobility up until this weekend. I was playing with my father, and a single golfer. This golfer plays with one arm because of shoulder and wrist injuries; besides dedication to the sport this shows love.

At one point this golfer and I had the same lie on a goofy slope. I had difficulty grounding my feet and noticed that my calves were feeling stretched in the particular position I was in and my complete swing was restricted. I asked the other golfer if he felt the same. He said no! So out of curiosity I asked him if I could test his ankle mobility and his was seemingly double of what mine was.

As I was talking to this golfer about his one arm swing and watching him play, he was very mobile in every area and equally stable in all areas except for his shoulder, which probably goes without saying since he doesn’t use it to swing.

Basically the moral of this story is ankle mobility is important in your swing whether you notice it on a swing by swing basis or not. The best way to get ankle mobility is to stretch your calves with knee straight and knee bent to get both the major muscles that move the ankle.