Bandit strain

Hi,

 I played on Saturday and had a dream round. Managed to hit a 78, 7 over gross. This is my best round for years and my second best round ever. Im not sure what it was but everything felt right, and my distances were spot on. Still on a high and ready to conquer the world.

I am well aware that everyone will call me a bandit, and i will gladly take the compliment but that is not the reason for my post.

Towards the end of the round i was physically draining and next day my back was stiff as a rock and was fairly painful. I never normally feel like this after a round.

Now im quite happy to put it down to no pain no gain, but was concerned that one of my best striking days ever led to strain on my back.

Im assuming that as i dont play as much as i used to my back has got weak and i need to do some exercises to strengthen it. Has anyone got any exercises that they could recomend or make any suggestions as to why this occured.

Oli,

well done for the 78 fella. i once had a similar experience with a 79 when playing off 20. totally legitimate i may add as my playing partners had seen ALL my previous rounds.

anyway. the back!

this is going to sound daft but get yourself an exercise ball... yep on of those big inflatable things. what you need to concentrate on is the core. yes, getting your stomach up to scratch may sound silly but that is where all the support for you back comes from. i suffer from serious back problems but the only reason i can still play is by using a ball.

you can get all sorts of exercises off the net that incorporate the ball and also use weights and a "wobble board". for example. sit on the ball with your left foot on the board and right foot raised, get a weight in your left hand and while tensing your stomach, reach up as high as possible and hold it for 10 seconds (try it 10 times then change over), be carefull not to sit into the ball and keep your lower back straight.

this will help with core stabillity.

I'm not a doctor or physio so you should always get a qualified person to make sure you are doing it right but it worked well for me.