There’s no stretching the truth – Pilates is a winner for all golf swings

VERITY KNIGHT: Has a swing to die for . . . and puts her flexibility down to discovering pilates.

ONE of the biggest innovations in women’s professional golf this summer actually took place OFF the course.

Yet it had a profound effect ON the course for many players – and signalled the start of something big for our tour stars – something that can only help and improve their golf games during those lonely months touring the world.

And if pilates is the ‘find’ of the year for some of our best women professionals then they have one player to thank for that – Gold Coast-based ALPG star Verity Knight.

After becoming ‘hooked’ on pilates herself a year or two ago, Knight decided the time was right to offer our players the perfect off-course alternative to their golf games. And pilates now seems destined to be a major player in their plans for the future.

Mind you, the life of a professional is anything but boring and there is seldom much ‘down’ time between tournaments, pro-ams and practising for most of our top players.
“Sometimes we’d only have a day between tournaments and that made it a little difficult for any of the girls that wanted to be certain they didn’t get sore between events,” Knight told Golfer Pacific.
“If you’ve never done pilates before you can certainly find a few muscles that you never knew existed,” grinned Knight, who is a former South Australian amateur champion.
“Certainly it can get a bit challenging.”

Golf has always come first for Knight, who has only taken to pilates in the past three years. And how did that help her golf?
“In a lot of ways,” she said.
“It helps your core strength, your flexibility, your control . . . lots of things.
“Before I started pilates I honestly couldn’t touch my toes. Now I can put my hands on the floor – and things like that are very important for your back and your spine – to be supple – and it’s good for your hamstrings too.
“When you are leaning forward all the time your hamstrings get really tight and so do your quads and your hips.
“It’s about keeping those muscles in their best condition and keeping them supple as well as strong.”

Knight says it was amazing how quickly pilates began helping her – and her golf game.
“I was going twice a week when I first started,” she said.
“And I noticed the difference in four weeks, seriously.
“I promise you its not just a female thing either – a lot of the guys who do it actually are much better than women at it.
“They start off a bit behind because they don’t have the initial flexibility that women do but they end up being a lot better than a lot of the women when they get into it – its amazing.
“A lot of golfers have lower-back issues because you lean forward and your stomach more or less switches off.
“And that just puts extra weight into your lower lumbar and your spine.
“So having a nice tight core really helps with not just your golf swing but your general well-being as well.”

Knight says her own form had been “inconsistent” this summer and she would keep throwing in one bad day at each tournament, which was putting her out of any chance to contend.
“The next day I would follow up with a good score – but that’s how it goes,” she said.
“I played well in some of the pro-ams at the start of the summer but couldn’t maintain that form, unfortunately.”

Knight says she planned to spend the rest of the year working on her golf game – and teaching some pilates before giving serious thought as to whether or not to have another go at the ALPG Tour circuit at the end of the year.
“I played well when I first turned pro and was really into the swing of things,” she said.
“I had a sports psyche at the time too and had lots of things going my way,” she said.
“I have to think about whether or not I want to go back to all that and if I do I will have to make sure all those things are right to go as well.
“I had a guy caddy for me in Melbourne who even offered to give up his job to come out and caddy for me on the tour.
“It’s just great that there have been so many people who were prepared to come and help me out.
“But I have to put my head down and see if I can work it out first.”

Knight will definitely stick with the pilates though.
“Actually it’s nice to just have the one job to do at the moment and not be running around trying to do too many other things – like a chicken with no head,” she laughs.
“I’m working five days doing about five classes a day at the moment,” she said.
“I’d rather be doing the classes than teaching them – but its all going well.
“We have a lot of rehabilitation-type of issues and pilates really helps with that.
“At the moment there are more women than men in the classes – probably about 80-20, but it’s one of those things that for golf, which is a male dominated sport, it’s such a terrific thing.
“It’s quite ridiculous the amount of benefits you can get from this type of exercise.
“Just giving it a go helps.
“A lot of the exercises men are just not accustomed to doing. But we are trying to change all that.”

Knight says a lot of the women professionals were really interested in her classes and that almost brought her another job offer as well.
“The European women professionals, in particular, were really interested and were trying to talk me into going over to Europe and taking the classes for the girls on tour during the year,” she said.
“There’s lot of opportunities there, that’s for sure.
“I had never tried pilates but got involved through one of the members at my golf club, who owned the studios.
“Now I have to say that I am well and truly hooked.
“You basically have to learn what is good for you and your core strength and can have something written on paper which you can work on.
“Pilates creates lean, strong and flexible muscles easy to manipulate in a swing but powerful enough to generate length and control with the golf ball.
“Pilates is already popular among dancers, gymnasts, footballers, soccer player and basketballers.
“Golfers’ concerns are tight hamstrings, lower-back pain, shoulders and arm soreness.
“A common golfing trait is minimal exercise outside of the round itself.
“Most golfers rarely stretch or warm-up properly before teeing off.
“For one of the most complicated sports, it is amazing to find so specific training designed for golfers which is easy, low impact and produces amazing results.”

Verity Knight has a golf swing to die for. And if she has her way, we’ll all be swinging as sweetly as her very soon. For further information, check out their website at www.rawpilates.com.au.