Allan is a senior golfer who struggled with existing injuries and pain, but after being referred to Elastic Golf, he was able to improve his movement and play without pain, resulting in a decrease in his handicap from 26 to 20.
Allan is a passionate senior golfer who discovered his love for the game later in life. Despite being an accomplished athlete, he struggled to develop the movement patterns that he was working on with his PGA professional. This was made even more challenging by the fact that Allan was dealing with existing injuries and significant pain. However, after being referred to Elastic Golf by his coach, Allan is now able to move more freely and play without pain. As a result, his handicap has dropped from 26 to 20.
Allan is a managing director of a successful firm and a fitness enthusiast. He played competitive soccer until his late 40s and has run 9 marathons and 21 half marathons. He’s cycled, skied and trained in Judo.
A few years ago, Allan discovered golf and threw himself into it fully aware of the challenges of starting late in life. He quickly developed a passion for the game and spent a lot of time practising and taking lessons.
Unfortunately, he herniated two discs in his lower back while weight lifting, which ended his running career and began to impact his golf game due to pain and reduced mobility. He could no longer maintain his practice and playing routines, the time spent hitting balls and walking his course was reducing more and more.
As a busy professional, Allan spends a lot of time sitting, which led to more back pain and made it difficult to build the movement patterns he was working on with his coach. He struggled to find consistency in his game.
He was acutely aware of the real impact his injury was having on the game he loved.
But that all changed when Allan switched coaches and was introduced to Elastic Golf. He has since become one of our most active members and hasn't looked back.
“We realised early on that Allan was particularly driven and motivated. In his first month of membership he’d completed over 35 workouts. When we asked if he was interested in being an early tester for our Pro tier, he jumped straight in.”
Michael Viney
Co-founder, Elastic Golf
We started with our proprietary assessment and met with Allan’s coach to understand his swing, what they were working on and what patterns they were trying to establish.
It was obvious that Allan was experiencing significant low back pain that radiated down into his left leg. He also had occasional pins and needles in his left foot, indicating nerve root issues.
Our assessment also found that Allan had a loss of lordosis in his low back, which restricted movement into extension and side flexion. He also had poor lumbopelvic awareness and was unable to hip hinge without collapsing his spine into flexion.
Through discussions with Allan's coach and reviewing footage of his swing, it was clear how our assessment findings were impacting his game. Allan had a slouched posture, or C posture, in his set up, and his stance was very closed at address. He had poor connection between his trunk and arms through his backswing, and his right leg would straighten out with excessive pelvic tilt.
In his finish position, Allan was very unbalanced with poor extension, and his right side flexed through his low back and chest leaned forward ahead of his pelvis. We identified significant stiffness in his hips, particularly in extension and internal rotation. He also lacked thoracic mobility, further impeding his shoulder turn.
Allan's athletic background was evident in his general strength, but his swing mechanics and limitations from injury hindered his ability to swing and generate power through the ground.
Allan was determined to improve his game and was willing to put in the hard work to achieve his goals. We knew exactly how to help him, so we created a custom six-week program for him with the goal of reducing his back pain, improving his flexibility, and building his hip strength.
We checked in each week, whenever Allan had questions he would send us video through the Elastic Golf app for feedback. His determination was unwavering.
Over the course of six weeks, Allan saw significant improvements in his movement and a significant reduction in pain. He found himself out on the course more often and his practice time was increasing.
He was eager for more, so we developed another six-week program focused on developing his leg and back strength with the intention of improving his posterior chain, all while maintaining a focus on flexibility and incorporating functional workouts.
“Our intention with the initial program was to immediately reduce the pain and focus on flexibility. We wanted Allan moving his hips better and reducing the load placed on his low back. With the second program we wanted to build as well as educate. Allan learnt postural control, leg stability, ground reaction and proper loading patterns. These exercises were easily translated into his golf swing but most importantly would help him play pain free.”
Kam Bhabra
Co-founder, Elastic Golf
After completing his programs with Elastic Golf, Allan now has a much stronger lower body and base with improved flexibility, which has increased his swing speed by as much as 17mph.
His ability to rotate has also improved significantly, allowing him to maintain a better posture throughout his golf swing. He can now play golf on consecutive days without aggravating his back pain.
If Allan does experience any symptoms in his lower back, he knows how to manage the problem by exercising appropriately and focusing on the fundamentals of his set up and posture.
To date Allan has clocked over 130 workouts on the Elastic Golf app, he continues to do the "Love Your Back" stretch, mobility routines, and functional strength workouts to keep his body moving well and strong for golf.
Recently, Allan shot the lights out for his best ever score - 14 over for 42 points! We’re excited to witness more of Allan’s success.
“I now realise that to play golf consistently as we get older, we must be smarter about the exercise choices we make. It is equally important to move well and have good flexibility as much as it is to be strong.”
Allan Marks
Elastic Golf Member and passionate golfer
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