Bilateral differences and relationship between rotational power and hand strength in young golf players

• Main Author: Fleetwood, Lina
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för ekonomi, teknik och naturvetenskap 2016
• Subjects: Golf; rotation; hand strength; bilateral differences
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-31047

Background: Strength and power are important factors in many sports, and rotational power of the trunk and upper body are important components of golf performance. Trunk and pelvis cooperated in the rotation movement and strength in the muscles surrounding these segments is contributing to a successful and powerful rotation. Side-to-side asymmetry is often discussed in the field of injury prevention and it is suggested that bilateral imbalances affects the performance. Hand strength is a measure of diverse use when testing physical requirements in athletes. It has previously been concluded that hands strength correlates strongly with strength in both lower and upper extremity in youths, but the correlation among adults and athletes are unknown. In golf, hand strength has been stated to be one of the most important components for golf performance and it strongly correlates with golf specific variables such as ball speed and drivers distance. The relationship between hand strength and rotational power is unknown. Aim: The aim was to study rotational peak power and hand strength in young golf players to compare side-to-side differences and the relationship between rotational peak power and hand strength. Methods: Twenty-seven subjects, 22 men and 5 women, with a golf handicap of ≤5 participated in the study. The two tests performed was a hand strength test using a T.K.K handheld dynamometer and a rotational peak power test in Quantum. The tests were performed at the same session, first hand strength and then rotational peak power. In order to test the rotational peak power a 1RM test was performed. In order to study the relationship between hand strength and rotational power a Spearman´s range of correlation (rs) was used. A Wilcoxon signed-ranked test was used to study the side-to-side differences between dominant and non-dominant hand strength and rotational power. Results: No statistical significant differences were found between dominant and non-dominant hand strength (p = 0.28) or between dominant and non-dominant rotational power (p = 0.97). A strong correlation between dominant hand strength and dominant rotational power was found (rs = 0.636) and a moderate correlation between non-dominant hand strength and non-dominant rotational power (rs = 0.589). Conclusion: There are no side-to-side differences in hand strength or rotational power in young healthy golf players. Dominant hand strength correlates strongly with dominant rotational power.