Knee flexor and extensor isokinetic strength profiles of elite male golfers
Hatice İlhan Odabaş1
, Nejla Gercek2, Yaşar Tatar2
1Faculty of Sport Sciences, Haliç University, İstanbul, Türkiye
2Faculty of Sport Sciences, Marmara University, İstanbul, Türkiye
Keywords: Golf, knee strength, strength ratio, lower extremity
Abstract
Objective: Although lower extremity plays an important role for postural control and to produce power during the golf swing, it has not been clearly examined. The aim of this study was to identify the left-right, and agonist-antagonist knee muscle strength profiles and its correlation with performance in proficient golfers.
Materials and Methods: Eight male elite golfers, age 21.6±1.1 years, height 174.1±6.1 cm, and body mass 68.6±2.7 kg, with handicaps of 0-5 participated in the study. Knee flexor and extensor peak torques of the golfers were measured by using isokinetic dynamometer (at 60°/s, 120°/s and 240°/s). The number of golf shots on an 18-hole golf course was recorded to determine golf performance.
Results: In golf players, knee strength difference between right and left extremities were 0.53%, 5.77% and 5.35% for flexor muscles and 5.71%, 3.60% and 7.91% for extensor muscles at 60°/s, 120°/s and 180°/s, respectively. Right and left knee Fcon/Excon ratio was between 0.67-0.99. No correlation was found between golf performance and peak torques except for right knee flexor muscle at 120°/s angular velocity.
Conclusions: Knee muscle strength variations between right-left and agonist-antagonist muscles were below the injury risk limits. Those negligible imbalances may be the result of functional differences of knee muscles during each part of the golf swing. It is important to add appropriate drills to the training programs so that these differences do not cause injury and poor performance in the long term.
Cite this article as: Odabas HI, Gercek N, Tatar Y. Knee flexor and extensor isokinetic strength profiles of elite male golfers. Turk J Sports Med. 2022, 57(4):177-82; https://doi.org/10.47447/tjsm.0643
The approval for this study was obtained from Clinical Research Ethics Board of Haliç University (Approval number: 04/08, Date: 18.05.2020).
Concept: HIO, YT; Design: HIO, NG; Supervision: YT; Materials: HIO, NG; Data Collection and Processing: HIO; Analysis and Interpretation: NG; Literature Review: NG; Writing Manuscript: HIO, NG, YT; Critical Reviews: YT.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to authorship and/or publication of the article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or publication of this article.
