Effect of a 6-week yoga intervention on swing mechanics during the golf swing: a feasibility study

Recent evidence suggests that participating in physical conditioning programmes can improve golf performance, however, the effectiveness of a yoga intervention has yet to be investigated. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of a six-week yoga intervention on golf swing mechanics. Ten male golfers participated in the laboratory-based-study. Golf swing mechanics were collected from two testing sessions, before and after the six-week yoga intervention, using the Vicon motion capture system. Following the six-week yoga intervention, significant changes were observed between the yoga and control group in X-Factor (P ≤ 0.05) and a medium effect (d ≥ 0.50) observed. No significant changes (P > 0.05) and no effect (d < 0.20) were observed in the X-Factor stretch. Significant changes (P ≤ 0.05) and a medium effect (d > 0.50) were observed for the pelvis rotations following the yoga intervention, however, no differences were observed in torso rotations or hand velocities (P > 0.05). The findings of this feasibility study suggest that yoga may be a promising intervention in helping to improve golf swing mechanics, however, future research is required to confirm the effect of the use of yoga during the golf swing due to the sample size.