Rotational Rolling Patterns

The basis for all rotational movement patterns comes from our ability to roll. The first building block you learnt for all rotational sports was rolling. When you were a baby you learnt how to roll from your back to your front and your front to your back. Your rotational neuromuscular recruitment pattern and the development of the proper sequence or coordination for rotation was created back when you were an infant! ( For a great video representation of the primitive rolling patterns watch this http://youtu.be/sqSslKxJ4LE )  You can correct faulty movement patterns by revisiting this basic movement and pretending to be a baby again. The assessment is quite simple. Start on your back and without using your lower body (Your body is paralyzed from the waist down) roll on to your stomach. Now reverse it and roll prone to supine. Now try it with the upper body paralyzed and the lower body initiating the rolling. Prone to supine, supine to prone.

To complete the roll successfully you need to recruit the right muscles at the right time for the right job. Each muscle connects with other segments of the body. For one segment to move you need the adjacent segment to stabilize. The stable segment then needs to pull on the next segment and become mobile. Stable then mobile then stable then mobile all down the chain. Your rotational slings work as the prime mover when anchored properly. You don’t need to tell your body how to do this if you are moving well. Some of you may struggle with rolling. Is it a coordination issue? Is it a stability issue? Or is it a mobility problem. First thing we want to do is clean up any mobility issues. Check Multi-Segmental Rotation, Lower 1/4 Rotation, T-Spine Rotation, Flexion/Extension Mobility and hip mobility for lower body rolling. Once this is cleaned up you can start coaching your way to a clean roll.

Coaches:

The cool thing is, we can actually assess what your golf swing, throwing technique or rotational strike would look like based on what you do when you are rolling on the ground. The faults we see on the ground also show up when the athlete is on their feet. When the athlete uses extension patterns for movements that require flexion patterns it tells us that the athlete uses extension patterns as a default. Now watch their sport skill. Are they bringing this default movement pattern into their sport? Most will! 

Coaches Video:

Here is a presentation that Lance Gill and I did for the Virtual Golf Summit on this topic. This is exclusive to Next Level Members only! Watch it and in coming months we will revisit this topic and give our athletes some drills and exercises to take their rolling to the Next Level! The video starts after 20 seconds so you have time to connect with Lance on Twitter and Social Media. Patience is a virtue! Questions? Use the "Yo Jay" page to ask questions and I will announce on Twitter times when we can do some live chats. Till then keep it Rolling! #CoachGlass

http://vimeo.com/111209233