Hit the links for health with YMCA Golf Fit

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on April 20, 2022.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman YMCA fitness coordinator Sydney Herrick demonstrates one of the exercises that will be showcased in the upcoming YMCA of Lethbridge Golf Fit program.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The YMCA of Lethbridge have partnered up with Evergreen Golf Centre to create the Golf Fit program, aimed at helping golfers integrate fitness into their swing.
Each partner has a part to play. While the YMCA works with participants in improving their flexibility, strength and movement, Evergreen Golf Centre will work with them in improving their overall golfing skills.
YMCA fitness coordinator Sydney Herrick says the Golf Fit program is a unique opportunity for community members who want to get involved with a fitness aspect as well as the golf portion.
“This is a really exciting opportunity for us here in the fitness department. It’s our first partnership program since moving to the Cor Van Raay centre and we’re lucky enough to have this partnership with Evergreen golf course,” said Herrick.
She said it is a unique way to get the training side of it as well as the hands on golf side of it.
“I just think that this partnership program is very exciting, because it allows our facility to expand this outside of its walls,” said Herrick.
Evergreen Golf Centre head teaching professional Evan Webber said the partnership was created inspired by a person he has been instructing who inquired if the YMCA had any golf specific fitness program.
“It ended up being something that seemed to fit their programming ideology very well and it works really well for us as well to have that partnership so that’s kind of where it started,” said Webber.
The program will run for four weeks with ten participants as a pilot project, but with the intention to expand in the future.
 “We’re going to do kind of one strength day with weights and then one mobility day a week so when they will work on rotation, we’ll be doing some core movements, so a lot of it will be banded just to get that rotational strength to help with the golf swing,” said Herrick.
She said they want to help people improve their mobility, especially coming out of the winter months.
Webber said one unique thing about the partnership is that he would be able to know what type of exercise the participants are working on in a specific week and he will be able to apply it when they go for their golf lesson.
“When they come to me, I’ll be able to tell them how each exercise applies to what they are doing,” said Webber.
The YMCA of Lethbridge Golf Fit program will run Mondays and Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. at the YMCA and Fridays at the same time at the Evergreen Golf Centre, from April 18 to May 13.
Registration can be made online at https://lethbridgeymca.ca/programs/115/golf-fit/?locations=-1 

Follow @APulidoHerald on Twitter