Putt Without Pain

Train with a Physioball to keep your lower back limber late in the round

It starts on the practice green. You feel your lower back tighten just enough to get your attention. After the turn, the discomfort is now affecting your concentration. By the final few holes, when you really need to make a putt, you feel as if your lower back is on fire.

The stress placed on the bones, joints and ligaments of the lower back can be so severe when putting that some players have switched to longer putters so they no longer have to bend at the waist.

For golfers who want to stick with a traditional putter and stroke, here are three exercises, demonstrated by teaching professional Jeff Ritter, that can relieve tension by strengthening the muscles of the glutes, abdomen, and lower back, especially the transverse abdominis. That muscle wraps horizontally around the ab muscles and attaches to the lumbar spine, acting as a natural weight belt. The exercises are recommended by Mark Verstegen, director of Athletes' Performance, a world-class training institute of Tempe, Ariz.

Do these exercises two of three times a week, with a minimum of either to 15 reps (one to two sets). Physioballs or other stretch balls can be purchased for less than $30 at most fitness stores.