There are many golfers who engage in strength and fitness programmes, and now golfers in Cork can benefit from a golf specific yoga programme.  Trish Daly, a Cork native who spent the past 30 years in Australia, has started her Yoga for Golfers programme at Cork Golf Centre in Inniscarra.  Trish has studied under various expert programmes, but her profession is a result of a need when she had difficulty playing the game.  “When I first took up golf I really didn’t understand the golf swing, I used to get a very sore lower back” explained Trish.  “Back then in Sydney I looked around for a gym programme that would target my golfing muscles there was only an elite program available.”  That gap in the market set Trish off on a journey which would eventually become here job.  “For the last nine years I have studied as much as I can about the biomechanics of the golf swing.  This included Paul Chek, the Titleist Performance Institute and most recently Yoga For Golfers.  I came across YFG at the World Golf Fitness Summit in New Orleans two years ago. I attended a class with Katherine Roberts and was blown away at how much increased flexibility and mobility I had after just 60 minutes.  Katherine set up Yoga For Golfers about ten years, and she uses the biomechanics the golf swing to create poses that are unique to golf.  This is the main difference between a YFG and a normal yoga class.  In the golf swing you go from a static position to an exploitive position in under two seconds so there is huge potential to damage vertebrae or lumbar discs.”

Trish Daly – Complete Golf Fitness

In Australia Trish worked in several of the top resorts and courses including Royal Sidney and Concord.  Having returned to Ireland six months ago, Trish has continued a family tradition and joined Cork Golf Club.  Both of her parents were members in Little Island and Trish has memories of caddying for her parents.  With the help of her own exercise programme, she now plays off a competitive handicap of 12.  Starting a new business can be challenging, especially for a returning emigrant.  But there has been a very positive reaction to the new service.  “The feedback has been very positive” said Trish.  “It’s exciting that people are getting behind this, and they are starting to see results.  The classes run for six weeks and follow a very structured programme.  YFG teaches each pose in building blocks so for this reason everyone can participate in these classes.  I have a few private clients that I work on a one to one basis.  At the moment I am running four YFG class a week in Cork , two at Cork Golf Centre and two more at another club.”

With the first set of courses in progress, plans are in place to start the next set of courses.  Trish is also looking at running one day and two day courses that combine the yoga programme with golf and performance tuition to provide a holistic approach to the game.  The first golf retreat is already in the final stages of planning with more set to follow.  Classes in Bandon and Skibbereen are also planned for next month.  While Trish hope to bring the yoga programme to clubs all over Cork, the headquarters is in Cork Golf Centre where she has fitted out a yoga studio and a therapy room.  “The Studio at the Cork Golf Centre works very well, our class sizes are very small to ensure maximum attention for each client, I also include a TPI golf screen so I can personalize the class to the people present.  I am a qualified   remedial   massage therapist I really enjoy massage Its very rewarding when someone has a major issue and you can help to alleviate it.”

While The yoga programme has been built around golf, Trish feels that it can be applied to other sports.  “Yoga for golfers can be used for any rotational sport.  The movement patterns and sequencing are the same for hurling and camogie both of these sports would benefit from this type of yoga.  The Cork Golf Centre is a great place to work.  Working with Dave, Wayne, Liam and Sarah, we are trying to create a golf centre of excellence – the only issue with Cork it that it’s so cold!”