Most Common Golf Injury – Low Back Pain
The most common complaint and golf injury among golfers is lower back pain, as your swing and stance—especially while putting—put great strain on this area. 4/5 golfers will suffer low back pain at some point in their golfing life. Golfers from every part of the world always strive to hit the ball harder, further, straighter. This popular notion requires increased club head speed, and increased rotation in the back. This leaves the player more vulnerable to pain and injuries. There can be a from number of causes, including arthritis, spinal disc problems and stress fractures. Lower back pain occurs in golfers because of the actual swinging of the club itself, particularly with the reverse angle swing. Fortunately, lower back pain of this kind can usually be treated with exercise. Improving swing technique and physical fitness are the keys to avoiding back pain. Strength, flexibility and endurance all play an important role: fatigue leads to uncoordinated muscle firing, resulting in injuries.
Prevention and Treatment
- The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), citing a 2004 study, asserts that “increasing the range of motion of lumbar spine extension and rotation of the lead hip” may help prevent some incidents of lower back pain. In other words, work on your restrictions.
- Have someone else carry your bag. Studies suggest that people who shoulder it themselves are more prone to back and ankle injuries. Use a trolley instead.
- Exercises that strengthen the muscles in your torso may help. Particularly focusing on the low back mobility and stability, and the hip mobility of the leading hip.
- For more serious afflictions, professional medical treatment—including surgery—may be necessary.
Unfortunately, if you are still experiencing lower back pain after having done some stretching and exercises, it more than likely means you are swinging wrong or you have a restriction or muscle imbalance in your low back which needs physiotherapy. Our physiotherapist, Sean, has a great understanding of the demands the game puts on your body, having played off a handicap of 4 during his youth. Combining physiotherapy, with having golf lessons from a golf pro, is the ideal way of resolving your issue. The physiotherapist will treat your physical restrictions and imbalances to enable you to swing the club better which will allow the professional to correct your swing faults, now that your body is able to fix these faults.
If you are experiencing pain of any kind during golf, please do not hesitate to contact us on 046 9002982 and one of our physiotherapists will be able to help you on your way to becoming a better golfer.
Yours in Health
Sean Clarke
Chartered Physiotherapist