Don’t Let Back Pain Stop Your Swing

Low back pain is the most common reason for amateur golfers to need time away from the golf course.  Recently literature shows that about 80-100% of golfers will experience spine problems at some point during their career.  These pains are mostly avoidable and are likely caused by either swing faults (i.e., bad habits) or physical dysfunctions that are limiting their body one way or another (i.e., mobility or stability-driven).  Golfers between the age of 50 and 59 represent the largest group of golfers and they are often the population that has started to experience physical decline in their movement quality, and quantity.  This, coupled with a general lack of kinesthetic awareness (i.e., knowing where their body is in space), creates a situation that is ripe for a physical breakdown and pain results.  With golf becoming more popular since the re-introduction as an Olympic sport in 2016 (Rio) it is more imperative now than any other time that we, as physiotherapists, are sought after to enhance performance of golfers as well as to reduce the risk of overuse injuries like low back issues.

Dietmar Goebel, et. al. (2018) demonstrated that most golfers are unaware of their own swing mechanics and why they are swinging the way that they are.  Goebel states, “… if swing technique cannot be described, how can the natural limitations in spinal range of motion be taken in account?”  If golfers are unaware of what they are trying to do in an athletic move like the golf swing, how are they going to be able to fix any physical dysfunctions that may be limiting their performance.  Being able to understand the relationship among between your golf swing and neuromuscular control of your torso helps to reduce the risk of low back pain and improved your golf swing/performance.

The golf swing is a multi-planar movement, with rotation making up the bulk of the movement.  A total of 58° of rotation is needed from your ankle to your lumbar spine for each direction of the swing to ensure maximum performance and minimum injury risk (Goebel, et. al., 2018).  Many golfers will unconsciously compensate by shifting their foot position, but this does nothing more than alter your mechanics and decrease the stability in your pelvis which increases your risk of injury even more*.  A complete understanding of your golf swing and your body movements helps to make sure we are being proactive about treatment and performance (they go together). 

Golfers, like many individuals from the public, do not generally seek treatment proactively.  They do not realize that something is dysfunctional until they’re unable to do what they want because of the improper movement pattern.  Being proactive, and efficient, in your diagnosis and treatment will help clients to get back to playing better golf and getting rid of the pain.  During the season, management of symptoms is key so that golfers can continue playing.  Once the season is over, however, we need to delve deeper into the underlying root cause of the dysfunction and make sure that this problem does not continue to arise year after year and hinder performance as well as removing the person from golfing entirely 2° to pain.  Mark Smith writes, “…play a vital role in providing on-hand advice, diagnosis and treatment to ensure the player is able to perform without significant lowering of performance” (Smith and Hillman, 2012) to highlight the necessity for a complete diagnosis and effective treatment technique quickly administered to ensure golfers being able to continue playing and continue performing at an optimal level; DON’T WAIT UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE. 

E-mail us if you’d like more information about how you can prevent your back from flaring up on you. Jason@Rule76Performance.com

*Disclaimer: this information is not recommended for individuals with joint replacements

Goebel, Dietmar, et al. “Lumbar Spine Injuries: Primary Prevention in Amateur and Professional Golf Players.” Sports Medicine International Open, vol. 2, 2018, pp. E179–E184.

Smith, Mark F, and Rob Hillman. “A Retrospective Service Audit of Mobile Physiotherapy Unit on the PGA European Golf Tour.” Physical Therapy in Sport, vol. 13, 2012, pp. 41–44.