Keep Your Golf Game Pain-Free:
Tips for Staying on the Course
As the weather starts to turn for the better here in West Michigan, golfers are hearing the exciting news of courses opening and filling up tee times within minutes. The excitement is there, the newly fitted clubs are ready to go, but is your body? Is it ready to handle the game of golf for another season of hacking away?
Many are unaware that golf is a very ballistic sport. It requires us to generate very high levels of power from the ground up, transferring through our body, into the club head, and eventually a ball. It puts tremendous force on our bodies. To do this repetitively over and over, your body has to be ready to handle the stresses placed upon it or it will break down eventually.
Here are some interesting data points regarding injury prevalence from Titleist.
Among amateur golfers in pain, the most common injury is back pain. Assuming you could have guessed that one! Coming in at 28.1% of all golfers in pain. Fun fact: The back is very rarely the problem for those with back pain!
Shoulder and knee pain come in at about every 1 in 5 golfers.
The most common injuries are strain, sprains, tendon issues, arthritis, disc issues, tears, and fractures.
The most common cause of injury in a professional golfer is overuse.
The most common cause of injury in an amateur golfer is poor body mechanics.
Other causes of injury consist of:
Poor swing biomechanics
Excessive practice (especially hitting off of mats)
Not having a customized exercise program
Poor nutrition
Improperly fitted clubs
Of all these things listed, our bodies are extremely important when it comes to golf. It shapes our swing, allows us to create and transfer power, and play the great game of golf.
Our Great Lakes Spine & Sport Golf Performance Professionals recommend these things to keep in mind when preparing to play a round of golf:
Make sure you have some sort of activation warm-up before your round.
This should be targeted to hit all areas of the body and prep the nervous system.
Stretching is good too - the caveat with stretching and creating tons of mobility pre-round is if you’re not used to having that extra range of motion it can throw off your sequence and performance may decrease. So dynamic warm-ups and activation drills are preferred.
Make sure you can move where it's required (example: Hips and Thoracic Spine).
If you have limitations, your body has incredible ways of compensating and could eventually come with the cost of injury.
You will see these limitations in your golf swing, with characteristics like swaying, early extension, sliding, hanging back, reverse spine angle, over-the-top, casting, etc.
While working on some of these things with a swing coach is awesome, sometimes your body is what is holding you back from improving and not allowing you to perform the drills they are asking.
Prioritize off-course routines (Recovery/Gym/Therapy).
Recovery includes but is not limited to sleep, nutrition, sauna, cold plunge, etc.
Gym work and therapy involve working on your deficiencies in movement patterns and targeting specific areas for mobility and stability.
Not sure what to work on or what your body individually needs? Contact our office for a Golf Performance Assessment and our staff will develop an individualized plan for you to keep you playing and feeling your best this golf season that’s ahead!
Call us at (616) 594-0214
Or go to our website at https://greatlakesspineandsport.com