Golfers tend to suffer back pain for a number of reasons: There are the usual reasons for back pain, such a joint in the back becoming 'locked', or a muscle or ligament strain, or worse still, a disc bulge or prolapse. If you have maturity on your side then degeneration of the spine doesn't help, or artheritis or another diesase process. The space for your spinal cord can become narrowed causing leg weakness, and fractures are not unheard of.
However, amongst the doom and gloom, there is the hope of golf related pain being due to the imbalance of the back and pelvis due to the activity being one-sided causing an unequal strain, often in the sacro-iliac joints. Osteopathy and physiotherapy (and chiropractic) can help with a number of the causes of back pain listed and two or three sessions can often help relieve the symptoms, with some exercises thrown in to help you, should the niggles re-appear at a later date.
But let’s try to avoid the pain in the first place – or minimise any re-injury. What can you do to help prevent back pain?
Warm ups and cool downs are essential in any sport. If you are taking it seriously and want to avoid injury, see it as important as remembering your clubs. Warm –up can be taught by any good Pro, but need to involve warming up the muscles you will be using in a safe way –ie dynamic stretching:
Pre Game, and pre,pre game!
Rotation is an important part of a good swing, and many of us, who may be in front of computers, or driving as part of our job, may be stiff inbetween the shoulder blades. This is a good exercise before you even leave the car! Stay seated and look over your right shoulder, then continue rotating so your right shoulder is also rotating backwards. KEEP YOUR SITTING BONES FIRMLY PLANTED or you can hurt your back! Repeat the exercise the other side and hold and relax into the stretch for 30 second – holding onto the back of the chair is a good way to do this. Next, gently repeat but swing and ‘pulse’ –not bouncing to increase the stretch –but just within a comfortable range of movement to keep the vertebrae mobile –NOT to increase the range of movement (you have already done this when holding the stretch).
Another seated stretch is to put your left ankle on your right knee, then hinge forward from the hips –the stretch should be felt in the buttocks- but if hamstrings (back of upper leg) are tight –you may feel it there first.
Also in the car –put your hands on the top of the steering wheel and chin to chest – and reach for the windscreen – curl your back for a good stretch down your spine and between your shoulder blades.
You have rotated your neck as part of the first stretch – now, keeping your nose facing forward, tilt your head to the right- whilst your left hand holds onto the underside of the seat, if you can, or put your hand behind in the small of your back. Use the right hand to add some weight onto the top of your head –don’t pull though, and hold for 30 sec and repeat opposite side.
Finally, imagine your pelvis is a bowl of water –tip the water out of the back of the bowl towards the back rest of the seat, then forward towards the steering wheel- do 10 each way.
You can do all the above throughout the week whenever your car is stationary, or on your office chair – then immediately pre-march –you can do them all in a standing position, using a club for support, which makes limbering easy! You will feel better for it generally as well.
Throughout the Game
Be careful when you pick up your bag – bend knees – toes facing forward, keep as close to the bag as possible. Even picking up the ball, remember to squat as much as possible – you are more vulnerable after using those muscles to carry your bag and repeatedly doing a one-sided activity.
Larry Foster,an orthopedic surgeon who calls himself "a bad golfer, but a good golf orthopedist." wrote "Dr. Divot's Guide to golf injuries” and also suggests:
“• Consider switching to a putter with a longer shaft.
• Slow down the backswing to minimize rotational stress on the lower back at the top of the backswing.
• Adopt a big shoulder and hip turn on the backswing (classic swing technique).
• Make sure body weight is properly shifted to the right foot during the backswing, and that the arms and shoulders are kept within the plane of the swing at the top of the backswing.”
Also, he says don’t:
“• Place the feet too far apart at the address phase (this limits the hip turn later in the swing and increases stress on the lower back).
• Hyperextend the spine on the follow-through, but rather utilize the relaxed upright "I" position (classic swing technique).”
Post Game
Golf is a one-sided activity which causes an unequal strain on the body, so it makes sense to ‘swing the other way’. For those who are unsure, this means, in this case, after you have been swinging to thwe right throughout the game – you cool down by swinging to the left –to balance out your body. Similarly –rotate your head more to the right –or simply, swap hands and do a reverse golf swing a few times.
Injuries Common to Golfers
As well as back pain there a number of injuries common to golfers. These include: Shoulder pain, hand, wrist and thumb problems including carpal tunnel and knee pain.
For Treatment
For an individual assessment and treatment, please call 01332 553332 where we can treat you and discuss some of the ways you can minimise injury further.
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