Golf is generally considered a leisure activity. Only the elite few play it as a competitive sport while the rest of us play golf as a hobby or social activity. But whether you’re a pro or an amateur golf player, back pain is a common condition most golfers suffer from.
The incidence rates of golf-related back pain are between 18.2% in amateur players to 54% in professional golfers.
The movements your body goes through while playing golf are not something you do in your everyday activities. The intensity and range of the explosive movements are unusual.
So the players who lack proper training often end up with pain and instability in the back.
In this article, we’ll discuss the preventive measures you can take to reduce back pain as a golfer- all backed by research and scientific publications. But first, let’s look at the risk factors for back pain in golfers.
Why Do Golfers Get Back Pain?
The golf swing is associated with aggressive axial twisting or spine rotation and compression. This twisting is a proven risk factor for LBP even for non-golfers.[i]
Back pain in golfers is multifactorial so we can’t simply blame it on a bad swing, although it is a leading causative factor.
Carrying the golf bag, lack of rotational mobility of the spine or hip, bad posture or biomechanics and reduced muscle endurance are all causes for golfer’s back pain.[ii]
A study reported that 46.2% of all golf-related injuries occur during the golf swing.
Out of that 18.3% are in the low back leading to pain. Sometimes golf is not the cause of your low back pain. Rather, playing golf aggravates pre-existing conditions because of the explosive movements.
The reason why the low back is the most commonly affected region is because of the stiffness of the upper or mid-back (thoracic spine). This causes the lower back to compensate for the rotation that the mid-back should be doing during the golf swing.
Some golfers have one-sided pain either on the left or the right low back depending on the direction of their golf swing. That’s because the movements during swing produce asymmetrical compression with more stress on the trail side.
5 Strategies for Preventing Back Pain
Stretching before a match is a great way to loosen the hip and upper back musculature. But if you’re looking to get rid of back pain for the long haul then habitual exercising is the way to go.
Staying fit outside of gold days improves the endurance of the protective spinal structures and increases your capacity to recover from an intense match much quicker.
Here’s how you can prevent back pain as a golfer:
1. BulletProof Your Core from All Sides
The stronger your core, the better you can handle the high-intensity rotations of golf swings. For that, you need to improve your spinal stability musculature which includes more than just your abs.
Here are a few exercises that you can do at home to improve your core strength:[iii]
- Side planks – This works primarily on your oblique while also strengthening hip adductors (muscles on the inside of your thigh) and other muscles in the core. Improved endurance in these muscles means that you’ll have more control over your spine during golf swings.
- Hip Bridges– These work on your gluteals and hamstrings while also improving your core stability. Better gluteal strength leads to a more stabilized pelvis during the swing phase, which means less stress on the low back.
- One Arm Carry – This exercise is ideal for working on the entire core. It activates your obliques, glutes, hip flexors, quadriceps and shoulders.
Other exercises you do include planks, weighted hip bridges with a barbell and dead bugs to name a few. Maintaining good core strength can also prevent over-rotation of the trunk during the golf swing.
2. Improve Hip Flexibility
Sufficient hip flexibility can prevent the low back from taking on excessive load during the swing. Two of the best exercises for this include:[iv]
- Single leg Romanian deadlift works on your hips, gluteal and hamstrings. It stretches one region while also strengthening the other hence it is a great exercise for improving hip flexibility and strength.
- Pelvic tilts – Your pelvis tilts naturally from the beginning to the end of the golf swing. So improving this range can de-stress your low back. To do this, go down on one knee and place your hands at the hips and practice tilting your pelvis forward and backwards. Alternatively, you can lay on your back and do the same movement.
You can also use a foam roller to loosen up tight hips but know that there is limited research to support its effectiveness.
3. Maintain Good Posture While Golfing
Proper biomechanics is critical while golfing especially during the swing.[v] That’s because your back undergoes compressive stress about eight times that of your body weight during the golf swing. To put things in perspective, the compressive stresses during running are three times the body weight.[vi]
The flat back posture is the best while playing golf.
To practice maintaining a flat back, take your club and hold it against your back. Such that the clubhead is at your lower back or buttock area and the grip is at the back of your head. Then bend your knees as if you were in the address position and make sure that the club is in contact with your back.
That’s the posture you need – not too C- shaped and not the opposite way.
4. Warm-Up and Stretching
Studies have concluded that you should warm up for at least 10 minutes before playing golf.[vii] It reduces the risk of injury and improves your performance. You can do a couple of low-intensity practice swings, brisk walk for a few minutes or do a couple of jumping jacks to warm up.
Some basic stretches for golf include:
- Stretching shoulders by moving them through the entire range in overhead stretches and arm circles back and forth.
- Thoracic spine rotation stretches by holding the club in your hands and rotating.
- Standing hamstrings and ITB stretches[1] .
- Lunges and squat jumps to stretch the hip and pelvis.
- Toe touches to stretch your entire back, hamstrings and calves.
You can end the warm-up with some speed swings and high-intensity trunk rotations.
5. Know Your Body’s Limits
Our last tip for preventing back pain due to golfing is that you listen to your body. Take a break when you have to and decrease the intensity of the game when you don’t have the power for it.
Age may be just a number for you but your body can surely feel the effects of old age.
Adopt a more classic swing, upgrade your clubs to match your swing power and speed, and get help from a professional coach to modify your biomechanics if you can’t seem to get rid of the pain.
Tips for Managing Golfer’s Back Pain
All the exercises we’ve covered in the above section can be adjusted to help you recover from a back injury. But before you do that, make sure that you have your doctor’s approval to get back to playing golf.
Here are some tips for managing back pain in golf:
- Practice swinging from both left and right-hand sides. The asymmetrical pressure on your back due to continuously swinging from one side can lead to pain and an imbalance in the strength of both sides.[viii]
- A study found that wearing free-release or rocker-soled shoes might help reduce low back pain.[ix]
- Since slouching is a major contributor to back pain in golfers, practice improving your posture while you’re in recovery.
It’s best to contact a professional recovery coach or a Physical Therapist to give you the specific exercise regimen to alleviate your low back pain due to golfing.
Golfers’ and Back Pain – In a Nutshell
Back pain is endemic amongst golfers, especially the weekend warriors and amateur players who don’t prepare for this aggressive sport.
The preventive strategies that can save you from golf-related back pain include stretching and doing mobility drills before a match.
Strengthening your core and gluteals is also highly effective in improving your body’s stability and reducing LBP.
If you’ve got back pain after playing golf, then resting and reducing the playing intensity might help. But if your pain doesn’t go away in enough time then you should visit a doctor or physical therapist for a checkup.
We do not recommend that you try the pain management techniques mentioned in this post without getting a professional medical consult first.
[i] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8623063/
[ii] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12750140/
[iii] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1260/174795407789705415?journalCode=spoa
[iv] https://sites.pitt.edu/~neurolab/publications/2007/LephartSM_2007_JStrengthCondRes_8wkGolfSpecificExerciseProgram.pdf
[v] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8903705/
[vi] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16464124/
[vii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4335481/
[viii] https://europepmc.org/article/med/11039635
[ix] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4335481/