For years, golf back pain has been accepted by golfers as some kind of badge of honour. Swinging a driver or three iron at speeds of up to 80kms/hr while turning, twisting and pulling can be extremely traumatic to the entire torso let alone just the lower back.
The golf swing isn’t the only aspect of playing the sport that causes golf back pain. There is a lot of walking in golf and at other times, you have to swing and torque your body while positioning yourself on unstable surfaces like hills, tree roots, or sand. There is also a lot of standing around in golf, and when someone stands they usually shift weight to one side of their body, tightening muscles on one side while relaxing muscles on the other side. Once the golfer finally makes their way to the green, they are then bent over, lining up and standing awkwardly over the ball while trying to sink a putt.
When a player experiences back pain during a round of golf, their scores suffer and enjoyment is compromised. Back, neck, shoulder and elbow pain will sabotage any golf swing and ruin the golf experience. Regular Physiotherapy treatments not only accomplish the goal of injury treatment and prevention, they can greatly improve a player’s game and score. Healthy, strong, and loose backs perform better on the golf course.
There are a number of ways a golf Physiotherapist can treat the golfer and enhance his golf experience, including:
- Spinal & extremity mobilisations & manipulations
- Swing advice
- Rehabilitation exercises
- Dry needling
- Massage
- Electrotherapies such as ultrasound, TENS, etc.
Golfers rarely consider the damage that the sport’s repetitive, torquing movements inflict on their backs, necks and shoulders. Neither are most recreational golfers proactive about preventing injury to these areas to improve performance. While many golfers now see a Physiotherapist after injury, some are discovering that seeing a Physiotherapist before injury is the key to playing round after round without pain.