Need to improve your golf swing performance and banish back pain? Physiotherapy could be the answer!
We know that lower back injuries are the most common amongst golfers. In fact, in professionals they account for up to 63% of all injuries.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be free of pain and improve the effectiveness of your swing?
Follow these 5 top tips to banish pain, prevent injury and maximise your golf swing…
Have you warmed up?
image sourced from www.dalehavesgolf.com
That first tee drive demands a complex series of full body movements which can place up to 8 times your body weight through the spine!
Learning a series of simple on-course stretches and warm-up movements helps prepare your body for the high demands of your golf swing and reduces strain on your spine.
How is your flexibility?
image sourced from www.mikepedersengolf.com
Your golf swing requires a lot of both side-bending and shearing forces forwards and backwards in your lower back.
If this area hasn’t got good freedom of movement you can put excessive strain on the discs, ligaments, muscles, nerves and joints of the spine.
Having an assessment of your spine and the way you move will help tailor a programme to reduce pain and prevent injuries.
A course of Sports massages can also be a useful way to address muscular tightness.
Don’t forget stability!
image sourced from www.golfdigest.com
We know that people who experience low back pain, particularly if it has persisted for more than 3 months, have reduced deep (core) abdominal and lower spinal muscle strength and control.
This has a significant effect on the spine’s ability to control the force of your golf swing and how well you are able to generate power to strike the ball.
Working on your deep trunk muscles is essential if you want more distance and less pain! Sports Physiotherapy and our Pilates classes are a great way to achieve this!
Power up!
image sourced from www.fitnessbyandrew.com
Preventing back injuries and reducing low back pain is not just about focusing on the spine.
Research has shown that the major muscle groups of the leg (buttocks/thighs), shoulder (rotator cuff muscles) and forearm are placed under high loads during the different complex phases of your golf swing.
Weakness and/or past injuries to other areas of your body may have an impact on both potential for back injury and the quality and power of your swing.
Get specific!
Most golfers also enjoy other sports and may use the local gym to help keep fit.
However Sports Physiotherapy can offer a bespoke assessment of the way you move, as an individual. This is then used to tailor a programme to make you “golf-fit”. Specific muscle tightness, joint stiffness, poor movement control and muscle weakness can be quickly identified, treated and rehabilitated.
We have two Senior Physiotherapists with a specific interest in golf – Dave Burnett and Sophie Cannon. Both keen golfers themselves – they know what is required to improve your game and keep you free of back pain.
To benefit from a golf assessment with one of our Sports Physiotherapists then give us a call on 020 8876 5690 or click here to contact us.
