With optimism, summer is around the corner! Despite the current weather. This means longer and warmer days and elevated moods. With increased endorphins flowing through our veins we find ourselves getting outdoors more and increasing our activity level. One activity we see rise during summer is the practice of golf, whether done well or poorly. Unfortunately, what we also witness with golfers, amateur and experienced, is an increase in back pain. This may be due to a variety of reasons.
The golf swing is a complex movement and can be quite challenging for a beginner. Basic mechanics of a golf swing are as follows:
- Back swing
- Down swing
The back swing is initiated from the pelvis & hips and followed sequentially by the trunk, shoulders, arms and hands. Think of the back swing as the coil part of the swing. On the down swing we see the hips leading again followed by trunk, shoulders, arms, hands and finally the club head. Think as the down swing as the unwinding of the coil and as we move closer to the club head acceleration increases.
The best golfers in the world can do this very fast and create high rotational forces. But they do this by sparing the low back, most of the time. They can separate their pelvis and trunk effectively and initiate a strong swing through the hips.
Patients I find struggling with low back pain tend to have restricted mobility through two main areas:
- The Hips
- Thoracic spine (mid back)
Some of the most mobile sections of our body should be our hips and mid back. If mobility is affected in the hips the golfer will struggle to not only maximise swing range of motion but power during the “coil” section of the back swing. Secondly if we have limited rotation through the thoracic spine the forces will not be translated well from the “coil phase” to the “unwinding phase”. This is where we see an increase in demand on the low back.
The swing mechanics now requires the low back to rotate more than it usually would leading to more rotational stresses which the low back doesn’t respond well too. A strong low back and core may be able to handle this for a while but eventually fatigue sets in and we start seeing failure through the tissues. Types of tissue fatigue can range from a muscular strain, ligamentous sprain to potential disc injury.
We may also see a compensation pattern on the back swing where the golfer will over stretch the abdominals and lean towards the target as apposed from leaning away. But this could also be due to a core transmission issue between the hips and trunk.
The typical pattern we see as weather improves and activity increases there is a direct cause and effect relationship.
Swing frequency increases ➔ load on low back increases ➔ tissue fatigue ➔ tissue damage.
For more information on preventing low back pain during golf please contact Dr. Braeden Melmer at 9905 9099 or [email protected]
