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Golf and Low Back Pain

Casey Holt • Jul 01, 2020

For our first blog of the summer, we’re talking back pain and golf!  This is a very common thing I see in my clinic. Today we’ll address why back pain occurs when golfing, and the body-swing connection—how the different parts of the body are related to each part of the swing.

I love talking golf with my patients.  It’s my favorite sport, and it’s one of the few sports that you can play well into retirement.  However, when discussing this topic with my patients, I often get “oh I gave it up a long time ago, it was bad for my back”.

Let’s start with why this could possibly be bad for the back.  Titleist Performance Institute found that the number 1 cause of back pain in golf is due to “early extension”.  Early extension occurs when the hips and spine of a golfer start to go into extension, or straighten up, too early in the downswing.  In a study of over 400 amateur and PGA professional golfers, they found that 77% of amateur golfers early extend.  In PGA professionals… 1%.  This is a staggering difference, but it makes sense as the professionals are taking hundreds of swings per day, and can do so without back pain. 

So what makes a golfer early extend?  This is where the body-swing connection comes in.

  1. The most common reason for early extension is due to a lack of lead hip internal rotation.  This is a finding I see everyday at the clinic in people with low back pain.  If the hips are not able to rotate, the lumbar spine tries to compensate for the loss of motion.
  2. The inability to separate the upper body from the lower body is also a common cause for early extension.  This is usually due to mobility deficits in the midback, and poor core and motor control. 
  3. Lastly, you have to be able to stabilize with the gluteal and abdominal muscles.  A stable neutral pelvic posture helps prevent the lower body from thrusting towards the golf-ball during the swing.

If any of this sounds familiar, do not hesitate to shoot me an email or call the office.  I am a proud Titleist Performance Institute certified provider and understand the needs of the body for an efficient golf swing.  If you’re interested or have questions on a full TPI screening which includes slow-motion video analysis and a functional movement assessment, click here https://www.advancedchiroict.com/performance

I hope everyone has a happy fourth, and go low on the course!

Stay active, stay healthy, stay positive.

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By Casey Holt • 06 Oct, 2021
When it comes to pain, most people can relate to this: After about 2-3 weeks of progressively worsening pain, you begin to wonder if it’s something that you need to get checked out. Once you finally fold and head to your Primary Care or a physical medicine practitioner like a chiropractor or physical therapist the thing you want most is to find out WHY that pain is there… WHAT is causing it? To help get your answers imaging may be done: X-Ray, MRI Etc. or orthopedic testing to narrow down where the pain is coming from. Let’s say imaging is done and a report comes back stating you have “disk degeneration.” According to a study by Brinjikji et al., 2015, when assessing pain free populations with MRI’s 52% of 30 year olds and 88% of 60 year olds came back with this finding. Even more so, 30% of 20 year olds and about 40% of pain free 60 year olds showed disc herniations on MRI’s. In other words, while these do cause pain, they may not exactly be causing the pain you’re experiencing, and even if they are there are many other factors to pain that must be considered.

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