4 Ways to Avoid Back Pain:
#1 Properly Warming Up Prior to Playing a Round
Seems obvious right? Well for a lot of people it isn’t always. If you are a person who shows up right at tee time and jumps straight into playing, your body is “cold” and not prepared to perform athletically for 18 holes. Warming up and preparing your whole body for the rotational demands of golf is vital in avoiding back pain.
#2 Maintaining and improving your shoulder and hip mobility
The shoulder and hips are ball and socket joints, therefore they need to be very mobile. If you have stiff shoulders and hips, you’re likely going to have to compensate through repetitive over extending in the low back causing strain and possibly acute nerve injury.
#3 Maintaining and improving good thoracic or “mid back” mobility
Because of the angle of the joints at the thoracic spine, we are supposed to be able to rotate a fair amount from the mid back. This is important in the back swing and down swing + follow through. Any limitations in rotation here and you will find your low back working overtime to make up for the lost rotation in the mid back. The only problem is… the angles of the joints in the low back are not angled the same. They ARE NOT angled in a way that is advantageous for rotation.
#4 Proper Recovery!
Listening to your body is paramount in understanding how your body is recovering from a day on the range or after playing a round. If your back repeatedly “tightens up” after playing you may be on the cusp of a larger back injury and it’s time to make an appointment with a movement specialist to fix the root cause!
Questions? Troy, our Physical Therapist, is a Titleist Performance Specialist (TPI) if you have questions feel free to reach out we will jump on a call with you to answer your questions free of charge.