Is Low Back Pain Affecting Your Golf Game?
Lower back pain represents one of the most common and costly diagnoses that the health profession manages on a continuous basis. It is one of the most common reasons to visit a physician, physical therapist, or chiropractor. The costs for evaluating and treating patients with low back pain are estimated to be beyond $50 billion dollars a year in the U.S. Physical therapists and other health care practitioners must become more efficient and effective with their treatment plans.
Treatment must be aimed at the individual, rather than the back problem itself. It is crucial for the clinician to examine the person and their ability to function, and not just focus on the traditional clinical tests of impairments such as range of motion and strength tests.
Strengthening, stretching and mobility exercises have been shown to be an effective treatment for patients with low back injury, and may have preventative benefits as well. Multiple studies have examined the benefits of exercise in treating patients with low back pain; however, there have been very few published reports describing specific program designs related to golfers. Golf injuries to the low back are the most common problems in both the professional and amateur player…
It’s poor technique and the repetition of hitting balls that usually leads to an injury. Combine that with the typical sedentary lifestyle (in which people drive to/from work in a seated position and work in a seated position for most of the day) and you begin to understand why there is such a high incidence of back pain among golfers.
Back injury results from stress placed on the spine, usually when the body does not perform the correct sequence during the golf swing. Here is an astonishing fact: Eight times your body weight is forced through your spine as you make contact with the ball. So if you have poor mechanics combined with a weak back you are more likely to cause yourself a significant amount of injury.
To avoid back pain, I recommend you start by visiting a health professional for a golf-specific training and exercise program. A well-trained health professional is able to identify skeletal and muscle imbalances and give you correct golf specific exercises to improve your posture and overall conditioning specific for golf. Correct posture and muscle balance will enable you to get into the proper positions required to swing the golf club smoothly and effectively.
The golf swing is considered a very unnatural movement for most people, especially for people with a sedentary lifestyle. As with most sports, golf is a sport that requires a lot of rotary movement. When we sit for most of the day, certain muscles get used to that position and become “tight”, while other muscles do get “stretched out”. This leads to significant muscle imbalances that then put unnecessary stress on the back. In all likelihood, their ‘golf muscles’ have weakened due to sitting for long periods.
Effectively, the muscles that absorb force and reduce load in a golf swing (that is, the lower and deep abdominals) are relatively weak and aren’t able to work together. And if your hips and shoulders are tight, there is a greater chance of moving incorrectly.
The golfer’s checklist to ensure a healthy back:
1. Visit a physical therapist or chiropractor well versed with golfers for a golf-specific physical assessment and conditioning program.
2. Take a lesson from a PGA professional about basic fundamentals and how the body should move during the golf swing. Hopefully the PGA instructor uses video to analyze your swing.
3. Practice golf specific drills that teach the correct movements in your swing, which will decrease the chances of injuring your back.
4. Ensure your clubs are fitted properly for you, e.g. are your clubs too short or long? Are the shafts too flexible or stiff?
5. Make sure you do a golf-specific warm-up routine prior to hitting balls or playing golf.
Following this advice, and maintaining a good level of activity and movement away from the course, should minimize your lower back problems. Don’t forget that your lower back is greatly impacted by added pounds around the midsection, as that gut pulls the lower back forward and out of balance with the rest of the body. If this is something you need to change, do it!!! Your back will thank you.
Dr. Robert V. Duvall
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/play-better-golf-when-you-have-a-better-back-98260.html
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