How To Avoid Golf Injuries

You are such a good golf player and you are destined to win your local hole in one to grab that fantastic prize on offer from golf competitions! So you go to the golf course everyday to practise your driving, putting and swinging skills everyday.

That the unexpected happened! When you were executing your most elegant and powerful swing ever, you heard a loud pop followed by an excruciating pain in your lower back which forced you to abandon the game you were enjoying so much.

Welcome to the not so wonderful world of golfing injuries. If you are playing golf regularly, you will suffer from some form of golf related injuries from time to time. You may not even know that you are suffering or about to suffer from some serious injuries because most of the injuries are not immediately felt and it is through time as the benign injuries get more and more serious through muscle imbalances, lack of golf fitness, bad postures and wrong swings of the golf clubs amongst other reasons.

Although compared with many other sports, the game of golf appears to be relatively benign in its potential to cause serious sports injuries. However, this is only a perception because golf injuries and even serious permanent ones are very real.

You see, the game of golf stresses your body in unique ways that can cause both acute and chronic injuries. Therefore carefully ensuring basic good biomechanics specific to the game of golf as well as aquiring good techniques and skills can minimize golf-related injuries of the back, shoulders, elbows, hands and wrists or even muscle tears! In other words, you must have golf fitness to play better golf, avoid injuries and add many more yards to your drive.

Injuries of the wrists, elbows, shoulders, torsos and trunk are the most common golf-related injuries and it is commonsense logic that the leading side of the body is more injury proned than the trailing side in most golfers.

Numerous research have proven that lower back pain is the most commonly injured part of the body in an amateur male golfer. Female amateur golf players are more often experienced injuries of the elbow joints.

It is interesting to note that professional golf players most often injured their wrists, followed by the lower back, shoulders, and elbows, which are markedly different from those commonly suffered by the amateurs.

It is thought that swinging techniques are the most likely culprit for the differences in frequency of injured parts of the body between an amateur and a professional player. Another surprising finding is that the injury rate in golfers over 50 years old is only slightly higher than that in younger golf players. That means that you are susceptible to golf injuires at any age.

So, would hiring a golf coach reduce the risks of golf related injuries? Well, this move could certainly reduce the risks of injuries somewhat, but will not completely eliminate them. Although having good techniques could help to minimize injuries, injuries in amateurs golfers are most often due to overuse and repetitive motions. This is even more pronounced in professional golf palyers who play the game more often.

Here are some tips to reduce your golf related injuries.

Play Less Often – Since we know that most of the injuries are caused by repetitive motions and overuse of your joints and muscles, then play golf less often and let your body rest in between games.

Low Back Pain – You can avoid lower back pain by rotating the shoulder and hip a similar amount during the back swing and keeping the back vertical during the follow-through. This will greatly reduce the amount of rotation and strain to your lower back.

Furthermore, a follow-through with the spine perpendicular to the ground is so much more gentler on the spine than the “reverse C” finish, in which extreme hyperextension puts an incredible load on the joints of your spine.

Shoulder Injuries – In order to reduce the stress on the acromioclavicular or the ac joint (the joint between the collar bone and the shoulder blade) of the leading shoulder is to shorten the swing by ending the backswing with the club head at a 1 or 2 o’clock position.

Conditioning the rotator cuff and scapular muscles with weight resistance training will also be of great help to reduce chances of shoulder injuries. Remember, your shoulder joint is the most unstable joint in the human body.

Elbow Injuries – Research have shown that therapies such as medial counterforce for golfer’s elbow may help to relieve symptoms of elbow pain. However, this do not correct the problems and so is just a pain relief.

Improving swing mechanics, wrist techniques and seeking effective treatments to reduce the repetitive strain injury and re-balance your muscles are the keys to avoid or cure elbow injuries caused by playing golf.

Wrist Strains And Sprains – Proper swing and grip technique is essential to avoid wrist injuries. The strengthening of the your forearm muscles with weight training will help minimize undue wrist motion during your swings and lessen the overuse effect.

So in order to cut down the risks of suffering injuries that can ruin your favorite game or sometimes even end your golf playing days, you have to identify your risks of injuries from overuse of your joints and muscles. Is it due to your poor technique, muscle imbalances, poor postures or even all of the above? Then work on your golf fitness to eliminate the problem areas and you will soon be on your way to being a better golfer and be relatively free of any golf game induced injuries which are avoidable.