Why You're Still Struggling With Injuries From Golf

Remind me if you've heard or experienced this before. As you go through the golf season, you start dealing with some pain that is manageable while playing, but it progressively gets worse. You play it off as nothing, but it continues to get your attention every time you play. Fast forward to the end of the season and that same pain you were experiencing has now gotten your attention not only during golf, but now during your day to day activity. Golf related injuries are usually due to something underlying that we don't consider until it's too late. Unfortunately, many try a number of things with no resolution. We'll discuss why you're still struggling to get past the pain you're experiencing and how best to address it before the season ramps back up. 

Rest

Golf related injuries are normally due to the repetitive nature of the sport. These injuries can be challenging to get under control if they not addressed from the start. Unfortunately, once the golf season either wraps up or slows down, many golfers think that rest is the best way to get pain under control. While rest can be an initial start to help the process, it is rarely the only thing to do to help alleviate pain completely. We can't tell you how many times golfers will rest for the entirety of the off-season and then once the new golf season arrives and they pick up a club, that same issue returns fairly quickly. Being proactive about pain to ensure it doesn't linger for longer than it needs to is a key ingredient to long term success. 

You're Treating Symptoms, Not The Source

We see this so often with golf injuries and how they are managed that it becomes second nature for golfers to feel like this is just something they're going to have to put up with. The one injury that is a perfect example of this is low back pain with swinging. Just because someone is experiencing pain in their low back doesn't necessarily mean that it is the source of the issue! The biggest thing we look before we even look at the low back is how well they rotate at the hips and the upper torso. If golfers struggle to move properly in those areas, then the low back is potentially just an area that has a tendency to get more stress than it needs over the course of 18 holes. Find the root source of the issue and get that under control and most likely your symptoms will subside. 

Volume Management

The amount of swings that golfers take during the course of a season is much more than we think. Think about your warm-up swings, range balls hit before a round, and then your actual swings over 18 holes and that adds up pretty quickly. Then multiply that over the number of rounds you play per week or even per day. Transition to the off-season with swing changes and more practice and golfers might just trigger the issues they are still experiencing.  When it comes to dealing and managing pain, less is more initially. We are not saying you need to completely stop swinging the golf clubs, but if swinging is the thing that is triggering your pain, then further evaluation is needed. 

Summary

You can see how these aspects tie into each other when it comes to golfers who are struggling to recover from an injury. Too much rest, an inadequate physical assessment, and the inability to truly understand the pain you are experiencing is why many golfers struggle to get back to their pain free performance levels they know and love. Whenever you are dealing with pain, I always recommend golfers to get assessed by someone who knows the sport and the demands that it puts on the body. If you need some further assistance as to how best we can help you identify the best approach for your golf game then reach out to us by filling out the form box below!