By: Shelagh McNally for Back1That twinge you feel after landing your ball in the sand trap may not be from your bruised ego. According to Larry Foster, M.D., F.A.A.O.S., a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and author of Dr. Divot’s Guide to Golf Injuries, an astonishing 60 percent of recreational golfers suffer one kind of injury or another. Despite all the time spent on the green, most amateur golfers are in poor physical condition, have a lousy swing technique and don’t warm up properly. The result is soft tissue injuries in the form of strains, sprains, fractures or tendinitis.
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Try the 15-minute golfer’s warm up:
For one or two minutes, walk quickly to get the blood flowing to muscles.
Clockwise and counterclockwise neck rolls will loosen up the shoulders and neck area.
Hold a golf club on both ends and raise it over your head and hold. Hold it the same way behind your back and lift to stretch the shoulders.
Grab one elbow with the opposite hand and stretch if across your body. Repeat on the other side.
Rest your hands on your hips and bend side to side.
Cross your arms and put your hands on the opposite shoulders and then rotate the shoulders both directions.
Start by swinging the clubs gently.
Focus on a slow easy stroke to start off until you are warmed up.
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Sprains and strains usually develop in the lower back. The modern golf swing is based on a tightly coiled body with little hip movement resulting in a hyperextension of the lumbar spine. The torso is torqued during the wind-up before the swing and often results in a twisted muscle, strained back or in or serious cases a slipped disk. Treatment includes rest, anti-inflammatory medication and massage. Fractures are much less common but the typical golfing fracture happens in the hamate, the triangular bone in the hand sitting below the ring and little fingers. During a “fat shot” the handle of the golf club bangs into the hamate, fracturing the bone. Since it’s a hard fracture to diagnose it often goes undetected until the person develops a deep-seated dull ache, a weak grip and pain when the little finger is flexed. Since hamate fractures rarely heal on their own, surgery is required.
Tendinitis is the most common golf injury and usually occurs in the wrist, elbow and shoulder. Golfer's elbow or medial epicondylitis is similar to tennis elbow; the tendon (a white fibrous tissue connecting muscle to bone) becomes inflamed making movement of the joint painful. In golfer’s elbow the pain starts at the inside of the elbow causing a shooting sensation down the forearm. Tendinitis in the wrist makes it difficult to grip the golf club or follow through on a swing. Surgery is rarely prescribed and the first method of treatment is to retire the clubs and stay off the greens. Sometimes cortisone shots are recommended but only it the milder forms of anti-inflammatory medicines, like Motrin, have not offered any relief. Once the pain is passed, golfing can be resumed gradually.
A mores serious type of injury is golfer’s shoulder, caused from overuse of the rotary cuff, the four muscles that form the tendon underneath the top shoulder done. The person winds up to hit the ball, follows through and often hears a pop in the shoulder. Golfer’s shoulder starts off as an overuse injury resulting in a bruised rotary cuff that is easily healed with anti-inflammatory medicines and careful exercises. A torn cuff is more serious since it must be repaired surgically, usually with a local anesthesia.
Most golf injuries heal eventually but a more sensible approach is to avoid injury altogether. Strength training can work wonders. Adding push-ups and crunches along with flexibility and strength training is the recommended route. Proper warm-up is also important. But the single most effective prevention is to develop a proper swing technique. Taking lessons from a PGA professional instructor or attending a swing clinic will improve your game and lower your rate of injury. That translates into more time on the green.
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