Here's How To Avoid, Prevent And Fix Lower Back Injuries In Golf

If you've ever played with back pain, you know how agonizing it is! It affects every swing and putt during your entire round. The goal should then be to devise a plan (or find one) to prevent or cure your lower back injury. Sounds easier than it is, if you're starting from scratch.

Causes Of Lower Back Injuries In Golfers

There are several reasons a golfer experiences a lower back injury. But first...realize that the golf swing is physically traumatic to your body! Plain and simple!

Torquing your upperbody around a primarily fixed lower body...and then swinging a club at up to 80 mph is brutal on your back. The torque in the lower back is so bad...any golfer with weak or tight lower back and abdominal muscles will most definitely incur a lower back golf injury at some point in their golfing days.

Weak Muscles

Muscular strength is a must for any golfer looking at playing pain-free golf! The key muscles that can affect lower back functioning during the golf swing are the glutes, hamstrings, abdominals and lower back muscles. These muscles MUST be strengthened to prevent injury to the lower back. Movements specific to your golf swing, such as rotational movements should be incorporated with light resistance using exercise tubing, dumbbells and even weighted medicine balls of between 4-6 pounds.

Inflexible Muscles

The very same muscles that need to be strengthened also need to be stretched. But in order of priority, I would strongly recommend the hamstrings, lower back, glutes, then the abdominals. The hamstrings play a critical role in golf posture, and golf posture puts a tremendous amount of strain on the hamstring muscle group.

Take a look at the position your body is in at address and you'll see the tension on the hamstrings, glutes and lower back. Stretch these areas specific to golf and you'll see a huge reduction in injury occurrence and a more consistent golf posture throughout the round.

Lower Back Injury Solution

The ONLY solution to prevent an injury to your lower back in golf is as I mentioned above. To strengthen and stretch the muscles directly affected by the golf swing. The above mentioned muscles MUST be improved to avoid and/or eliminate low back injury to golfers.

There is no denying the extreme importance of lower back golf injury prevention, and that is why I produced my golf fitness manual to quickly improve your golf swing and prevent any overuse injuries of the lower back as well as other major joints, ligaments and tendons of the body.

Mike Pedersen
Golf Performance Coach