Lower back injuries are all too common of a problem in golf. It seems like every golfer you talk to complains about stiffness or pain in the lower back. This keeps them from either playing as much golf as they would like or playing at peak performance. Read on to find out what is causing the lower back injuries. There’s also tips on what you can do to prevent them from occurring.
What Causes Lower Back Pain In Golfers?
More times than not, lower back pain in golfers is caused by a limitation in an adjacent body part. This could include the hips or thoracic spine. That in return causes the lower back to compensate/rotate. For example, during the backswing our thoracic spine should rotate roughly 90 degrees to get a full shoulder turn. If a golfer is limited in thoracic rotation and can only rotate 60 degrees, in order to get to what they feel is a complete backswing, they might rotate 10-20 degrees from the lumbar spine.
Our body is made up of a system of alternating mobile and stable joints. This includes ankle (mobile), knee (stable), hip (mobile), lumbar spine (stable), thoracic spine (mobile), scapula (stable), shoulder (mobile), elbow (stable), wrist (mobile). When a mobile joint (thoracic spine) is limited, a compensation from a stable joint (lumbar spine) occurs. This will eventually result in injury. As you can see from the examples above, the lumbar spine is not meant to rotate.
How Can Lower Back Pain Be Fixed?
If you’re experiencing lower back pain when you play golf, the first step to fixing the issue is to go through a physical screen performed by a qualified professional. A majority of the golfers that come through our doors that have lower back pain, have a muscle imbalance referred to as lower crossed syndrome. Lower crossed syndrome is a pattern of weakness and tightness that cross between the ventral and dorsal sides of the body. Tightness in the hip flexors, lumbar extensors and hamstrings coupled with weakness/under-activity in the deep abdominal muscles, gluteus maximus/medius, create an excessive arch in the lower back (S posture). This puts excessive stress on the discs in the lumbar spine. When gone untreated can be debilitating and extremely painful.
Can Exercise Help to Prevent Lower Back Pain?
Here are some basic exercises to help balance out your weak and/or tight muscles that may be causing your lower back pain. If you are looking for some additional exercises that can help your golf game, check out our blog post on training in all planes of movement.
Open Books
- Lay on your side and pull your top leg down to the ground with a 90 degree bend at the knee.
- Rest your hand on the back of your head and slowly rotate your elbow and head to the opposite direction. Keep your top knee in contact with the ground.
- Exhale as you rotate back and inhale as you come back to the beginning position.
Rear Foot Elevated Hip Flexor Stretch
- Place your foot on an elevated surface and kneel down on that same leg, preferably on a pad.
- Kneel tall and flex the glute of the leg that is elevated.
- Keep your chest tall as you hold the stretch. Bring your knee further away from the elevated surface to decrease the intensity of the stretch. Move closer to the box to increase the intensity
Dead Bugs
- Start on your back and pull your lower back flat into the ground.
- With your knees bent at 90 degrees and your arms straight towards the ceiling, lower your right leg and left arm down towards the ground.
- Focus on keeping your spine in contact with the ground throughout the entire exercise.
- Hold each rep for 1-2 deep breaths and then return to starting position.
Can SMART Golf & Fitness Help Your Lower Back Pain?
The answer is yes. Here at SMART Golf & Fitness Instruction, it’s our goal to help our clients play their best on the course and feel their best off the course. This involves a combination of golf and fitness training. To work with SMART Golf & Fitness Instruction to improve your golf game, contact us today.
