Lower back pain is one of the most common complaints among golfers, both amateur and professional. The repetitive nature of the golf swing, combined with the rotational and lateral forces involved, places significant stress on the lower spine and surrounding musculature. Here are some prevention tools to help mitigate ongoing back pain.

Checking your Mechanics

One thing to check is see if you have anything mechanical that you can change in your swing. A lot of amateur golfers are too stiff in their swing, leading to them starting with an arched back and limited weight shift with the hips. This can lead to too much arm movement, making your swing asymmetrical which can lead to unnecessary strain on the back.

Other possibilities:

Extensing too early during the down swing
Not shifting and rotating the hips propeely or too late
Not following through wiht the back leg towatds the ball during the swing
Finishing the swing with too much arch in the back (in the shape of a reversed C)
Too much tesnion in all the muscles during the swing

2. Warming up Properly

3. Exercises to do During the Week

4: Go early and use the range, hit 3-5 shots starting with wedges and moving up the bag so that you aren’t smashing driver on the first tee as your first swing of the day

5: Make sure to warm up again or keep yourself warm during rain delays

Too many people pull their back when coming back from a 20min rain delay

6. Remember that you are not in the masters!

We all want to hit it 300m dead centre of the fairway but if you are going to do it, make sure you are warmed up

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If you do have any concerns with strength or mobility that you may feel like is prohibiting you from swinging to the best of your abilities or playing safely, I recommend going to a physiotherapist and see if they can give you a full assessment of what you may need to work on.

Prevention of Lower Back Pain for Golfers

Checking your Mechanics