Out for the season due to injury! The worst thing a professional golfer or YOU, the amateur can hear.

We see it every year. Tiger’s knee, Anthony Kim’s thumb and famous injuries that can be career changers. How about Couple’s back, or Nicklaus’ hip?

That is why your golf fitness program should include injury prevention exercises.

Even professional golfers struggle with staying injury free, and they have the advantage of using teams of professional trainers that follow the tour around in portable gyms and therapy centers for their constant use.

On average, professional players lose five weeks of playing time due to injury as a result of overuse in spite of the high tech training and professional therapists available to them 24-7.

The rest of us amateurs lose time on the course due to lack of fitness and poor technique.

The most common injuries are back, wrist, shoulder, elbow and knee. But before we examine each of these injuries, let’s first talk about muscle imbalances.

Life in general, as well as the game of golf, creates imbalances in our body.

For example, for most of us, the right side will be the stronger side. Attaining muscle balance means that you left arm is just as strong as your right arm. In golf, this is essential, since your non-dominant side of your body will deliver about 80% of the power to your swing.

Fitness experts like to compare muscle imbalance to a car with improper alignment. The car looks fine but over time the imbalance leads to uneven tire wear. Thus, the overall ride and handling of the car becomes inferior.

If you hit 150 golf balls a week at the driving range in an effort to improve your game you are going to start developing muscle imbalances. If you don’t do something to counteract those imbalances, you will not be aligned at your optimal level and you may be prone to injury. Remember, every action has a reaction.

Make sure maintaining muscle balance is part of your injury prevention.

Back Injuries

Today, the modern golf swing leverages a big shoulder turn with less hip turn. The tightly coiled body generates power and club head acceleration but puts an expensive toll on the back. In addition, even the golf stance and putting stance puts strain on your back. Does your back bother you on the putting green? Do you notice a tightening of the lower back or even pain? This is a clue to you that your back needs some attention.

To prevent injury you should build a strong set of core muscles while you increase flexibility in the hamstrings and the glutes. Your core muscles include all your muscles in your trunk. I have found that men tend to have less core strength, especially in the glutes, than women. If your hamstrings and glute muscles are tight or have knots in them they will pull on the lower back. This muscle fatigue leads to what is referred to as uncoordinated muscle firing and injuries are a common result.

Make sure when you perform exercises or play golf you do not arch or hyperextend the back. This puts undo stress on the back.

And don’t forget that a strong core will help you maintain that steady spine angle swing after swing after swing for a consistent swing and a more consistent game.

Wrist Injuries

The left wrist/hand is one of the leading causes of injuries among golfers. Golfers who lack grip and forearm strength will be prone to injuries to their hand, wrist and elbow. Good golf technique requires that the movement is different in the left than the right wrist. Overuse or poor wrist control during the swing can cause excessive movement leading to injury.

To prevent injury you should build strong and flexible forearm muscles.

Elbow Injury

When the forearm is strained from overuse you can develop Golfer’s Elbow. Golfers Elbow is less common than Tennis Elbow and characteristically occurs with wrist flexor activity and pronation in the right elbow of a right-handed golf swing by throwing the club head down at the ball with the right arm rather than pulling the club through with the left arm and trunk.

Strengthen and increase flexibility in wrist.  Consider switching to graphite shafts and low compression balls to decrease elbow strain at impact

Shoulder Injuries

Shoulder injuries are less common in golf than in overhead sports but overuse injuries are still frequently seen in the lead arm. The rotator cuff is often the cause of shoulder pain. This little muscle plays a major role in the golf swing.

Repeated stress to a degenerated tendon may lead to fibre failure, producing symptoms of bursitis or tendinitis. In cases of significant failure, the golfer will feel weakness even from something as simple as elevating the shoulder.

Younger competitive golfers may describe pain and a sense of instability during their golf swing. Some players even complain of an audible clunk when the left lead arm is fully adducted and internally rotated at the top of the backswing or at the initiation of the forward swing.

To avoid this injury golfers should strengthen the rotator cuff and increase shoulder flexibility. The goal of treatment is to reduce inflammation and strengthen the uninjured muscles around the shoulder to compensate for the torn muscles.

Knee Pain

Knee pain and knee injuries are another common injury for golfers. Some golfers will complain of soreness, clicking and swelling of the knee aggravated by twisting, squatting and walking. Again, the best way to avoid these injuries to build and strengthen the muscles that support the knee with knee exercises. Proper golf fitness is critically important in protecting your knees from injury and knee pain. I don’t have to tell you how important your knees are in the game of golf.

Weak or fatigued muscles cannot adequately support the knee joint or absorb shock before it gets to the knee and the extra stress placed upon the knee can cause injury to the structures of the knee.

Strengthening exercises can make the muscles tight, so follow strength exercises with stretching exercises.

Stretching the muscles that support the knee with knee exercises is also important in preventing injury. Flexible muscles are not as easily injured as tight muscles. Tightness of muscles connected to the knee can also pull the knee out of alignment.

To avoid knee pain or injury you want to strengthen and stretch the muscle that support the joint. The quad, the hamstring, the IT band. In some cases, the quadriceps is significantly stronger than the hamstrings. (The quadriceps should only be about 25% stronger than the hamstrings). This can cause weakness of the knee. If this is the case, concentrating on strengthening exercises for the hamstrings, and stretching exercises for the quadriceps are very helpful.

Want the golf fitness program specifically designed for prevention of common golf injuries? Want to play better without pain? Get Be Golf Fit today to play better, play more and play without the nagging pain or injuries that limit so many golfers. With our golf fitness program you can be pain free starting right now!

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