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One out of two golfers will have a golf swing related injury. Can you prevent yours?
I have a friend who blew out his ACL in his left knee while playing old man basketball. Old man being relative. A bunch of guys playing rec ball in their 30’s. We all get out there and play hard, sometimes harder than we should. The mind says yes, the body says no way! Mike’s ACL zigged when it should have zagged. Shortly after the surgery, he was visiting with his doctor on a routine check up when he asked the doctor if he’d be able to dunk the basketball after he completes his rehab.
After a pause, the doctor said, “Sure, you should be able to after you get released from recovery and rehab.”
Mike said, “Great! I’ve never been able to dunk before, so I’ll look forward to rehab.”
Injuries are a part of every sport, and golf is no different. Injuries occur in golf and can result in many things.
What are the common parts of the body that become injured for golfers?
What are the common reasons why injuries occur?
And finally, what can you do to prevent injuries in the sport of golf?
Let’s discuss what happens when you have an injury in relation to your golf swing. An injury to your body like a pulled muscle, strained tendon, or something as minimal as a hangnail can affect your swing. “How?” you ask. Your body is a finely tuned machine. This fined tune piece of equipment is also a great mechanism of compensation. What do I mean?
If you have a little “pull” of a muscle, a compensation pattern occurs in the body. This small compensation by your body has an affect on your golf swing. It might be so minimal that you don’t even feel it, but your shots and scores show it. So what are you to do? Well, the obvious answer is to do everything to prevent an injury from occurring. We will discuss this point at the end of the article. At this time let us move on to answering the questions above.
Injuries: The Why’s, What’s, and How’s
First off, realize that the majority of research I have read indicates that over 50% of recreational golfers will incur a golf-related injury during their playing career. Think about it. In your foursome you played with over the weekend, at least two of you will come up lame. Keep that idea in mind as we move to other statistics.
The common injuries in golfers are low back, wrist, and shoulder. A list I imagine most of you could probably have predicted.
How do these injuries to your low back, wrist, or shoulder occur?
The answer is twofold. There are two different types of injuries when it comes to golf or any other sport. Injuries are classified as either acute or chronic.
An acute injury is an injury that is the direct result of an external force at a specific point in time.
Let me explain. If you were walking down the street and fell, breaking your ankle, that type of injury is an acute injury. The injury occurred as a result of an external force (falling on concrete) at a specific point in time (walking down the street). The majority of golf injuries do not fall into the acute injury category. An occasional wrist injury can be an acute injury if you hit, say, a tree root in the
downswing. Or maybe you trip while walking on the course and sprain your ankle. These are acute-type golf injuries. They are few and far between when discussing golf injuries in general.
The second type of injury category is what we call chronic injuries. Chronic injuries occur over time and are the most common type of injury in golf. How do chronic injuries occur? Probably the easiest way to explain it is the following: after time the muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the body become tired. Once they become tired, fatigue sets in, and when your brain tells the body to swing that club and it’s tired, what do you think is going to happen? Over time those muscles will get to a point of such fatigue that on one swing or in one round, the body gives up and something gets pulled, strained, or inflamed. At that point you now have a chronic golf injury. It’s pretty simple when you think of the whole process of a golf swing.
A golf swing is a repetitive movement that places stresses on the same muscles over and over again. As a result, those muscles get tired. And you now know what eventually happens to those muscles when they get tired; they break down and become injured!
So the next question is: how can you prevent chronic injuries in golf? A couple viable answers exist. Probably the easiest way to combat chronic golf injuries is not to play. What do you mean not play! Simple, if you do not play a lot of golf, then the stresses you place on your body will be less than playing 36 each weekend. So your body will not get as tired, and your chances of a chronic golf injury are less.
The other option (which I imagine is the route most of you reading this article would like to take) is to develop what I term “golf strength.” “Golf strength” is developing the body in a manner that creates a foundation to support your swing. And when we talk about foundation, we are talking about the areas of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power in a manner that assists you in maintaining the correct swing mechanics swing to swing.
The development of “golf strength” will limit (not eliminate) the possibility of injury and enhance your golf swing. Again, if your body can’t support the movement you are asking it to do, the brain will still make your body do it, but eventually the body will “put on the brakes” and come up injured.
So there you have it! How injuries occur in the sport of golf. What are the common injuries associated with the sport. And what are the specific types of injuries associated with golfers. In addition, you have been provided the key to limiting injuries in golf, and that key is what we call “golf strength.” To learn more about “golf strength” click on our web site at www.bioforcegolf.com.
About the Author
About the Author
Sean Cochran is one of the most recognized golf fitness instructors in the world today. He travels the PGA Tour regularly with 2004 Masters Champion Phil Mickelson. He has made many of his golf tips, golf instruction and golf swing improvement techniques available to amateur golfers on the website www.bioforcegolf.com.
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