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Good Golf for Bad Backs
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Many golfers suffer from back pain when they play golf, much of the time needlessly. Unfortunately, most golfers try to restrict
motion in the swing in an effort to avoid pain and often times, their attempted fix at the problem simply makes it worse,
not better. This is too bad, because with a few simple adjustments, pain in the lower back can be greatly reduced or eliminated.
To do this, it is important to understand that we are trying to create more motion in the hips and allow the entire torso
to turn together, which takes pressure off the lower back. When the lower back hurts, golfers instinctively try to restrict
hip motion and actually put more torque on the lower back, increasing the amount of pain, making a bad situation much worse!
Let's take a look at what needs to be done to have a pain free round of golf.
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| Stand taller from the waist |
Start with the Set-up
There are two changes that are essential in the set-up to take pressure off the lower back. First, you should stand taller
from the waist. The more you bend over toward the ball from the hips, the more the lower back must support the weight of
the upper body and head. Further, the more you bend forward, the less the hips can turn relative to the shoulders through
the swing which will increase tension on the lower back. Second, rotate both feet and knees out slightly at address. This
position will allow the hips and lower body to turn freely in both the back and forward swing taking pressure off the lower
spine.
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| Turn hips and shoulders together as swing arms up |
It's all in the hips!
Actually, it is probably better to think of the entire trunk as rotating together, but to do that we need to increase
the amount of hip turn. Typically in the golf swing, we try to turn the shoulders 90 degrees and the hips about 45 degrees
or less. When you have back pain, we want the hips to turn as much as possible; perhaps as much as 60 degrees or more. Don't
be afraid to let your heels to be pulled off the ground; feel light on your feet as you swing and definitely don't stay flat-footed.
The other in-swing adjustment you can make is to swing your arms more up versus around in the backswing. You want the arms
to swing freely up and down from the shoulder joints and not be pulled too much around with the shoulder turn. This type
of arm swing will also help create more speed through freedom of motion, rather than muscle driven force from the back and
shoulders. Further, a more upright swing will help produce better ball contact as a compensation for a taller posture in
the set-up.
With these small changes, golfers can greatly reduce the amount of stress that the lower back endures during the golf
swing. I would highly recommend taking a lesson or two from a qualified teacher to implement the changes and you too can
play pain free golf!!
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