Golf Physiotherapy Services
Recreational golfers often overlook the human performance side of golf.
This page outlines the advantages you could gain by having a physiotherapy assessment for an existing injury, injury prevention or performance improvement
Common Golf Injuries
Golf can ask a lot of the human body.
During a golf swing, the lower part of our spine can be exposed to large rotational forces up to 7-8 times our body weight. That’s quite significant if you have 80-120 shots per round.
Most common pain sites
- Lower Back
- Elbow & Forearm (Golfer's Elbow)
- Shoulder
- Foot & Ankle
McHardy Et al (2007) looked at 588 golfers over 1 year
- 15.8% of golfers sustained an injury during the study
Golf Related Injury Factors
Warm-ups: Having a warm-up routine longer than 10 minutes had reduced injury rates
Recreational golfers are 3.2 times more likely to report an injury when they do not perform a warm-up
A blog post outlines a golf warm-up HERE
Carrying golf bag: Had increased risk of low back, shoulder, and ankle injuries
Swing Mechanics: Lower handicap golfers use greater trunk rotation whilst higher handicap golfers use more of their upper extremity to generate force which can lead to a higher risk of injury
Evidence behind injury prevention and improved golf performance
Identifying and treating strength and mobility limitations elsewhere in the kinetic chain can alleviate low back pain indirectly
For example, increasing thoracic spine (middle back) rotation range through a combination of manual interventions such as joint mobilisations performed by the physiotherapist coupled with appropriate strengthening and stretching is often used by PGA golfers with or without back pain
A study by Lindsay & Horton (2006) investigated the thoracic force generated by golfers with and without low back (lumbar) pain. Those without low back pain were able to generate more force through their thoracic spine
A thesis by Oliver (2017) who investigated the effect of longer-term exercise programs on Golf Swing performance and musculoskeletal testing highlighted the importance of trunk rotation and lateral flexion endurance and its positive effect on the accuracy of the golf swing.
The above factors can all be managed through physiotherapy techniques for either performance enhancement or general rehabilitation.
Golf Physio Assessment
A physiotherapy assessment would look at the whole kinetic chain and identify areas of strengths and weaknesses to improve.
Areas that will be investigated
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Thoracic and Lumbar mobility
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Shoulder, wrist and elbow mobility
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Hip mobility
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Strength and control testing of hip, knee and ankle
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Strength and control testing of shoulder, elbow and wrist
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Global movement screening
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Balance and coordination
This assessment helps paint the picture of you as a golfer whether that be professional or recreational. Identifying regions of improvement not only helps to mitigate the risk of injury or further injury but also helps to improve performance.
This specific approach means the program is tailored to you. It’s easy to get sucked in to ‘sexy’ exercises on social media but these man not be appropriate for your presentation so make sure if you’re training your golf game that it is individialised to your needs.
Performance
Our physiotherapists are strength and conditioning coaches so are able to assess, prescribe and progress your golf fitness or rehabilitation/performance program effectively.
Golf is hard enough as it is so having weaknesses or movement deficiencies only makes it more difficult. The forces required for a golf swing can be quite high so focusing on human movement and performance seems like a no-brainer, particularly when the evidence of golf and performance backs this up.
We also offer 1:1 Personal training or group training for golf.
LOOKING FOR A GOLF ASSESSMENT BY A PHYSIO IN RICHMOND?
Book an assessment now to get your golf game in the best shape possible
Our Physiotherapy clinic is open 6 days a week in Albert Street Richmond. We’re ideally situated to provide Richmond and Cremorne Physio services, and just minutes away from South Yarra and Hawthorn.
