Golf, The Contact Sport

If having a green thumb for you means that you are out on the golf course instead of in the garden, there are some crucial points to stress so that the stress that wants to play your body stays away. Care to stay out on the course while staying out of pain? Here are some helpful hints to decrease your chances of feeling like you’ve been leveled by a linebacker.

Many don’t equate golf to being a rigorous sport, yet those that play the game know that some of the injuries can be similar to those felt in contact sports leaving the golfer feeling battered and bruised. Low back problems are a major culprit. These injuries are often sustained in the quest for the long drive. Many golfers are taught that they must get maximal spinal twisting in relation to the hips to engage powerful muscles for driving the ball. Implementing this strategy on the golf course is a recipe that can have serious side-effects. The muscles that are typically thought to be responsible for the long drive in golf are the latissimus dorsi (mid and low back muscles), pectoral (chest) muscles, shoulder muscles, and muscles in the arms. Spinal twisting has very little to do with engaging these muscles and only serves to help provide fluid movement so proper ball control can be achieved. So if twisting the spine to a large degree is not the answer to get the largest muscular force when addressing the golf ball to another zip code, what is the answer? The answer is called elastic energy. The human body is thought to get a majority of its power generation during athletic moves from elastic energy. Getting the most elastic energy during an athletic movement is attained by giving a muscle a short and quick pre-stretch. So how short is short enough? If you are trying to twist your body to the fullest during your backswing, you are applying a long stretch. Explosive power during your swing can be attained through shortening your swing up a bit. If you are worried that you will now not be able to achieve the proper club head speed, don’t be! Research has been done showing that short and long backswings in golf can reach identical club head speeds at impact.

There is an even larger benefit to shortening up that swing as well. This benefit is the decrease in wear and tear that will be done to your back. The muscles, bones, and other soft tissues in the back can take a repetitive pounding throughout the rounds of golf and sessions at the driving range. So shorten up that swing a bit!

One other tip can help produce a safer golf swing as well. A functional low back fitness program that “locks” the rib cage into a more rigid connection with the pelvis can make a dramatic difference. This doesn’t mean that once you are done working with a proper fitness program that you need to leave the concept of rib cage and pelvic rigidity off the golf course. Keeping the rib cage functionally “locked” with the pelvis during the golf swing will be very beneficial for the spine and overall back health while decreasing competitiveness very minimally to none. It can take a large amount of practice to incorporate these features into a golf swing, but even the pros are often tweaking their swings to gain an advantage. In order for you to gain an advantage in health, shortening the backswing while “locking” the rib cage to the pelvis during the golf swing are two suggestions that would be extremely helpful for your golf game. This means that you should be able to play more times this summer and you may even need to start making travel plans for all the golf you will be playing further south once the icicles start forming again.

Author: Dr. Brad Zupancich, D.C.

Chiropractic Physician of Z Spine and Joint Center in Eagan, MN.

References:

Seaman, DS. Dynamic Chiropractic, August 9, 1999, Volume 17, Issue 17.

McGill, SM. Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance, 2004.

 

Brad Zupancich, D.C. is the clinical director of Z Spine and Joint Center located within Solimar Wellness Spa in Eagan, MN -(651) 686-6686. Dr. Zupancich is a certified practitioner in the Graston Technique as well as a certified physician with the Motion Palpation Institute.

Any advice or opinions given in this article are not intended as a diagnosis or substitute for an examination from a healthcare practitioner. For more information visit www.ZSpineAndJoint.com or www.GrastonTechnique.com.