Avoid Golf Injuries - 5 Tips from a Physical Therapist in Mansfield

Missing your regular round of golf because of an injury is the worst.

It's not just that you don't get to play... it's also that you're missing out on time with your best friends! (After all, who is going to take their money if you aren't out there winning all the skins?)

As a performance physical therapist and TPI-Certified Medical and Fitness Professional, I see these injuries all the time, and it usually costs people 4-6 weeks of tee times!

Here are 5 things you can do now to help you avoid injuries (or just aggravating those old aches and pains).

Tip #1 - TAKE GOLF LESSONS

(You thought I was going to say "warm up before your round", didn't you... well, that one's coming later. We're doing this in order of importance, and I make the rules around here!)

If you want to play better, healthier golf, take golf lessons. A lot of the swing issues that land people in my office wouldn't exist if people were taking the time to learn how to swing the club properly.

Now, this isn't a silver bullet - some people have pre-existing injuries or significantly flexibility issues that mean they can't make the moves they need to swing safely and efficiently. And when you're working with a golf coach, they'll tell you if you need to add somebody like me to your team.

Check out our instagram profile and you'll see a lot of local teaching professionals in my office to help them stay in peak condition.

Tip #2 - WARM UP BEFORE YOU PLAY

Here it is! If the first thing you do when you get to the golf course is hit golf balls while you're still stiff, your practice session at the range is not going to be very effective, because you won't be moving and swinging the same way you do when you're warm.

You should include dynamic (read: fast) movements for every part of your body, rather than slow stretches to make sure your body is fully prepared for what you'll ask it to do. Get your body moving really well, then step onto the driving range and go through your practice regimen. Once you're full warm, here are some guidelines on how to structure your pre-round practice session.

Tip #3 - GET A REGULAR FITNESS REGIMEN

Your physical fitness is a major factor in how high your ceiling is when you play golf. Period. A combination of flexibility and strength training regularly can help raise this ceiling.

You want your body to have no issues with how intense a round of golf is. You should have some excess strength and flexibility so you're not using everything available to you - because when you get that close to using everything you've got, the likelihood of injury goes up.

It's a bit like redlining in a car - sure, you can do it... but for how long? Eventually you might blow a gasket!

Poor physical fitness can cause a lot of issues:

• Fatiguing early during rounds (especially if your clubs are too heavy).

• Overuse injuries are going to be more common

• Adding extra rounds into your routine (like a 7-day golf trip with your group) might be too much to handle

You'll want to prioritize mobility of your hips and upper back to alleviate stress on the knees and lower back, general full body strengthening, and when you're ready - powerful exercises like medicine ball throws! Here's an easy guide to setting up your strength routine that I made after a workshop at a local country club:

We can make it this simple: If your body bothers you when you rake the leaves, you're probably at some level of risk when you do something more dynamic like playing golf.

And if we look at how your scores are going to correlate: better physical fitness means more distance... and more distance means lower scores. Don't believe me? This post goes into more detail.

Tip #4 - LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

If you're feeling a tweak - or in a lot of cases, have been feeling tweaks for a while - you may need to retire the round or club up so you can swing easier for the rest of your round.

You are probably not a professional golfer if you're having to read this blog.

Your livelihood does not depend on this round of golf.

Do not push through pain or an injury in order to look good in front of your friends or to satisfy your pride. And that leads us to #5...

Tip #5 - SEE A GOLF PHYSICAL THERAPIST

Now you don't HAVE to have an injury to go to a physical therapist... That's just whave you've always been told. Half of my day is helping healthy golfers build a bigger buffer between them and an injury (and gain some distance along the way!)

But in the case you're already feeling something... don't ignore the warning light you just got. Something's not quite right and you need to figure out what's happening, and make sure it's not going to become a bigger problem. A physical therapist specializing in golf (like Jared Cave at MyPhysio) can look at every aspect of what's going on to see where things might be problematic. We'll check your swing, ask about your equipment, whether you walk or ride, what your practice sessions look like, whether you're hitting off a mat or grass, look at flexibility and strength issues specific to golf...

These are all the little things that your clinician who doesn't golf wouldn't know to check... and that's why you want a specialist.

DON'T GET HURT OUT THERE

If you want to avoid injuries, take as many of these things as you can and put them into action. And if you need help implementing any of them into your life, come see us at MyPhysio Physical Therapy and Golf Performance in Mansfield, Texas. We help golfers avoid injuries and play their best, healthiest golf.

Sign up for a free 15-minute discovery call here.