As spring heralds months of sunny, warm weather ahead on the East Coast, you might be getting ready for a round. But if you haven’t hit the course for several months, your joints and muscles may be feeling rickety, which makes them more prone to injury.
While golf is a relatively safe and low-impact sport, it’s important to follow a few practical tips to avoid injuries that can keep you off the course. Dr. Robert Hoffman, an orthopedic surgeon at Hilton Head Orthopedics - Bluffton, offers these three recommendations for ensuring you comfortably enjoy the golf season ahead, without pain or injury.
Don’t overdo it
A good golf swing looks effortless, but in reality it engages a number of muscles: the trapezius and rotator cuff in the shoulders, the obliques in the abdomen, the hamstrings in the back of the thighs and the erector spinae muscles in the back. All these muscles are susceptible to injury if you work them too hard without periods of rest.
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“Playing golf is a repetitive activity, and most of the golf injuries we see tend to be overuse-related,” Hoffman said. “So, if you're new to the game, or you have not played in a while, playing five days in a row can lead to injury.”
Hoffman said he recommends golfers practice conditioning, which means starting slowly and gradually increasing the activity over time.
Rest is also an important consideration if you have a chronic pain condition that isn’t caused by golf but can be inflamed or irritated with activity. Hoffman said orthopedic doctors frequently see patients with osteoarthritis whose chronic pain prevents them from enjoying their golf game. For them, rest is equally important, and an orthopedic doctor can help determine the best routine to help avoid pain. This may include prescription medications, injections and/or physical therapy.
“There are a lot of nonoperative treatments for things like hip and knee pain that can help your less-than-perfect joints function reasonably well on the golf course,” Hoffman said.
Properly warm up
An important part of avoiding golf injuries is establishing an easy, go-to warmup routine to help prepare the muscles for activity. A good golf warmup takes only a few minutes and doesn’t require any equipment. It’s key to focus on the areas of the body that rotate during a golf swing.
“Maintaining flexibility in the back and shoulders is very important,” Hoffman said. “The twist motion of a golf swing puts a lot of stress on your back and shoulders.”
Standing warm-up movements to include are:
- Trunk rotations: Hook your arms around your golf club lengthwise across your back, then rotate your trunk and head to the left until you feel a stretch. Hold this position for 30 seconds then repeat the stretch to the other side.
- Hip stretches: Place your hands in front of you on a golf club for balance. Place your right ankle on the outside of your left knee. Bend your left knee and lean back as if you are sitting on a chair. Lower the chest toward the shin. Hold this position for three breaths, then switch sides.
- Bodyweight squats: Start with your feet shoulder width apart, your arms extended in front of you and your back straight. Slowly bend your knees, focusing on pushing your weight onto your heels and keeping your knees in line with your feet. Repeat 10 times, inhaling when standing and exhaling when squatting.
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Don’t ignore pain
If you do experience pain, don’t play through it; take time to rest before going back to the course. Hoffman said in about 80% of cases, initial painful symptoms can resolve in less than one week with rest, ice and over-the-counter pain remedies like Tylenol or ibuprofen.
“Most orthopedic joint conditions and joint pains usually will respond well to a period of rest and simple treatments,” Hoffman said.
A symptom that warrants a trip to your primary care clinician right away is pain that goes beyond the “nagging” level and interferes with your daily life or nightly sleep.
“For instance, severe pain that will not go away, that wakes people up at night or pain that shoots down one or both of the legs,” Hoffman said. Or, if something “feels wrong,” like you feel or hear a pop when swinging, this warrants a trip to your primary care clinician for evaluation.
Although golf injuries are possible, they are manageable with the right care. And, Hoffman emphasized, golf is overall a safe sport, and it’s a great choice to enjoy being active outdoors.
“One of the nice things about golf is that it’s very popular among all age groups. It’s safe, and it’s nice to be outside,” he said.
