Numerous studies have found that the LOW BACK is the most common site of injury in a golfer, both among amateurs and professionals. The forces acting on your back during the golf swing include:

Compression
Lateral bending
Anterior-posterior shearing
Torsion

In fact, peak compressive load during the golf swing has been shown to be up to 8 times a person’s body-weight; in comparison, that was only slightly less than that of Division 1A college football linemen hitting a blocking sled!

It is important to keep in mind that the “low back” is a broad region of the body and encompasses many individual anatomical parts that may be generating “low back pain.” Actual specific causes include muscle strain, facet joint arthritis, facet joint capsule irritation, disc issues such as annular tear or disc herniation, ligamentous sprain, or even fractures of the vertebra.

While acute low back pain in the general population is often due to muscle strain and resolves in about 90% of cases within a month, persistent low back pain beyond this time period is one (of several) reasons to see your doctor to be evaluated.

A wise man once said that a bad day of golf beats a good day at work. That’s debatable, but a bad day of golf DEFINITELY beats a day on the injured reserve from back pain while your friends are out there hitting bombs and draining putts on the course. So try starting your session-- whether at the driving range or the course-- with a graduated warm-up routine. Get the blood flowing, get the muscles recruited and engaged, and work up gradually from a slow practice swing. It is also highly reasonable to build and maintain a strong core. This is a topic unto itself but your core muscles are essential for proper swing mechanics, endurance, maintaining alignment and reducing strain on your spine and soft tissues, and last but not least for some of you fellas out there: your core routine could be a great conversation starter with the cart girl.

Thanks for reading, leave comments below or use the link at the bottom to ask a question!

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Sources:

Hosea TM, Gatt CJ, Galli NA, Langrana NA. Biomechanical analysis of the golfer's back. In: Cochran AJ, editor. Science and golf I: proceedings of the World Scientific Congress of Golf. E and FN Spon; London: 1990. pp. 43–48.

Gluck GS, Bendo JA, Spivak JM. The lumbar spine and low back pain in golf: a literature review of swing biomechanics and injury prevention. Spine J. 2008;8(5):778-88.

Gatt CJ, Jr, Hosea TM, Palumbo RC, Zawadsky JP. Impact loading of the lumbar spine during football blocking. Am J Sports Med. 1997;25(3):317–21

McHardy A, Pollard H, Luo K. Golf injuries: a review of the literature. Sports Med. 2006;36:171–87.