Injuries occur in all athletic events quite frequently, certain
sports more so than others. Golf is no different than any other
sport. The severity of injuries in golf usually are not as
severe as in other sports. The scenario of a 300 lb. defensive
lineman slamming into the side of your knee tearing every
possible ligament structure in the knee will never happen in the
sport of golf. An interesting visual if you combined the sports
of football and golf onto the same playing field, but
inappropriate for this paper.
There are two types of injuries classified by professionals in
the fields of athletic training and sports medicine. The two
types of injuries are: 1) acute and 2) chronic. The above
example of the football player is classified as an acute injury.
An acute injury can be defined as the trauma in the body
occurring immediately after the injury. Refer to the football
player example above for a reminder. (For us older golfers,
remember Joe Theisman of the Redskins and Lawrence Taylor’s leg
breaking tackle? Acute injury.) Relating an acute injury to golf
is a little more difficult. Probably the easiest, and maybe most
the common, acute injury in golf, occurs while swinging and you
hit a rock or something that creates an injury to your wrist.
That would be the best example in the sport of golf of an acute
injury. Overall, acute injuries tend to be rare in golf because
contact by the body with external forces is rare.
My back is always killing me!
The second type of injury, chronic, is much more prevalent when
it comes to the sport of golf. A chronic injury is one that
occurs over time. Think of it as a “wear and tear” injury. These
are usually the result of the body breaking down over time. A
great sports example outside of golf is when you hear about a
baseball pitcher having tendonitis in the elbow. Tendonitis is
an inflammation of the elbow resulting from the stresses placed
upon it from throwing. Over time the elbow becomes tired and
eventually injured from the number of pitches thrown. If you are
a runner and, after a certain amount of time, your knees begin
to hurt, this is usually a chronic injury. When we talk about
golf, the majority of injuries are chronic. They tend to be a
direct result of the golf swing (just like the pitcher’s elbow).
Usually the chronic injuries in golf show up in the lower back.
If chronic injuries are caught soon enough in the cycle, rest
and proper treatment (i.e. massage, chiropractic care) will heal
them. But if you wait too long the body is going to “break,” and
then you will not be playing any golf for a long time. This is
where the unfortunate situation of surgery and other invasive
procedures are considered.
So a couple of questions we must ask when it comes to chronic
injuries in relation to golf are: how do they occur, and how do
we prevent them? Chronic injuries occur as a result of the body
becoming fatigued and eventually “breaking down.” The muscles,
ligaments, and tendons of your body are required to perform the
activity of swinging a golf club. Over time this activity causes
fatigue within your body. As the body continues to fatigue, or
get tired, the body gets sore. This is the first indicator of a
developing chronic injury. If you continue with the activity
you’re participating in, with soreness in the body, eventually
your body will break down. This “break down” will be in the form
of maybe a pulled muscle, muscle stiffness, tightness, or some
other type of inflammation. All of the above examples are a
result of structures in your body breaking down from fatigue and
overuse. Even if just on one swing you feel “your back go out,”
nine out of ten times it is a chronic injury, and that last
swing was the “piece of straw that broke the camel’s back.”
How to Prevent Chronic Injuries in Golf
We all know that the golf swing is a repetitive movement,
meaning the body is performing the same activity over and over
again. This creates fatigue in the body over time. And if over
time our body can’t support the number of swings we are taking,
it is eventually going to break down. There are three variables
we have when it comes to the prevention of chronic injuries in
golf. Number one is workloads. Workloads can be defined as the
number of swings that the body takes with a club over a given
period of time. That time frame can be seven days or an entire
tour season. Number two is efficiency of your mechanics. When we
say “efficiency of mechanics” we are talking about how
biomechanically correct your individual swing is. “Why is this
important?” you ask. Let me tell you. I think most of us would
agree that the tour players have very “efficient” swings; their
swings are smooth and look almost effortless. A swing like this
asks less out of the body to perform and requires less effort
from the muscles; hence fatiguing levels in the body are lower.
Some amateur swings look like they take a lot of work to
perform, and in reality they do! These types of swings ask a lot
more out of the body and fatigue it more quickly. The final
variable is what we term “golf strength.” Golf strength is a
measure of the required levels of flexibility, strength,
endurance, balance, and power to successfully support the
mechanics of the swing. Large amounts of golf strength allow the
body to support an efficient swing. Low levels of golf strength
do not provide the support needed for the swing.
Workloads, Swing Mechanics, and Golf Strength
All three of these variables work together to determine if you
are a candidate for a chronic golf injury. Golf strength is
essentially the foundation upon which your swing is built. This
variable indicates how many times you can swing a golf club with
your current mechanics before you come up injured. If you have
high levels of golf strength then regardless of how efficient of
a swing you have, you will be able to play for quite awhile
before you get sore. The flip side can also be said. If you have
low levels of golf strength, regardless of your swing mechanics,
you will come up sore in a shorter amount of time.
Secondly, let us look at swing mechanics. If you are a player
that has a very efficient swing that places very little stress
on the body, you will undoubtedly be able to play many rounds
before your body starts screaming at you. Again, if you have
poor mechanics, it is going to take its toll on your body and
your game.
Finally, we have workloads (i.e. number of swings). The number
of swings one makes must match up with levels of golf strength
and swing mechanics. The golf swing is a “stressor” of the body
and breaks it down over time. If you have an efficient swing,
each swing does less “damage” to the body. If you have a poor
swing, the body has to work harder, thus fatiguing it more
quickly. In addition to this is golf strength. If you have high
levels of golf strength, you can swing the club more (i.e.
workloads) before you get tired. Low levels of golf strength
present the situation of the body’s fatiguing more quickly. “So
what is the magic formula?” you ask. My first suggestion is
twofold: 1) work on your swing to improve the efficiency of it,
and 2) increase your levels of golf strength in order to support
your swing. For the time being, match up your swing and golf
strength levels to determine what workload levels you can get
out of your body. If you are in need of some more information on
the golf strength side of the equation, take a look at
www.bioforcegolf.com.
About the Author
Sean Cochran is one of the most recognized golf fitness
instructors in the world today. He travels the PGA Tour
regularly with 2005 PGA & 2004 Masters Champion Phil Mickelson.
He has made many of his golf tips, golf instruction and golf
swing improvement techniques available to amateur golfers on the
website www.bioforcegolf.com. To contact Sean, you can email him
at support@bioforcegolf.com.
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