Rx for Your Golf Game to Prevent Injuries

The Huffington Post—September 2, 2008

According to research published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine by Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour physician Vijay Vad, MD, the study--and also his golf medicine book--states that approximately one third of professional golfers and one half of recreational golfers suffer from lower back pain.

Using 42 Tour golfers at the 2001 Westchester Classic in nearby Harrison, NY (now named the Barclays Classic), Vad developed many of the golf-specific exercises in his book, Golf Rx: A 15-Minute-A-Day Core Program For More Yards and Less Pain (Gotham Books). Vad found that those golfers who did suffer from lower back pain had substantially less mobility in their lead hip (which is the left hip for a right-handed golfer and the opposite for the southpaw) than those players with healthy backs. Repetitive stresses placed on the joints in the lower back, due to a lack of internal rotation in the lead hip after impact with the golf ball--or during the deceleration phase of the swing--was the primary cause of back trouble.

Vad, who treats as many as 300 golfers per year at his sports/physiatry practice at Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, says that lower back injuries are very common this time of year, when many recreational golfers are breaking out their clubs for the first time in months. A weak, deconditioned core--the muscles and tendons that make up the midsection of the body, including the hips, "glutes," hamstrings and abdominals--is a contributing factor. Most people just aren't physically ready to play 18 holes of golf right out of the gate; therefore they are more susceptible to injuries. It also doesn't help that the vast majority of recreational golfers sit behind a desk for 8 to 10 hours a day, says Vad. This creates shortened hip flexor muscles, leading to more back pain in golfers.

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