Golf for Life! Swing the Club in a Way That Saves Your Back!

Trust me. At some point, the snow is going to be completely gone. Very soon, I promise, the golf courses will open. As I write this, I can look out my window and see water dripping from an icicle. While it has been a long winter, to say the least, golf season is upon us!

There are roughly 25 million golfers in America, and a significant percentage of them have chronic back pain. In fact, it’s the most common golf-related injury. Many of them pop aspirin and other anti-inflammatory drugs like breath mints so that they can get through their round. While low back pain is the most common reason people see a chiropractor, surveys have shown that less than 2% of golfers chose to visit a chiropractor for their low back pain. The vast majority made appointments with a physical therapist or medical doctor.

What gives?

Before talking about why chiropractic and golf really is a match made in heaven, let me explain the biggest cause of low back pain in golfers—the idea that rotating your spine further on your backswing can create greater clubhead speed, and therefore a longer, more powerful drive.

Many golf instructors teach their students to keep their pelvis as stationary as possible during the backswing and twist the spine as much as possible. This, in theory, allows the bigger muscles of your back (especially your latissimus muscles) to create a “slingshot” of power as the golfer brings the club back around and strike the ball. Unfortunately, this theory has no evidence to support it. The big back muscles don’t help in the twisting movement of spinal rotation (it’s almost all done by your abdominal oblique muscles). You don’t need to twist the spine nearly as much as you think to create power. Instead, you need to keep your spine more stationary, and move your shoulders more to create the power in your shoulder and arm muscles.

Research has shown that a shorter backswing—a backswing that ends when the shaft of the club is perpendicular to the ground—provides the following:

1. The same amount of clubhead speed at impact as a backswing that brings the shaft of the

club all the way back to parallel with the ground.
2. More accurate ball striking due to more control of the club throughout the swing.
3. Up to 50% less twisting stress in the low back—which means much less pain!

So, how can I help you stay pain free throughout this summer?

Chiropractors can offer golfers better mobility in the back through adjustments, better and more efficient tips on warm-up exercises and stretches, better individualized rehabilitation exercises for long-term, nagging injuries, and nutritional advice to make sure you heal faster and get back to playing sooner!

This article only scratches the surface of how golfers can enjoy a more pain-free and longer season in 2011. Contact me at our office (894-2399) or by email (drnic@gieblerchiropractic.com) with any questions or comments.