This blog outlines what many of us do during setup that causes a problem during the golf swing, resulting in back discomfort and troubles after playing. There is a simple remedy that might greatly reduce your back discomfort when playing golf. 

We assist golfers in developing bogey-free backs, allowing them to crush the ball off the tee and play pain-free. 

I want to discuss one easy reason why many of us are experiencing back pain as a result of, during, or after playing golf. 

I’m going to keep it as basic and uncomplicated as possible. This is one basic reason and one easy drill that we normally begin with when dealing with this issue. 

Here is how we fix the issue that could be causing you pain 

Golf is a transfer of energy from the ground through your legs, through your torso, through your arms, to the club, to the ball. 

Let’s keep things simple for now and strive to simplify the golf swing. People frequently do not have a proper transfer of energy from their legs to their arms because they do not have a solid connection in their core area. 

So the transfer does not go from here to here efficiently because of a lack of engagement, or a lack of activation, or just a lack of control through the core and midsection. 

In a golf swing, the low back frequently takes on a lot of the stress. We don’t necessarily always like that with rotation, and everything else that comes with it. 

So what happens, a lot of us set up in our golf swing and we’re either one of two variations, we tend to stick our tail out and arch our low back, or we tend to keep our back a little flatter and curve our upper back. 

Either way, we do not have a very good connection of our core between our legs and our upper body. Both ways, we can rely on our back or upper back and we don’t have to use this (core area) very much. 

So we start our swing a little bit disconnected, and then as we take off, we never really get the core involved much, and again, the stress is going to default to the back. 

So that’s one reason, if you add multiple swings and multiple days of playing and maybe some other body issues going on, is one reason why a lot of individuals will get back pain and will start to run out of steam and energy, causing a lot of discomfort. 

So one simple thing that you can start to think about is, how do we start this area (core) connected? 

Start by trying this to help you alleviate the pain in your lower back 

Take a club or a dowel, get the contact points with the head, mid back and tailbone, and then just start getting yourself set up where you’re setting up in your golf posture, but you’re keeping those contact points on the club. 

What that’s going to do is, it’s going to keep you a little bit more connected by forcing you to have this the core slightly more engaged. 

I’m not asking you to all of a sudden develop a six pack and really bear down to engage the core, but this will help you keep a little bit more connected. 

If you want to take it a step farther, you can slightly try to curve the lower back into the dowel, to just force the engagement with your core muscles. 

That way, as you take off with the swing, you’re starting engaged and you’re not letting that energy that comes from the legs to the upper body not letting that core disconnect, and therefore the stress can transfer through the front of the core, and keep you from having to rely on the low back to provide that force and taking on the stress from your swing.  

Low back pain is something that we see in golfers that come through the office quite a bit, and if you are able to connect the core with the other parts of your body supplying the force and rotation in your swing, it will alleviate the stress you are putting on one particular area.  

Find Out More About How We Can Help With Your Low Back Pain When Golfing 

If you are struggling with low back pain, feel free to schedule a free phone consult, or contact us to arrange a free discovery visit. You can also feel free to give us a call at 920.335.7227 (We still like to talk on the phone!) 

We also have many more videos related to golf associated pain and tips on helping you stay pain free on the course on our YouTube channel. 

Don’t let back pain keep you from returning to what you love to do!  

We love to keep people in Appleton mobile, active, and off pain pills – let our expertise go to work for you to help you return to the activities you love. 

Don’t forget, you can schedule a no-obligation (and free!) phone consult or visit us at our Appleton clinic as part of your free discovery visit. Or just give us a call at 920.335.7227. 

Until next time, 

Eric Wallace, PT