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Up to 54% of golfers experience low back pain. Back pain is the #1 reason golfers stop playing. Back pain can be due to a number of reasons-lack of mobility, weakness, and poor motor control to name a few. As a Doctor of Physical Therapy who specifically works with golfers with back pain (and who personally has a history of back pain), I outline 3 Hacks which consist of products and exercise concepts to help avoid back pain during or after golf.
The Original McKenzie Lumbar Roll
This easily takes the crown for the best hack in avoiding low back pain. Most of us sit the majority of the day. We get up in the morning, drive to work, sit at work, sit in the car on the way home from work, sit at the dinner table, then maybe sit on the couch to watch TV and go to bed. I’d like to think that some of you squeeze in at least an hour of exercise during the day, but you get the point. When we are sitting the spine takes a flexed position, what we refer to as “spine flexion”. The spine will optimally rotate in a neutral position. This means that from a flexed posture, the spine will have to move into the direction of extension to achieve neutral spine posture. The Original Mckenzie Lumbar roll will do just that. I was experiencing some low back pain that was actually radiating down my right leg every time I got in the car and drove for about 15 minutes. I placed the Original Mckenzie lumbar roll in my car and after only two days my symptoms were completely gone. It is super effective and portable. Many of you might be thinking, well my car already has lumbar support built into it. It's not enough, or it is not in the correct spot for you. Trust me. This external device is incredibly effective and I often recommend that my patients use it and have had incredible success with it.
2. Theragun by Therabody
Now let me be clear, this device alone will not fix your back pain, however it will provide you with relief and effectively warm up the muscles in your back and hip to safely swing a club and in my professional opinion, significantly reduce the risk of injury. However, this coupled with an active warm up routine is basically a cheat code when it comes to avoiding low back pain. Theragun also makes a smaller version that can easily be stored in your golf bag to have it before and after your rounds. For its size, it still packs a pretty good punch! Check it out here.
3. Resistance band mini loops by Perform Better
Yes, stretching and working on mobility is important, however using resistance to engage, activate and strengthen your muscles is equally as important, if not more important than mobility when it comes to avoiding back pain and optimizing success on the golf course. I keep the Perform better loop band in my golf bag and have some at home to effectively engage my glutes before playing a round and to maintain glute activation and strength during my normal workout routine. Lets not forget that the glutes are at the base of the spine, and provide it with the support it needs to complete day to day tasks as well as athletic activity. At TPI, we refer to the glutes as the “Kings of the Golf Swing” because of how important they are for distance and generating power. It is very common to have weak or inhibited glutes with low back pain. Oftentimes the hamstrings become overactive causing the glutes to turn off resulting hamstring tightness and weak glutes.
Some of my favorite exercises to do to engage the glutes using the Perform Better Mini band.
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Noah Poskanzer, PT, DPT