Golf Injuries: Why Your Back, Elbow and Shoulder Hurt After a Round

Golf looks gentle from the clubhouse window, but a full swing is one of the fastest, most twisting movements most of us ever make. The club head can travel at over 90 miles per hour, and your spine, hips, shoulders and wrists have to produce and absorb that force in under a second — often 70 to 100 times a round, plus practice swings and range balls. Whether you play on Beverley Westwood or at one of the clubs around Hull, it’s no surprise that aches and injuries are common, particularly in keen amateur golfers.

The lower back: golf’s most common injury

Studies of amateur golfers consistently find the lower back is the most frequently injured area. The golf swing combines rotation, side-bending and extension under load, and it’s performed in one direction only. When the hips or upper back are stiff, the lower back is forced to make up the missing rotation, and the small joints and discs of the lumbar spine take more strain than they are built for.

Typical signs are a dull ache or stiffness the morning after a round, sharp pain at the top of the backswing or in the follow-through, or pain that builds over the back nine. Pain that spreads into the buttock or down the leg may involve a nerve and needs proper assessment; see our page on sciatica treatment in Hull.

Golfer’s elbow and wrist pain

Golfer’s elbow is an overload of the tendons on the inner side of the elbow, the ones that grip and bend the wrist. It often follows a sudden increase in practice, hitting a lot of balls off hard range mats, taking divots, or gripping the club too tightly. Pain on the outer elbow and in the lead wrist is also common, especially in players who hit the ground hard or catch the ball heavy.

Shoulder pain

The lead shoulder (the left shoulder for a right-handed golfer) works hard at the top of the backswing, and the trail shoulder takes load through impact. Rotator cuff irritation is the usual culprit, and it tends to show up as pain reaching overhead or lying on that side at night. Shoulder pain can also be referred from the neck, which is why both need checking. Read more about shoulder pain treatment in Hull.

Neck, hips and knees

Keeping your head still over the ball while your body turns puts the neck through a lot of rotation, and stiff necks are common after a long round. The lead hip and lead knee also absorb a twisting force through impact and the follow-through, so existing hip or knee arthritis can flare up with frequent play.

Why golf injuries happen

Most golf injuries are overuse injuries rather than a single accident. The usual contributors are:

• No warm-up. Many golfers go from the car to the first tee with a couple of practice swings. Research suggests that golfers who warm up properly are less likely to be injured.
• Stiff hips and upper back. If these don’t rotate well, the lower back and shoulders do the extra work.
• Too much, too soon. A sudden jump in practice, a golf holiday or a new set of clubs often comes before an injury.
• Swing faults. Over-swinging, a big “reverse C” finish or swaying off the ball increase the load on the spine.
• Carrying the bag. Carrying a heavy bag on one shoulder for 18 holes adds strain to the back, neck and shoulders. A trolley helps.

How to protect yourself and keep playing

• Warm up for 10 minutes before you play. Brisk walking, gentle trunk rotations, hip swings and arm circles, followed by half swings with a short iron, building up to full swings.
• Keep your hips and upper back moving. Regular rotation and mobility exercises take pressure off the lower back.
• Build strength. Strong glutes, trunk and shoulder muscles help your body control the forces of the swing.
• Increase practice gradually. Spread range sessions out rather than hitting hundreds of balls in one go.
• Use a trolley and choose a well-fitting pair of shoes.
• Get lessons. A PGA professional can often fix the swing habit that is overloading your back or elbow.

When to get it assessed

Most golf aches settle within a few days. It’s worth getting it checked if the pain lasts more than a week or two, keeps coming back every time you play, wakes you at night, or travels into your arm or leg. A proper assessment looks at where the pain is coming from and why, including how your hips, back and shoulders move, so you can get back to playing without the problem returning.

At East Yorkshire Back Clinic, Dr Gosselin brings over 40 years of clinical experience and a research background in biomechanics, the study of how forces act on the body, to working out what’s driving your pain. Treatment may include hands-on care, specific exercises and practical advice on your warm-up and practice routine. As with any problem we treat, you should know within three visits whether treatment is working.

This article is general information, not a diagnosis. If you have severe pain, numbness or weakness, see your GP.

Related treatment pages: Back pain treatment in Hull · Back pain treatment in Beverley · Shoulder pain treatment in Hull · Neck pain treatment in Hull