The most common complaint from golfers is back pain. The Titleist Performance Institute studies revealed that 28.1% of all players will experience pain during or after each round. It’s important to acknowledge that whilst the back becomes sensitive and sore, it is rarely the reason a golfer will develop back pain. It is often as a result of dysfunctional areas above, or below the low back that are the biggest predisposing physical or biomechanical risk factors for a golfer experiencing back pain. Often these areas will result in the golfer exhibiting swing faults that will put added pressure on the low back – leading to low back pain and reduced performance in your golf game.

Hip pain can be a common presentation in golfers due to the rotational demands on the body. Most sports are what we call sagittal plane – which means forwards and backwards – such as running. However golf is one of the most rotational demanding sports, and as a result hip pain, particularly on the outside part of the hip can be common. Usually this is a result of overloading the structures that attach to the hip bone, along with an underlying restriction in hip movements, or weakness of particular hip muscles. Treatment consists of manual therapy to provide pain relief, and an individualised program to improve your body to return to golf without the risk of the hip pain returning.

Knee pain in golfers is caused by a number of different reasons. Some golfers develop knee pain as a result of walking golf courses particularly when there are steep inclines and declines. Other causes of knee pain in golfers is as a result of the pivoting motion as the knees and feet are fixed to the ground. This can cause added stress on the joint structures of the knee. In these instances, whilst the knee becomes sensitive, it is often a by-product of lacking flexibility at either the hip, or ankle. As a result, treatment is focused on reducing the immediate knee pain which is typically followed by a golf specific fitness routine targeting the hips or ankles to ensure it doesn’t become recurrent.

Shoulder, and/or rotator cuff pain, according to a review in 2016 was found to make up 8% – 18% of all golf related injuries. Rotator cuff pain in a golfer can be caused by a combination of swing faults that can place your shoulders in high risk positions, that are usually underlined by body biomechanical factors such as a stiff mid back, or tightened chest. This combined with the top of the backswing requiring elevation of the shoulder places the golfer at risk for shoulder injury, including rotator cuff related pain. Physiotherapy management is centred around reducing the shoulder pain, whilst performing an assessment including looking at swing mechanics, and body biomechanics, to understand the underlying dysfunction that led to the shoulder pain. Following this, a comprehensive rehabilitation plan will be tailored to the individual golfer.