Golf QUICKGuide
The experts at Summit Orthopedics provide golfing injury prevention tips in their QUICKGuide to prevent injuries and stay safe during the sport.
Change it up
Most golf injuries come from overuse, or repetitive movements that tax the same muscle groups over and over again. Choosing a mix of recreational activities, including golf, will help maintain good overall fitness.
Swing mechanics matter
While practice may make perfect, practicing with poor mechanics can breed injury. A visit to your local golf pro can be beneficial for improving swing mechanics and instilling proper posture. This can decrease risk of injury.
Be smart with your golf bag
Golfers who carry their own bag (especially with just one strap) have twice the back, shoulder, and ankle injuries as those who don’t. Thankfully, many, if not all, bags now are made with two straps in order to wear the bag like a backpack. It really helps to even out the weight and avoids that lopsided walk with all the weight on one side. Even better, consider walking with a wheeled cart for your golf bag (or maybe both you and the bag can take a ride on a golf cart.)
Home on the range
Before your round of golf, do some simple stretching exercises, focusing on your shoulders, back, and legs. Then get a bucket of balls and hit a few golf balls on the driving range.
Consider the core
Your trunk includes muscles such as the abs, glutes and low back. Building strength here can minimize the incidence of injury from weakness.
Get in pre-round golf-specific stretching
Warm up and stretch, except focus on the arms, shoulders, back and torso, and lower body. Increasing the range of motion of the lower back and rotation of the lead hip (left hip in right-handed golfers) will also decrease the risk of injury.
Summit Orthopedics offers comprehensive sports medicine expertise
From Olympians to pro athletes to kids in youth sports and those that just want to be more active—Summit Orthopedics delivers expert care by fellowship-trained sports medicine physicians. If you are recently injured or concerned about ongoing pain, Summit Orthopedics sports medicine specialists have the expertise to evaluate your discomfort and develop a plan to quickly and safely help you get back to being active.
Start your journey to stronger, healthier athletic condition. Find your sports medicine expert, request an appointment online, or call us at (651) 968–5201 to schedule a sports medicine consultation.
Summit has convenient locations across the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin. We have state-of-the-art centers for comprehensive orthopedic care in Eagan, MN, Vadnais Heights, MN, Plymouth, MN, and Woodbury, MN, as well as several additional community clinics.
More resources for you
- Tips For Safe Golfing Through The Summer
- Improve your golf game with these grip-strengthening tips.
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Stacy (Eck) Sanders, PT, MPT, OCS
In today’s world where the focus has gone to achieving such high levels of athletic competition and ability, it is important to remember proper training and being educated on proper fitness health to avoid overuse injuries.
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