Back Surgery and Improving Performance to Tour Level

Elvin_Warlord · November 3, 2013

Hello WRX friends,

To start, this post has been a long time in the making. I have been a member on this sight since 2009, have posted a few times, and have mostly followed along. I am going to start out thread with a little background about myself, then the purpose of this thread, and finally why I want to facilitate this forum topic.

**mods I feel this is the appropriate forum to post this in so please move it to where you feel it best fits.

Introduction:

I would like to introduce myself. My name is AJ Nolin and I am a PGA of Canada candidate for membership. I have been in the association for 9 years, and turned pro in 2010. I should have my class "a" status in the 18 months. Currently I work at Deer Valley Golf Course in Deer Valley Saskatchewan as the assistant professional. My main role and passion is the development and management of golf instruction. My goals as a professional are either to play on Canadian Tour, become a head professional at a top golf course, or ultimately work with tour players in the instruction pathway. The more I work in this industry, the more people are pushing me towards instruction and player development. I pride myself in my determination to learn from the very best instructors and apply their techniques in my quest to help other learn my craft.

Why Back Pain and golf?

I am currently a young professional at 24 years old, and last summer I suffered a major herniation of my L5 - S1 disc. On September 25, 2012 I underwent a micro discectomy to remove the part of the disc which was putting pressure on my nerve. I looked "S" shaped and could barely walk. I do not wish back pain on person in the world. This is why I have made it my goal to educate myself in how the spine works in the golf swing and how to properly train people to play at a high performance level.

This is where the purpose of this thread comes in. I want to create an ongoing thread where others can contribute to my knowledge and hopefully I can inspire other golfers to improve their game and well being. I will continuously post to this thread my research and I hope that other with insight into what I am trying to accomplish will chime in from time to time. I want to hear from surgeons, golfers, coaches, psychologists, and anyone else who has a vested interest in this topic. Especially those who have undergone this surgery. I want to know how your progress is. If this thread helps one person who has undergone back surgery then this thread will more than have accomplished its goals.

Without further ado Lets get to this!!!

Look forward to having you on board

Socrates · November 3, 2013

Having dealt with back issues for a long time, I know how debilitating and painful it can be. You are a month and a bit post surgery: how are things going? Have they given you a time frame to start playing?

Elvin_Warlord · November 5, 2013

[quote name='Socrates' timestamp='1383524808' post='8097690']
Having dealt with back issues for a long time, I know how debilitating and painful it can be. You are a month and a bit post surgery: how are things going? Have they given you a time frame to start playing?
[/quote]

I guess I must clarify. I had my surgery last year, 2012. Not 2013. I started swinging again in April, and played my first competitive event in July. The experience was horrible, yet somehow one of the best rounds of my life. At the point of my first tournament I had only played 18 holes two time, with a couple day break in between. I played a practice round and could not miss, with anything except my putter. The next day was the competitive round. I shot 92. Couldn't finish a swing for my life. My next few tournament rounds have gotten better. Shooting 89, and 85, 82, and 75 going into august. I have then proceeded to accomplish 75 - 79 in all competitive rounds since.

As far as i can tell through my own self analysis My body cant quite do 2+ days of medal play. It is amazing how much stress a tournament puts on your body. Let alone a whole season. I feel that my short game has taken the biggest beating of all. I was more worried this summer about playing and full swing and neglected my short game. It as always needs more work.

On a recovery note:
I have started getting massage therapy treatments as well as working with a physio therapist and chiropractor. I am working on more joint mobilization and reconditioning the muscle imbalances caused by my list to the left.