Back Soreness After Playing

[Jester959]

I’m fairly new to golf and am wondering if some level of back soreness is just normal. I  played for about 4 months no problems. Recently hurt my back about 2 weeks ago not sure if it was golf related.
 

The soreness on the muscles between my shoulder blades and my spine and a little bit on my middle back. I’m using a lot more hip rotation than I am back and am opening up at my finish (something I recently addressed/fixed).  I wasn’t doing that for a long time. Maybe I’m just re-aggregating after practicing but yesterday practiced my swing for about 30 min and today I’m super sore. Thoughts?

[platgof]

You need to stretch more before playing, and a lot of us are guilty of this. Check out some stretching videos and try them.

[Jester959]

2 minutes ago, platgof said:

You need to stretch more before playing, and a lot of us are guilty of this. Check out some stretching videos and try them.

Yeah that’s probably true. Yesterday I just picked the club up and gave it a go. Need to realize my own mortality.. ha. I’m 29 and played sports growing up. Hardly ever stretched. 

[averysdad]

Not sure how old you are but as a dude in my mid 40’s I’ve found I do best with stretching before AND after the round....especially in the current colder temps. Hope you get to feeling better quick!

[LeoLeo99]

I get lower back pain from the golf swing.  I get upper back pain from poor posture while pushing my push cart and need to pay attention to the height setting of the handle on my cart.  Shoulders back and away from your ears!

[phizzy30]

I have back soreness most of the time after a round of golf.  Then again I have 3 herniated discs in my back.  Hot massage and ice packs are the key to loosing the tightness and reducing inflammation. 

[Medson]

Definitely stretching. The older and colder it gets, the longer it takes time to stretch. 
 

If you are just playing for fun, start your round with some half swings. (Think of Jon Rahm with less speed). While I lose some distance, I gain in accuracy and knowing to warm up my body. 

[2bGood]

Do you carry your clubs or you use a push cart? Either could be the source of you back pain. Setting up the cart to the right height is very important as is proper lifting technique with the bag.

 

Also how often do you play? If you are just playing sporadically your body never adapts and you will be sore, if you get into playing more regularly, like any other physical pursuit your body will adapt and you will gain some 'golf fitness' if you do it 2 or 3 times per week.  

[Vroomer99]

Stretch!  Always make sure to stretch the legs too!

[MattyO1984]

Adding to the stretching, I always try to make some time for the foam roller as well. My glutes tend to get tight which in turn puts added strain on my lower bag. The foam roller is a big help with that I find.

[mgoblue83]

Dynamic warm-up + stretching after the round.

 

Golf is an athletic activity and should be treated as such. 

 

FYI:

Riding in a cart with a slow pace of play can be brutal on your back if you do not take the time to warm-up and stay loose during the round. Every time you sit down for a few minutes to wait for your next shot your body is tightening back up. In this situation I will OFTEN walk from my approach shot to the green to stay loose and ask my partner to take the cart up.

[Golferguy209]

I am a former athletic trainer and worked with a college golf team.  Stretching is definitely beneficial but need to know the key muscles to stretch.  I've also found that mobilizing joints is just as important.  Personally my hips and thoracic spine are very stiff so here are a couple mobility drills that I like to do.  Most importantly is to be consistent with pre/post stretching routine.  

 

Thoracic spine:

 

 

 

Hip Mobility

 

[bluedot]

3 hours ago, Golferguy209 said:

I am a former athletic trainer and worked with a college golf team.  Stretching is definitely beneficial but need to know the key muscles to stretch.  I've also found that mobilizing joints is just as important.  Personally my hips and thoracic spine are very stiff so here are a couple mobility drills that I like to do.  Most importantly is to be consistent with pre/post stretching routine.  

 

Thoracic spine:

 

 

 

Hip Mobility

 

This is a great post, and one that I think most PT's that work regularly with golfers would second.

 

Most back pain in golfers isn't as much about the back, but something else, with a lack of mobility being an immediate suspect.  For people who spend a lot of time sitting, the hips are the rotation center that loses mobility, which puts strain on the back during the swing. 

 

Stretching may (or may not) help, but mobility isn't really helped by the stretching that most people do, and mobility work will help a lot more.  90-90's for the hips, and thoracic spine openers are two great mobility pieces for golfers. 

[BeerPerHole]

Get a really firm (black) foam roller and roll your back, certainly. That does wonders on that section of your back. I'm 53 and all beat to hell from football and have had to explore a lot of these glitches and fixes in my golfing life... At 29 you're do to start paying attention to the bod...

[gsrjc]

I use a theragun daily to make sure The muscles are not tight. 

[ColoradoMike]

My back gets sore when I start sucking the club inside and get stuck in the downswing. 

[SwingBlues]

On 2/15/2021 at 10:43 AM, Golferguy209 said:

I am a former athletic trainer and worked with a college golf team.  Stretching is definitely beneficial but need to know the key muscles to stretch.  I've also found that mobilizing joints is just as important.  Personally my hips and thoracic spine are very stiff so here are a couple mobility drills that I like to do.  Most importantly is to be consistent with pre/post stretching routine.  

 

Thoracic spine:

 

 

 

Hip Mobility

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing 👍👍👍 This is close to YouTube Mark Wildman's hip exercises which greatly helped me a lot. This is also BRILLIANT, definitely will be using it