Anyone injure their knee or patella - and impact on swing?

[puttnforthe8]

I recently had an accident (fell in a gopher hole on the course and apparently injured my knee and/or patella - going to Dr in a couple of weeks.).  In the past couple of weeks post the incident I cannot plant on my left leg and I can only make an arms swing which results in a weak cut and a huge loss in distance (3 clubs).  

 

I am a bit concerned on the future of playing and the outcome of my Dr appointment.

 

Anyone have the same injury?  What was the outcome and recovery?  Surgery needed?  How long were you out?

 

On a side note:  I knew the front leg was important - but my awareness is at a new level now.  I trired a brace and it didn't do much.

[dropkicked]

This sucks to hear man.. I had a somewhat similar issue with my left knee (Righty). I had no ligament/muscle/tendon damage. My knee/leg was swollen to the size of a melon (which I think helped me) and I was not able to stand with full pressure for about 2 months.

 

Our seasons are short so I tried to play the last month of the season and was a mess. It took me until mid-way through the next season to undue all my swing issues because during that last month I was compensating in various ways trying to play through the discomfort and swing around my injury..

 

Take the time to ensure its good and your mind is right before you return.

GL man and hopefully no surgery required.

Edited November 25, 2021 by dropkicked

[Jc0]

1 hour ago, puttnforthe8 said:

I recently had an accident (fell in a gopher hole on the course and apparently injured my knee and/or patella - going to Dr in a couple of weeks.).  In the past couple of weeks post the incident I cannot plant on my left leg and I can only make an arms swing which results in a weak cut and a huge loss in distance (3 clubs).  

 

I am a bit concerned on the future of playing and the outcome of my Dr appointment.

 

Anyone have the same injury?  What was the outcome and recovery?  Surgery needed?  How long were you out?

 

On a side note:  I knew the front leg was important - but my awareness is at a new level now.  I trired a brace and it didn't do much.

 

I've had acl surgery and coming back from knee pain is annoying. One thing you do need to work through is your bodies reaction to recoil to pain. Basically when your body feels the pain it tries to go the opposite direction. What I would recommend doing is do walk through swings where you walk through the finish and force your body to get onto your front leg. This allows you to train your body to shift forward again and for you to find ways to make that shift more comfortable. The golf swing will not hurt your knee any further but there is definitely a hard mental block by your body.

 

[PJE]

On 11/25/2021 at 1:23 PM, Jc0 said:

One thing you do need to work through is your bodies reaction to recoil to pain. Basically when your body feels the pain it tries to go the opposite direction. The golf swing will not hurt your knee any further but there is definitely a hard mental block by your body.

 

I have found Jc0’s opinion to be insightful and accurate.
I am not a swing expert but here is my anecdotal experience:

I suffered from knee injuries, trauma, and problems for a long time. I played through the pain: a steady diet of anti inflammatories, braces, cortisone injections. 
My swing eventually evolved into an over the top motion plagued by big hooks. Insufficient lead knee support on the backswing lead to a flat motion with a risk of a reverse pivot. 
I finally ended up with knee replacements. It took about a year after the second replacement for that knee (left or lead knee) to finally heal. Once it did, I had to abandon bad habits and that took some time; it was similar to learning the swing for the first time.  But now, I can finally stripe it ( for me). 
I think you should consider laying off of full swings and just practicing chips and putts until you fully recover. Otherwise, you can end up going down a rabbit hole of compensatory moves in your swing. 

Edited November 27, 2021 by PJE

[Tanner25]

Any good set up, stretching or swing suggestions for a bad trail knee? 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Tanner25

[MattyO1984]

Not quite the same but I had patellar tendinitis a few years ago and basically had to shut it down for a couple of months. Was a complete pest at the time, I was honesty playing the best golf that I had ever done up to that point. I could get myself around the golf course but by the following day I could barely move my leg below the knee. Not worth pushing it, particularly if you have not had it assessed - any short term gain will be outweighed by long term pain. The season is done. Take some time off, see how it feels and start to slowly build it up from there.

[skraly]

On 11/25/2021 at 1:21 PM, puttnforthe8 said:

I recently had an accident (fell in a gopher hole on the course and apparently injured my knee and/or patella - going to Dr in a couple of weeks.).  In the past couple of weeks post the incident I cannot plant on my left leg and I can only make an arms swing which results in a weak cut and a huge loss in distance (3 clubs).  

 

I am a bit concerned on the future of playing and the outcome of my Dr appointment.

 

Anyone have the same injury?  What was the outcome and recovery?  Surgery needed?  How long were you out?

 

On a side note:  I knew the front leg was important - but my awareness is at a new level now.  I trired a brace and it didn't do much.

You really can’t ask if anyone has had the same injury since you don’t yet have a diagnosis.  Since you say you can’t shift weight to your front leg is that from pain or does the leg buckle and not support your weight?  Any swelling of the knees, no/yes, a little or a lot?  Really hard to give any cogent response with the info you’ve given.  Not trying to be mean.  Just need more info. 

[Barfolomew]

Front leg knee injury is reason I started using an open stance... takes a lot of pressure off.  Now I just like an open stance.