Tired of my back going out while playing golf

[jimb6golf]

I've had a bad back for many, many years and it occasionally flares up but recently it happens while playing golf.  With a disc(s) problem it comes in the form of stabbing pain and the inability to swing, or move, leading to walking off the course mid round unfortunately.  Realizing that I'm not working out my core as much as I have in recent years, too much work and sitting down, my core isn't as strong as it was leading to back problems occurring more frequently.  Lots of Aleve and hopefully some core exercises once the pain recedes will hopefully help the situation. But it's really frustrating to have this occur while playing golf and the inability to continue.  Has anyone had better success in treating a bad back? 

[Soloman1]

skeleton and muscles are separate problems. one doesn’t fix the other. a stronger core helps you stand a little straighter while in pain from the disc problem.

 

what does your doctor say about fixing your disc problem?

[st1800e]

@jimb6golfYou need to see a sports Dr and/or an MSK specialist.   An MRI will in all likelihood reveal the cause of the problem. And there are treatments that can help.  
In addition to that strengthening your core will help immensely.  Picking random exercises off the internet “might” help, but need a regimen designed for your particular situation . Check out TPI , you can be assessed and find a trainer to get you started.  they understand golf.  
 

https://www.mytpi.com/experts

 

Good luck , I’ve been through all this,  so I know your pain.  I am swinging pain free .  
 

 

 

Edited April 24 by st1800e

[golfwb]

I have had a bad back as long as I can remember.

I'm still relatively young and my back would start shutting down late in the back 9. 

I had some friends recommend going to a chiropractor they all use and the difference is night and day.

The problem was I had disks in the L4-L5 area that were bulging and the chiropractor has sorted that out. 

I can now practice and play pain free and can sleep on my back which i never thought would be possible.

I know some think they are witch doctors but i'm happy I tried it out.

[Triple Lindy]

Definitely see a doc. I’ve been through 3 surgeries (discectomies, L5S1) and now stretch every day. I developed my routine from my last PT and have it down to where I can complete it within 20 minutes. It’s 2nd nature.

 

A good orthopedist will more than likely try PT before surgery. Of course, some conditions can’t be helped with PT alone, but most can. I wish I had listened to my first doc, who advised a year of PT. I went to another who told me I’d be back to normal within 3 months with surgery. 2 years later, I was back to my original doc, who did my 3rd and final surgery more than 20 years ago. (BTW, same doc who finally fixed Tiger’s back - Dr. Richard Guyer at the Texas Back Institute.)

 

A good PT is also key. I had a therapist from the Texas Back Institute where they specialize in the back. He’s the guy that told me that I’d need to stretch every day for the rest of my life.

[jimb6golf]

Been to the doctors many times, as well as having many MRIs, and unfortunately my particular disc problem isn't a candidate for surgery (too risky apparently). So I have had to deal with it when it crops up, and live with the constant discomfort and pain - most days it's tolerable though.  Several bulging discs in my lower back are the cause of most of the discomfort and keeping my core stronger helps to support my overall posture and spine and avoid excessive pain, but as mentioned lately other things haven't prevented gym time and it seems the back issues have risen again.  Might talk to my ortho about PT options though as they tend to help a lot too.

[FormerBigDaddy]

2 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

skeleton and muscles are separate problems. one doesn’t fix the other. a stronger core helps you stand a little straighter while in pain from the disc problem.

 

what does your doctor say about fixing your disc problem?

Technically you're right, disk issues are separate from muscle related issues.  However, as someone who deals with disk issues, I've found that strengthen my core and lower back as well as rotational strength has helped me drastically.  It's hard to argue that being stronger in those areas don't relieve pressure and support your spine better.  I know most people don't want to hear this, but many people could stand to lose some weight, especially around their midsection.  In doing so you further relieve pressure on your spine.  About 7 years ago I really committed to these things and it dramatically reduced my issues.  Prior to that I used to be laid up on pain meds and steroids for a few weeks at least once or twice a year.  I haven't had an issue like that since.

Edited April 24 by FormerBigDaddy

[Petethreeput]

Triple and I are in the same boat.  We have both had 3 micros over the years.  Core strength will help some, but Solo is right as well, muscle mass won't cure skeletal issues.  Stronger muscles can help keep the skeletal issues from flaring up, but it isn't a panacea.

 

The one other thing, Triple mentions and I concur (as do all of my surgeons), is when a muscle is stressed or stretched beyond it's comfortable stage it will snap back to protect itself which can actually impede or make the skeletal issues worse.  To avoid this eventuality they have all said stretching is the key to less pain.  Not just the back, but the hamstrings, the quads, and the IT bands, all of these muscles pull on the hips and can inflame the ongoing skeletal issues.

 

Ultimately, your doctor is the person to speak with, and a PT can get you going down the right path, but if you are like most and only stretch when it hurts it isn't going to help too much.

[Haroputt]

Back issues are problem for me bending forward   Especially putting.   I got a sternum putter now that works well. But still have to bend down to pick up the ball

 

Doing squats exercises. Especially on the green   Squat to fix ball marks and to adjust ball line and pre putt reading.  My knee are starting to bother me but it’s healthier for my back when I learn to use my knees instead on bending forwards at the waist 

Edited April 24 by Haroputt

[Nels55]

Muscle Activation Technique made a huge difference for me.

[phizzy30]

I have 3 herniated discs in my back that I've been dealing with for many years.  Go see a physio as the good ones will show you what you need to do from a PT perspective which helps quite a bit.   As a personal trainer, I recommend getting back to doing core work as well as exercises for the back in general which include dead lifts, variations of back extensions, pull up/pull down variations and row variations.  The surrounding muscles besides the back need to be strengthened as well well which include the lower body in general.  Exercises for the quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves are key as well.  Variations of squats, lunges, step ups, dumb bell/Smith machine hip thrusts, mule kicks, variations of calf raises, and leg curls/extensions, etc.  Ice to reduce inflammation and heat if you experience stiffness as well.   

Edited April 25 by phizzy30

[mgoblue83]

See the doctor and get a referral to PT. Make sure to choose a PT experienced in sports injury rehab and sports performance training. 

 

I've had back issues for years from some lifting injuries in college and staying on top of my PT exercises (even when I'm feeling good) is the only way I'm still able to play.

 

You have to make it part of your daily routine and realize there are no quick fixes.

 

Stay away from chiropractors, pain management doctors, and any doctor that recommends surgery before PT. None of them have any incentive to actually help you get better. They just grease the wheel by giving you a little temporary relief and welcoming you back into their office a week later without any actual improvement.

[PNW]

Having been through neck and back disc issues as well (unfortunately along with the other posters here) I would highly recommend seeing a good PT who understands sports and twisting motions, as well as a good coach who understands how certain movements can or won't stress your lower back. You'll hopefully strengthen your core and stabilizer muscles with the PT and maybe need to adapt your swing to reduce stress in the lower back (maybe need more thoracic, shoulder, hip/pelvis mobility). To each their own but I would skip a chiro (seen one a few times). At best it's temporary relief from realignment reducing pain on a nerve but there's always greater risk. 

 

On a somewhat related note, I just watched this video about Max Homa's swing. What stuck out to me was his lack of shoulder mobility that forced a little bit of an early extension move (which can strain the lower back) earlier in his career. A change to his swing to work around the mobility issue created a lot more consistency for him. Point being, the guy is a pro and deals with some degree of a physical limitation which we all do as well, and often these limitations can create more stress on our back during the golf swing, as well as force other parts of our body to take on more strain to compensate weaker areas. A good coach can hopefully help you stay on the course and play more frequently once you're physically ready again. 

 

 

 

[dirthead]

Well I had back surgery 9 weeks ago and have dealt with lower back issues for about 20 years. I have arthritic facet joints from L3-S1. Developed severe stenosis about a year ago and started having hip and leg pain, weakness, and numbness. Ablations helped with the facet pain, but obviously wouldn’t do anything with the progressive arthritis. I’ve had the same back doctor for many years and he is ultra conservative. When he saw my imaging from January, he said we need to go in and fix this before you have permanent nerve damage. I was in surgery on February 22nd, and was walking without any pain the next day. My advice is don’t take advice from people that aren’t doctors and don’t know your specific issues. If you get an opinion from a qualified orthopedic or neuro surgeon, and you think it’s too aggressive, get a second or third opinion. In some cases, like mine, if I would have put off surgery any longer I wouldn’t be walking and could have had more permanent damage. 

[Pepperturbo]

On 4/24/2024 at 7:05 AM, jimb6golf said:

I've had a bad back for many, many years and it occasionally flares up but recently it happens while playing golf.  With a disc(s) problem it comes in the form of stabbing pain and the inability to swing, or move, leading to walking off the course mid round unfortunately.  Realizing that I'm not working out my core as much as I have in recent years, too much work and sitting down, my core isn't as strong as it was leading to back problems occurring more frequently.  Lots of Aleve and hopefully some core exercises once the pain recedes will hopefully help the situation. But it's really frustrating to have this occur while playing golf and the inability to continue.  Has anyone had better success in treating a bad back? 

Sympathize. 

 

A buddy copes with the back going out as well, it can be excruciating too, puts him down for a week, sometimes longer.

[getitdaily]

If your issues are just bulging discs then you can rehab them at home. No gym needed.

 

Isometric holds of the following: 

1. Marching glute bridges

2. Side planks 

3. Birddogs

4. Superman pose

5. Situp 

 

Do each hold for 20 seconds with a 20 second rest between exercises. 1 time through each then rest for 1.5 minutes and then do it again. Do that 4 nights a week.

 

The next week, increase the hold time by 5 seconds. Rinse and repeat. Make it a part of your routine. Ice your back after any strength training that targets your back and after golf. 

 

Also, diet plays a huge role in inflammation response. Eliminate all diet soda and diet drinks. Aspartame, sucralose, etc...huge inflammation triggers. If you take pre-workouts with nitric oxide boosters (l-citruline or citruline mallate) they can cause inflammation. Dame goes for any ED pills. 

 

Start taking tumeric and eat lots of stuff with antioxidants. 

Edited April 26 by getitdaily

[TimGru]

I have low back pain that popped up on my left in the past few weeks. It turns out my left glute isn’t firing and putting strain on my lower back.

 

This video puts me through the wringer but it’s done wonders in helping my back feel better. 
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOTvaRaDjI?si=TVhZ-ueCwdR9VPL6

[johnrobison]

11 hours ago, dirthead said:

Well I had back surgery 9 weeks ago and have dealt with lower back issues for about 20 years. I have arthritic facet joints from L3-S1. Developed severe stenosis about a year ago and started having hip and leg pain, weakness, and numbness. Ablations helped with the facet pain, but obviously wouldn’t do anything with the progressive arthritis. I’ve had the same back doctor for many years and he is ultra conservative. When he saw my imaging from January, he said we need to go in and fix this before you have permanent nerve damage. I was in surgery on February 22nd, and was walking without any pain the next day. My advice is don’t take advice from people that aren’t doctors and don’t know your specific issues. If you get an opinion from a qualified orthopedic or neuro surgeon, and you think it’s too aggressive, get a second or third opinion. In some cases, like mine, if I would have put off surgery any longer I wouldn’t be walking and could have had more permanent damage. 

It was spinal decompression surgery for the stenosis, I presume? I have the same - facet joints and stenosis - and was told by my previous doc to have surgery and now by my current doc to put it off. It's great to hear you were mobile the next day without pain. How long until you can swing a club?

[dirthead]

39 minutes ago, johnrobison said:

It was spinal decompression surgery for the stenosis, I presume? I have the same - facet joints and stenosis - and was told by my previous doc to have surgery and now by my current doc to put it off. It's great to hear you were mobile the next day without pain. How long until you can swing a club?

Yes, I had spinal decompression at L4-L5.  Took off part of lamina bone, some ligament, and some bone spurs at the L5 nerve root exit.  I went to the range last weekend and started hitting pitch shots and putting.  No pain at all.  At 12 weeks I'm fully cleared to play golf.

 

I've had lower back pain for years and have dealt with it.  Lots of Aleve, ice packs, steroid injections (only worked for a short time), then my doctor wanted me to try ablations for the facet pain.  Those worked very well and lasted about a year.  The stenosis progressed rapidly and I went from having slight hip pain when walking in November of 2022, to barely being able to walk 50 feet by December of 2023.  I really don't have any disc issues or instability in my lumbar area, so the most basic decompression surgery took care of my problem.  Very happy that I had the surgery.

[stryper]

I deal with this every day.  No surgery is ever going to help, nor was physical therapy or routine visits to a chiropractor.  So it’s lots of core strengthening over many years, some stretching. and a little weight management.  
 

 

[dblinden]

I've had significant back problems for forty years. I am also a doctor. As sarcastic as I can possibly sound, I will say that posting requests to find solutions to an unclear medical problem on an internet forum is a truly wonderful idea. 

[ShortGolfer]

I scrapped the swing I used as a ten year old and experimented with different swings until I found one that wouldn't stress my back.

The rotational swing I found also helped with my balance issues.

As an older adult planning for retirement my goal was to be able to play every day without back issues.  Distance was secondary.

 

My plan was to play the forward tees, if necessary, to make up the difference.

Edited April 26 by ShortGolfer

[johnrobison]

1 hour ago, dirthead said:

Yes, I had spinal decompression at L4-L5.  Took off part of lamina bone, some ligament, and some bone spurs at the L5 nerve root exit.  I went to the range last weekend and started hitting pitch shots and putting.  No pain at all.  At 12 weeks I'm fully cleared to play golf.

 

I've had lower back pain for years and have dealt with it.  Lots of Aleve, ice packs, steroid injections (only worked for a short time), then my doctor wanted me to try ablations for the facet pain.  Those worked very well and lasted about a year.  The stenosis progressed rapidly and I went from having slight hip pain when walking in November of 2022, to barely being able to walk 50 feet by December of 2023.  I really don't have any disc issues or instability in my lumbar area, so the most basic decompression surgery took care of my problem.  Very happy that I had the surgery.

Thanks for the insight. We've talked about ablation for the facet joints but haven't gone there yet. I do get some epidural cortisone now and again (just had an injection a few weeks ago) but have been waiting until I'm in a similar situation - where I can't function properly - to consider decompression. Right now it's only flaring up a couple of times a year, when I move wrong and the stenosis pinches the nerve (same as you and most - L4/L5).

 

I do have a herniated disc there, too, and 2 bulging ones but they've all improved quite a bit over the last 10 years with tons of core strength and stability work, mixed with learning better movement habits. Golf, unfortunately... not such a great movement habit no matter how you do it 😕

[rkodavey]

14 hours ago, getitdaily said:

If your issues are just bulging discs then you can rehab them at home. No gym needed.

 

Isometric holds of the following: 

1. Marching glute bridges

2. Side planks 

3. Birddogs

4. Superman pose

5. Situp 

 

Do each hold for 20 seconds with a 20 second rest between exercises. 1 time through each then rest for 1.5 minutes and then do it again. Do that 4 nights a week.

 

The next week, increase the hold time by 5 seconds. Rinse and repeat. Make it a part of your routine. Ice your back after any strength training that targets your back and after golf. 

 

Also, diet plays a huge role in inflammation response. Eliminate all diet soda and diet drinks. Aspartame, sucralose, etc...huge inflammation triggers. If you take pre-workouts with nitric oxide boosters (l-citruline or citruline mallate) they can cause inflammation. Dame goes for any ED pills. 

 

Start taking tumeric and eat lots of stuff with antioxidants. 

Agree with most everything you say here, but situps? I've heard nothing but bad things about situps and their effect on the lower back.

 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/want-a-stronger-core-skip-the-sit-ups

 

 

[shellback]

I have had issues with my lower back and SI joints for years. Here are my suggestions based on my own experiences. 
 

See an orthopedic doc specializing in backs and hips. Hopefully the doc will take X-rays or maybe even send you for an MRI. This will help you pin down the issue. 
if you are sent to PT and you almost.certainly will be, do so and most importantly continue whatever exercise program is recommended.. find a stretching program and do it every day, especially before you play golf. This has helped me far more than core strength exercises. 
I’ve had many injections over the years all of which help. Ablation to remedy arthritis in my facet joints helped a lot and has lasted a long time.

 

[johnrobison]

59 minutes ago, rkodavey said:

Agree with most everything you say here, but situps? I've heard nothing but bad things about situps and their effect on the lower back.

 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/want-a-stronger-core-skip-the-sit-ups

 

 

Totally agree. Of all the core strength and stability moves in my repertoire, sit-ups is not one. 

[getitdaily]

4 hours ago, rkodavey said:

Agree with most everything you say here, but situps? I've heard nothing but bad things about situps and their effect on the lower back.

 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/want-a-stronger-core-skip-the-sit-ups

 

 

You saw situp but forgot that I said "isometric holds of the following"

[golferdude54]

Check your side bend after impact. When right arm is parallel to ground after impact DTL the shoulders should be level to the spine. That can only happen if the right hand is higher than the left and the right arm is pointed somewhere between parallel to the target line and just over midfoot of the left foot. "Low and left" with "right hand under" is a giant no-no on the back. 

 

In the face on view, the right shoulder being ahead of the right hip or even with it at the same point in the follow-through ala Moe Norman and, believe it or not, Bobby Jones will also save the back.

Edited April 27 by golferdude54

[phizzy30]

1 hour ago, golferdude54 said:

Check your side bend after impact. When right arm is parallel to ground after impact DTL the shoulders should be level to the spine. That can only happen if the right hand is higher than the left and the right arm is pointed somewhere between parallel to the target line and just over midfoot of the left foot. "Low and left" with "right hand under" is a giant no-no on the back. 

 

In the face on view, the right shoulder being ahead of the right hip or even with it at the same point in the follow-through ala Moe Norman and, believe it or not, Bobby Jones will also save the back.

Reverse C and excessive side bend are definitely back killers. 

[st1800e]

On 4/24/2024 at 10:48 AM, jimb6golf said:

Been to the doctors many times, as well as having many MRIs, and unfortunately my particular disc problem isn't a candidate for surgery (too risky apparently). So I have had to deal with it when it crops up, and live with the constant discomfort and pain - most days it's tolerable though.  Several bulging discs in my lower back are the cause of most of the discomfort and keeping my core stronger helps to support my overall posture and spine and avoid excessive pain, but as mentioned lately other things haven't prevented gym time and it seems the back issues have risen again.  Might talk to my ortho about PT options though as they tend to help a lot too.

Sounds like you’ve been diligent determining your issues.  Very good.  I’d suggest you don’t discount exploring TPI.  You might have a swing flaw that’s aggravating your back.   I know that, left leg shorter than the right….caused a small reverse weight shift and slide through the ball, extra stress on the lumbar.  So two wrongs did make it right.  Played to a 2 cap for years.   My lumbar along with a number of other factors over the ensuing years and declined to a 13. Disabled for a season when the lumbar spine couldn’t take it any longer.  A  TPI instructor quickly identified the flaw.  Tied that into my fitness instruction with core and other strengthening routines, along with injections and ablations from my MSK specialist.    
I’m swinging freely again and properly. I’m now at 7 cap.