Image from MyTPI.com
By Dr. Greg Rose
Lower back pain is by far the most common ailment suffered by golfers of all ages. Based on data collected at TPI from over 31,000 golfers, 28.1% of all players deal with lower back pain after every round. Lower back pain is also the most common complaint seen amongst professional golfers on all tours (data suggest over 23% play with lower back pain). To understand the cause of lower back pain, it requires a thorough investigation of what I call the “Body-Swing Connection”. Let’s take a closer look.
First of all, let me start by making a bold statement. The lower back is rarely the original cause of the pain! It may be the current source of the pain, but it’s rarely the cause of the pain. More often than not, abnormal motions or forces coming from adjacent or distant areas of the body force the lower back to do excessive work until it completely breaks down itself. In other words, the lumbar spine is usually the area that is being unnecessarily overworked to the point of injury. It is basically the over-used and over-abused worker who just goes and goes until he or she breaks.
In my experience, the lack of mobility seen in the ankles, hips, thoracic spine and shoulders of many golfers forces the lower back to carry all of these excessive loads and is the primary cause for most back injuries. So any article about lower back pain should address those areas specifically.