Updated on September 20th, 2022 at 12:58 pm
A golf injury can quickly end your golf season and your entire golfing career. Ensuring that you are healthy and safe when you play a round of golf will keep you pain and frustration free.
However, avoiding golf injuries can take a bit of work. Whether your injury is related to an arm, shoulders, back, neck, or knee, there are some steps you can take to help avoid these issues. If you follow our basic tips for avoiding golf injuries, you could end up with your most successful season yet.
Here are five of our best steps to help you avoid a golf injury when you are on the course. Whether your injury is related to technique or physical strength, these tips will help give you the confidence and performance you need.
How-to Prevent Golf Injuries:
- Stretch Daily
- Play with the proper equipment
- Practice and play
- Talk to a Doctor
- Strength Training
Stretch Daily
All golf professionals and sports medicine doctors will tell you to do some stretching exercises before you play a round of golf. This is really almost common sense. However, the real experts will tell you it’s not the stretching you do on the day of your round that matters.
The most important thing is to keep your body warm and limber every day of the week.
Each morning when golfers wake up, they should get involved in a stretching routine. The routine could involve swinging a weighted club. It could simply work on rotation or getting your muscles to loosen up after a night’s sleep.
Repetitive Motions such as swinging golf clubs can increase risk of injury without having the proper flexibility or range of motion. Amateur golfers can prevent a common injury like elbow pain, Tennis elbow or wrist injuries can be prevented with daily stretching.
Chances are, the addition of these stretches will help more than just your golf game.
Playing With The Proper Equipment
Did you ever think that your golf equipment could cause an injury? Many golfers are using equipment that is much too difficult for them to play with. This puts stress on the player and will risk injuries to the lower back, wrist, and even the shoulder.
If you are purchasing new equipment, make sure you choose something that is suited to the motion you can make as a golfer.
If all of your friends are playing with stiff shafts in their driver, don’t be pressured to put one in yours as well. This will most of the time cause an issue with your health, and it certainly won’t help your golf game.
Get your swing speed measured and put equipment into play that you can hit with a repetitive and consistent swing.
Practice and Play
We know it’s more fun to play golf than it is to practice your swing. However, it would help if you had some days of rest from the course to prevent overuse injuries. If you don’t want to strain your body, you also need to condition it to play more golf. Overuse is a problem that will impact joints, hips, tendons, and more.
Try to play two or three times per week and then add in some practice sessions where you work on your swing, short game, and more. Spending time on the range can help you build up the strength you will use on the golf course.
Talk To A Doctor
It seems like golfers are always being told to ask their doctor if their elbow, shoulder, or knee can function on the course. Golf is a sport, and it takes athletic ability and core strength. If you are going to partake in a physical activity like this, it is smart to ask the doctor.
Medical advice regarding what is good or bad for golfers is certainly going to vary from one medical professional to another. A doctor won’t be able to see your form while you are in the office, and they may now know the way you are hitting the ball.
If you have previous injuries, you will make them worse unless you talk to a doctor. Listen to the doctor’s advice, even if it means a slight loss of power in your swing. At least you are still on the course.
Strength Training
It’s important to work on the proper form and swing mechanics of your golf swing. When you get your mechanics down, the chance of common golf injuries certainly decreases. However, one of the best ways you can avoid things like shoulder pain, golfer’s elbow, or rotator cuff issues is to strengthen your muscles.
When you look at all of the professional golfers on the PGA Tour, they are always looking to avoid injury. These golfers spend lots of time in the gym working to strengthen their spine, their muscles, and their core. If you want to avoid injury and increase recovery time, start scheduling some time in the gym.
Why Does My Body Hurt After Golf?
If you come home from a round of golf and you need ice for your elbow, weak knee, shoulder joint, rotator cuff injury, upper body and lower back, chances are there are some issues in your body and your swing. Golf should not be this painful.
Chances are, poor swing mechanics are causing some of the issues in your game.
If you are hurting after each round of golf, think about these things to help you get a less painful round in.
- Take a Golf lesson to see where the issues are in your swing
- Spend some time on the range and see if it causes the same pain; you may be trying to add too much power when on the course
- Stretch before a round as the issue could be that your muscles are just too tight
- Remember that gripping the club tightly will cause more strain and not result in more distance
- Stay hydrated when you are on the course
- When you finish the 18th hole, do a quick stretch of your major golf muscles and drink some more water
Be sure to check out some of our other more popular How-to articles:
How to play golf card game
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Stop topping the golf ball
How to read greens in golf
Thinning golf shots
Conclusion: Avoiding Golf Injuries
It’s frustrating to be told you can’t play golf because of an injury. As we age and start to have more issues within our bodies, it becomes even more important to stay in good shape and stretch.
If you want to ensure that you will not be in pain after your next round of golf, you can follow our essential tips for avoiding golf injuries. In the end, these changes that you make won’t just help your golf game; they will help you feel better in all aspects of life. Check out our site for more information.
