News | June 16, 2020
"Laughter is good for the soul - golf ruins everything again!"
- Michel Monnard.
At first sight, getting a small white ball into a large hole with high-tech equipment and no time limit seems anything but sporty.
Even though the current leading "athletes" are younger, more muscular and the sport has been an Olympic sport again since 2016, golf is still sometimes ridiculed, even by sports medicine colleagues.
However, the complexity of the movement, coupled with the high number of repetitions, often leads to physical discomfort even when performed correctly. There is hardly any other sport where painkillers are used so frequently.
As always, suffering golfers should be taken seriously, as there is already a high injury rate at a younger age, mostly in the form of pure muscular overuse, whereas even structural damage plays an increasing role with increasing age (> 55 years).
While injuries to the upper extremities play a subordinate role both functionally and statistically, the wrist and finger joints as the connection to the club should be mentioned here first and foremost. Often only symptomatic treatment approaches can be used here, as pain in these regions is usually caused by wear and tear.
Furthermore, pain and injuries to the elbow are usually tendon attachment problems and are often an expression of pronounced incorrect loading. Preventive measures in the form of swing adjustment should be considered at an early stage.
The shoulder region plays a subordinate biomechanical role in the correct execution of the golf swing, so that complaints in this region also indicate incorrect loading on the one hand, and on the other hand complex interventions up to and including endoprosthetic shoulder replacement are no obstacle to golf. This plays an important role in the preoperative consultation for the increasing number of rotator cuff reconstructions.
Last but not least, the lumbar section of the spine typically suffers the most due to the biomechanics of the golf swing. Changes in golf swing didactics or the diminishing individualization of top athletes over the last few decades have not changed this much. Depending on the ailments, age of the patient and sporting aspirations, the fundamental adjustment of the golf swing should also be considered during preventative advice.
Tiger Woods' former swing coach Sean Foley publicly stated back in 2012 that a golf swing that was likely to lead to injury should not be tolerated - no matter how successful it was. Tiger Woods ended his collaboration with Foley in 2014. Unfortunately, even those less interested in golf know the further course of his career.
Physical complaints before, during or after a round of golf should not be ignored. The following areas often play a role for golfers:
In addition to the well-founded conventional orthopaedic and medical clarification, the aspect of your golf game in particular should be taken into account in the diagnostics and therapy.
So that you can play better golf without pain!
Your ROC Aschheim