Golfers’ Shoulders - Injuries and Pain in Golf

Golfers’ Shoulders - Injuries and Pain in Golf
Part 1 of a 7-part series

by David Ostrow, President of Body Balance for Performance

In this series we are going to examine:

The most common shoulder injuries that golfers experience, and the anatomy and biomechanics of the shoulder, shoulder girdle, and upper back. We will also look at injury- inducing swing faults, fixes and prevention.

Then we will put the data from this course into action. As a result, you will understand the risks to your shoulders and what you can do to minimize them and prevent injuries. Ultimately this will lead to more consistency, better distance, lower scores, and less pain on and off the course.

The shoulders are an area that can give golfers a great deal of trouble. Shoulder injuries are prevalent in golfers, and there are some simple reasons why this happens. There are several muscles in the shoulder complex that are tied to the posture of the upper body. When imbalances develop in the chest, upper back and shoulder, upper cross syndrome, rotator cuff disorders, tightness in the chest, limited shoulder motion, and shoulder complex asymmetries to name just a few, are likely to occur.

There are many shoulder disorders that can exist for years and not let us know they are there. There are some that we know about right away. You may have a slight rotator cuff tear, or cartilage tear, or a bone spur in your shoulder, but that doesn’t mean that your shoulder will hurt or get in the way of golf. You could have arthritis, but it may not hurt. If we add the motion of the golf swing to poor torso mobility or scapular stability and or a degenerative processes or slight injury or deformity, the shoulder will give out and you will experience pain with your golf motion.

The golf swing requires large amounts of rotation in the shoulder joint. If rotation is limited or lacking, the shoulder will be stressed during the swing.

There are two key principles that we will take up in the biomechanics section of this course. They are the issues of required mobility in the thoracic spine and shoulder blade stability. When thoracic rotation is lacking, there will be excessive mobility in the shoulder blade. This can lead to instability and injury in the shoulder joint. In the coming weeks we are going to dissect the problem of shoulder injuries and pain. We will examine anatomical issues, biomechanical issues, and swing faults.

Here is an interesting fact for you to ponder…if you struggle with deceleration in your swing, you probably have a shoulder problem on your downswing side, whether it hurts or not. We will look closely at this challenge in the next few issues.

Please email me at dostrow@fitgolf.com if you have any questions.

Here’s to your healthy shoulders and good golf.

Dave

David Ostrow is the President and CEO of Body Balance for Performance, Inc. He has been a physical therapist for 22 years. David is considered by many golf industry professionals to be an expert in golf fitness. David has spent his career developing a well defined, effective approach for restoring the human body to full function. His eclectic approach to the body comes from his diverse training with many of the leaders in physical therapy education including Rocabado, Maitland and Callaway.

David has taken what he learned from the masters and created a complete clinical system, integrating it into Body Balance for Performance.  Check out his Golf Fitness Training Programs

Comments

[Health Advocate]

Good observation and discussion...yes the body essentially has to be maintained properly to look after the needs of the sports and play it well.

[Golf Guy]

Thank you I didn't know that there was this much stress on the shoulder especially in golf. I know now.

[ronna]

I always feel pain around my shoulder and nape after each game and I really suspect that the constant rotation is the culprit for this. I also feel strain around my wrist though.

[Cindy]

Tons of people already suffer from shoulder and neck pain/injuries, so its not surprising that it'd get even worse with golfing. Doing some light pre-game exercises would probably help prevent any condition from getting worse, I'd think.