Most Common Golf Injuries: Causes, Prevention & When to See a Physio

The most common golf injuries have little to do with bad luck. They come down to swing mechanics, mobility and how quickly you ramp up. Here’s what actually causes them, and what to do about it.

I’ll be honest: golf doesn’t look like a dangerous sport from the clubhouse. No one’s tackling anyone. The ball weighs about as much as… well, a golf ball. The biggest hazard most days is your own scorecard or mental health. But I see more golf-related niggles at our Cromer clinic than you’d expect. So let’s talk about why, and what you can do about it.

What is the most common golf injury?

Low back pain, hands down. The golf swing asks your spine to rotate fast. Meanwhile, your hips and shoulders try to turn in opposite directions. That’s great for separating your upper and lower body. However, your spine is there to hold you upright, not spin like a discus thrower. If your hips and mid-back can’t supply enough rotation, your lower back picks up the slack. It can cope once or twice. But 50 to 100 swings in a five-hour round is a different story. Anyone would be complaining!

What are common golf injuries?

Beyond the back, the usual suspects we see at Links Health & Performance are:

• Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) is pain on the inside of the elbow. It comes from repetitive gripping and the jolt of hitting the ball, then the ground. On a rougher day, it’s mostly the ground. We’ve gone deep on this one in our guide to golfer’s elbow prevention and treatment. It’s worth a read if that’s your particular villain.
• Rotator cuff strain comes from the speed and range of your shoulder on the backswing and follow-through. It’s more likely if you go from “occasional nine holes” to “every day of the long weekend”. Your shoulder gets very little warning.
• Wrist pain is usually down to a mistimed strike. Gripping the club like it owes you money doesn’t help either. Hitting off mats more often can also be a culprit. That’s especially true when the weather is terrible and you’re stuck on the range.
• Hip and knee pain is common too. Your trail hip and lead knee take the brunt of the force on the way down. Without adequate strength and flexibility, they struggle.

The pros aren’t the only ones who get these. We see them just as often in weekend players on the Northern Beaches. They’re just as common in anyone chasing a lower handicap. The cause is usually swing mechanics or stiffness somewhere it shouldn’t be. Jumping back into golf too fast after time off is another common cause.

Why are back injuries so common in golf?

The swing is basically rotation, side-bend and compression, all at once. You repeat it a few thousand times over a season. If your thoracic spine or hips are tight, your lower back inherits rotation it can’t handle. That’s where the pain creeps in. Eventually, joint and disc irritation can follow. Our TPI movement screen aims to catch exactly this. It finds where your body lacks movement before your swing starts compensating for it.

The solution is typically a mix of treatment and strengthening. That is our specialty. Strengthening alone doesn’t release a tight lower back and hips. Treatment alone just kicks the can down the road until it all happens again. However, treatment alongside strengthening gives you the best chance of lasting relief from lower back pain. If you’re curious about the hands-on side, read how osteopathy can help golfers with back, hip and shoulder pain.

Does golf actually cause injuries, or is it how you’re playing that matters?

Honestly, golf itself isn’t the problem. Well, unless you count mental health issues. But that’s a whole other blog post! Typically, the culprit is one of three things. It’s swing mechanics, limited mobility, or how fast you ramp up your playing. Take the golfer who goes from once a month to daily rounds on a week off work. That golfer is at far higher risk. The golfer who builds up gradually and warms up first is at much lower risk. (Yes, “a couple of practice swings on the first tee” doesn’t count.)

How does golf fitness training reduce injury risk?

It works by training the specific mobility and strength your swing demands. Golf requires rotational control through the trunk and hips. It also needs shoulder stability. Plus, you need to decelerate the club safely rather than just fling it and hope. That’s the whole idea behind our LinksPRO program. Instead of generic gym work, we build it around what a TPI screening finds limiting your swing. We use ASCA-certified golf performance training and re-test your strength with VALD ForceDecks force plate testing every 12 weeks to track progress. You can read more on our High Performance Golf Fitness page.

How to prevent golf injuries

A handful of habits do most of the heavy lifting here:

1. Warm up properly before you play. Use dynamic rotational movement and a few easy swings with a lighter club. Don’t stand on the range doing the static hamstring stretch you learned in Year 9 PE. We’ll go through our full warm-up method on our instagram and youtube soon. Watch this space.
2. Build up volume gradually, especially coming back from time off, a holiday or the off-season.
3. Screen your mobility. A TPI assessment tells you exactly where your body limits your swing. That beats guessing based on vibes and a sore elbow.
4. Train the muscles that support your swing. That means rotational core strength, hip mobility and shoulder stability. Together, they reduce the load your back and elbows end up absorbing.
5. Don’t play through pain. A niggle that hangs around past a round or two deserves an early look. Do it before it turns into a much longer conversation.

When should you actually see a physio?

If pain sticks around past a few days of rest, do something about it! The same goes if it changes your swing or grip. Swelling, reduced movement or repeated flare-ups after golf are also warning signs. Our TPI-certified physiotherapist Bryce Harry works specifically with golfers here at Links Health & Performance. He doesn’t just treat the sore spot. Instead, he looks at what in your swing or mobility is driving it. Then he builds a plan around fixing that. That’s better than calming things down for a week.

If there’s an ache that won’t settle, book an appointment with Bryce at our Cromer Golf Club clinic. The same goes if you’d rather get ahead of it before it becomes an actual injury. You can also read more about our approach on our physiotherapy page. Not sure whether you need a physio or an osteopath? Read our guide to choosing between an osteopath and a physio.

One last thing: this is general information, not a diagnosis. If you’ve got a specific injury or pain that isn’t settling, book in with Bryce. Or see one of our other practitioners. Don’t self-treat off the back of a blog post, even a fairly good one.