Osteopathy for golfers is a big part of my week, because our clinic sits inside Cromer Golf Club. Golfers make brilliant patients, and they’re terrible at admitting they’re sore.
Key takeaways
- The lower back is the most common injury site in golfers, so it’s the problem I see most often.
- Stiff hips, a tight upper back and too many range-bucket sessions often sit behind back pain.
- The research shows no single magic cause, so we assess the whole person and not just the swing.
“It’s just a bit stiff.” “It’ll loosen up once I get a few holes in.” Sound familiar?
Here are the problems I see most often, and how osteopathy for golfers can help.
Can osteopathy help golfers with lower back pain?
If I had a dollar for every golfer who said “it’s my back”, I’d have a lot of dollars. The golf swing asks your lower back to handle a rapid, repetitive twist under load. Most golfers arrive after sitting in a car or at a desk all week.
Osteopathic treatment for back pain focuses on settling irritated joints and muscles. Then we work out what’s overloading them. Common culprits are stiff hips, a tight upper back, or too many range-bucket sessions in a row. I’ve covered the broader picture in our post on the most common golf injuries.
Can stiff hips cause back pain in golfers?
Your hips are meant to do a lot of the rotating in a golf swing. When they’re stiff, the lower back often picks up the slack. We assess how your hips move, then treat and strengthen accordingly. It’s one of the first places I look when a golfer has persistent back pain.
What about shoulder pain in golfers?
Shoulder strains are common in golfers who’ve upped their practice or changed their swing. They’re especially common in the lead shoulder. Shoulder pain often involves the neck and upper back as well, so we look at the whole chain and not just the joint that hurts.
What causes golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow?
Golfer’s elbow is a classic, but so is tennis elbow on the other side. These tend to be overuse problems. They’re often connected to grip, practice load and sometimes the neck and shoulder further up the chain. If this is you, our golfer’s elbow guide is worth a read.
What does osteopathy for golfers involve?
We’ll ask about your golf. That includes how often you play, whether you walk or take a cart, and what changed recently. Then we’ll look at how you move. Treatment is hands-on, and we’ll almost always build in exercises to get you stronger and more mobile.
If you’d like to go further than rehab, our team can talk you through our golf performance programs. These include screening that looks at how your body moves for golf.
A personal opinion, if you’ll allow it. I’d rather see you for three visits and a good plan than see you for thirty. The whole point is keeping you on the course.
What does the research say?
The evidence on golf injuries is more interesting than you might expect. There’s also a lot we still don’t know.
How common are injuries in golfers?
A 2024 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (Williamson et al.) pooled 20 studies. Together they covered 9,221 golfers. Lifetime injury prevalence was 56.6% in amateur golfers and 73.5% in professionals. Professionals were around three times more likely to have lower back and hand and wrist injuries. Two studies reported a higher injury risk in amateurs who played more than three or four rounds a week.
What did Australian golfers report?
McHardy et al. (2007) ran an Australian one-year follow-up of 588 amateur golfers from eight golf clubs. It appeared in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. It found about 15.8 injuries per 100 golfers per year. The lower back was the most common site (18.3%), followed closely by the elbow and forearm (17.2%). The amount of golf played, and the time since clubs were last changed, were associated with injury risk. Age, handicap and warm-up habits were not.
Does a bad swing cause back pain?
There’s a common belief that a “bad” swing causes back pain. However, a systematic review and meta-analysis by Smith et al. (2018, Sports Health) looked at risk factors. It found no support for a link between swing characteristics and golf-related low back pain. It did find links with older age, higher body mass and a previous history of back pain.
A smaller observational study (Murray et al., 2009) included 64 amateur golfers. Those with low back pain had less lead hip internal rotation. However, the study can’t tell us whether the stiffness caused the pain or came after it.
So, there’s no single magic cause. That’s exactly why we look at the whole person rather than just the swing.
Ready to get back on the course?
Interested in osteopathy for golfers? You can book an appointment at our Cromer clinic. You can also read more about osteopathy on the Northern Beaches and at LinksHP.
This article is general information only. If you have a specific injury or condition, give me a shout. Book an assessment before you self-diagnose from a blog post. Seek urgent care for sudden severe pain, numbness, weakness or loss of bladder or bowel control. See your GP or go to an emergency department.
