Back Injury Prevention in Golf: Master the Fundamentals

Back Injury Prevention in Golf: Master the Fundamentals

Back injury prevention in the golf swing is a very personal topic for me. I’ve injured myself more than anyone should so allow me to share my key findings.

I’m no doctor. I’m no physician. I’m a golfer that have gathered this knowledge through a decade of trying to figure out the golf swing. If it helps ANYONE then I’m more than happy.

Back Injury Prevention – Main Reasons for Injuries

The first one goes without saying. If you are too weak you will injury yourself over time in a very repetitive one sided setting. It’s more of a guarantee than anything else. So make sure to get your physical reps in to your every day life.

Pressure away from the body in the follow-through. If I strive too much toward the target, it becomes much more taxing because of the force moving away from me. It exposes weak spots and often manifests in the lower back.

Mismanaged centrifugal force with a shut clubface (in relation to old school release styles). If instruction is misunderstood, you might try to manipulate the swing forward to avoid sending the ball left (for a righty). This delays the release, which in turn forces more side bends. In my experience, this compresses the vertebrae and increases injury risk.

Tension and high grip pressure. Excessive grip pressure creates motions that are more injury-prone in my experience.

Back Injury Prevention – How to influence your motion?

This is a longer topic but let’s make it as short and sweet as possible. If you don’t want to change then just swing slower. Slower speeds will put less stress with a taxing golf swing.

The other solution is much more fun and that’s this. Find a swing style where you can unleash power in kinder body angles. For me this is old school golf. The stimulation of centrifugal forces creates shallowness in the motion and takes away a lot of sidebend need. If you also incorporate a centripetal hand move in the follow through you will present much less taxing feelings in the swing. This is at the core of what I’m teaching.

I know all of this is personal, but if sharing it helps even one person, I feel I add value. For me, old-school tricks work exceptionally well to create a kinder, more sustainable motion — without losing speed or control..

Check out the Forgotten Master Moves homepage here.

The FMM Project – the swing style that I teach – has it’s overview page here.