AS MANY OF US KNOW, GOLF IS A CHALLENGING AND OFTEN FRUSTRATING SPORT. Many golfers feel their swing components of golf are their greatest challenge and undervalue the biomechanics and conditioning that are required to play the game well. This is a mistake that leads to poor golf and injury. An extreme amount of compressive force, up to 10 times a person’s body weight, is exerted on the spine during the golf swing. Every joint involved in the swing is taken through its maximum range of motion and then quickly accelerated into the opposite direction, generating a great amount of torque throughout our joints. If the body is not properly prepared to handle these forces, injury or inconsistency will result.

Formal golf instruction has been available to the general public for decades, yet the majority of golfers, when they play strictly by the rules of golf, struggle to break 100. In my experience as a chiropractor and performance specialist, fitness and conditioning is the primary barrier to improved performance in golf. The golf swing is a repetitive unilateral movement that creates imbalances in the body, these imbalances cause abnormal stress and wear and tear on the body.

Elbow pain is only one of the most common complaints among amateur golfers and it is typically due to the lack of golf-specific flexibility in areas like the shoulders, wrists, and mid back. It is a result of the inability to keep the leading elbow straight during the backswing, causing rapid hyperextension of the elbow during the downswing. Without a specific evaluation correlating movement faults with swing faults, these athletes won’t get better and an injury like this will keep them off the course for months at a time.

Another common complaint is back pain, most commonly it is the result of inefficient mobility and stability in areas like the mid-back and/or hips creating too much compensation by the low back. Four out of five golfers experience back pain as a result of repetitive swinging. Neck and hip pain are also frequent complaints we see in our office among golfers of all ages and skill level.

Here at Elite Sport and Spine, our chiropractors and performance specialists are experts in evaluating every patient and client using a specific golf movement screen. The screen consists of 16 different movements. We then take the highlights of the movement screen and correlate it with the clients Trackman swing analysis. Then specific correction protocols are taught and patients are given strengthening and/or stabilizing exercises to do at home, in conjunction with in-office treatment.

Our doctors and performance specialists here at Elite Sport and Spine treat golfers of all abilities whether it is the first time picking up a club or prepping you for your PGA tour debut. Our main goal is to be sure our clients are as symmetrical as possible in all planes of motion and are ready to build strength and power off of those ideal movement patterns. We then utilize our PGA instruction professionals to teach the athlete how to transfer this strength from the gym to the course. We strongly believe chiropractic care is a must for all ages to play injury free, and for game improvement. The game of golf is hard enough — why have your body working against you?

If players are serious about golf, they must also get serious about conditioning. Here at Elite Sport and Spine, our workout programs for our golf clients vary from bodyweight stability exercises to more advanced functional-strength movements, such as Romanian deadlifts, single-leg dead lifts, single leg squats, ect. We also perform monthly health assessments on our patients to manage progress and make sure we are on track to performance enhancement. Don’t waste your money on new clubs that may give you 5 extra yards off the tee. Put that money toward a specific fitness program that will give yourself 20+ yards, the ability to play more rounds injury free, and something that will give you an overall better quality of life! Call our office today at 262-373-9168 or visit our golf performance training page on our website – www.elitesportandspinewi.com