Golf with hip replacement

Hi guys,

anyone of you knows what it is like to play golf with a refurbished left hip joint first hand or from a closer friend?

Will golf be the same? Does one have to re-learn the swing to relieve the front hip?

Oh, not me - my dear uncle...

I assume by refurbished you mean something along the lines of the metal on metal resurfacing procedure for the femoral head rather than a total hip replacement. I was diagnosed in January 2009 with avascular necrosis of the right hip. The orthopedist offered metal on metal as an option but said it was at best a stopgap and eventually I'd need to have a total hip replacement. I bit the bullet and went for the total hip replacement since my daughter was getting married in a few months and I wanted to be able to walk her down the aisle.

I used a walker for about a week after the surgery followed by six weeks of crutches and about 4 more weeks on a cane...no physical therapy (I was able to walk my daughter down the aisle by the way but I needed the cane for the reception afterward). I decided not to push myself and played no golf last year. I was worred about how I'd do this year and so far I've been pleasantly surprised. I actually think the surgery was a blessing in disguise. My swing feels a lot more fluid and I'm definitely hitting my driver and fairway woods a lot better althouigh my short game needs some help. My first round of the year was a 47 which I thought was pretty good considering I hadn't swung a golf club since the summer of 2008 and even then only occasionally.

I did not have to re-learn my swing. It feels like I just picked up where I left off. Hope this helps.

Woah, thanks! That'll lighten up someone... Yes, it will be a total hip replacement.

I searched the Internet high and low and found just incoherent bits and pieces. Guys beginning to play golf after six weeks (ha, ha) up to about six to eight months when feeling honestly well etc. Doctors seem to be very vague with timelines. Nearly nothing on how-to-swing-it.

Thanks again!

I think the reason doctors have been vague with timelines is because the recuperation time varies greatly from person to person. I have to say I am honestly not 100% and I still have a little bit of a hitch in my step even 17 months after the surgery but the minor pain and stiffness I deal with now is a far cry from the intense pain I was in before the surgery.

I personally think that being able to play golf 6 weeks after the surgery is rather optimistic, but I'm sure there are some who recovered faster than I did.

I am facing this in my future, trying to make it to age 60. I am right handed and it is my left hip. Do you feel it would make any difference which hip? Did you consider different models, I know there is some variation by maker, not as much as with Knee replacement, but some?

Go online and see what you can find out on Tom Watson. Last year when he almost won the British Open, he had undergone hip replacement a few months before.

Also, see if you can find any athletic trainers with Titleist Performance Institute certification. They might have some answers.

One of my regular golf partners had hip replacement a few years ago, and he's still a great golfer. Said it took him about a year before he went back out on the course, but it has caused him no problems with his golf game. He said it actually improved his game from right before the surgery, because he was in too much pain to make a good pass at the ball every time.

I think it could, but I'm not sure about it. Some of the articles I've read on golf swing and swing analysis mention certain aspects of the left hip. In my case it was my right hip and I'm right handed but as I said before my swing feels much smoother and my ballstriking is greatly improved over before. My orthopedist recommended a Zimmer artificial hip but he didn't mention a particular model. Zimmer sells 4 or 5 different models and as you noted there are several manufacturers so there a lot of choices out there. I have read recently that some manufacturers who claimed their hip prostheses would last 15 years are being sued because they only lasted three. Fortunately, Zimmer does not appear to be one of those companies.

I went with the surgeon's recommendation largely because of his reputation as one of the foremost orthopedic surgeons in the state who is also the team physician for the Huskers. In my case, it seems to have been the right decision.

Been looking for Watsons story... (really short bits)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE56G7E520090717

And here is Jack Nicklauss (very detailed)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...laus-hip_x.htm
First turney after 12 weeks in 1999...

http://www.golfbc.com/courses/gallag...f_academy/tips
Here is says full swing after 4 months - like most of the other sources I found. After 2 months you could start with you short game, after 4 months with the full swing.

Also found the reference to an article on Return to golf following Left Total Hip Arthroplasty in a golf who is right handed . Sadly, the link does not work. Guess you get further being a TPI member.

Slammin' Sam, what do you mean by being not 100% OK?

I consider 100% to be pain free, as I was before the hip started acting up in the first place. To be sure I still have pain, but nowhere near the extent to which I had pain in the 8 weeks or so immediately prior to the surgery. Running is out of the question for me now, and when getting up from a seated position or going up and down stairs I still feel noticeable pain. I do have somewhat of a permanent limp but when compared to how I was doing before the surgery I am definitely better. I cannot and would not, under any circumstances, walk a golf course anymore.

As I said, I am definitely not 100%. 80-85% would be a fair assessment for me.