Injury Prevention?

[Crim]

I get a golf injury about once a year, one that takes me out for a least a week, and each time I try to change my warm up and prep before I go out so it doesn't happen again. In the earlier years it had been lower back, but the last 3 years in a row I've pulled a muscle on the right side of my neck and the pain heads down into my right shoulder. I can barely get up for like 3 days, much less golf again for at least a week. 

I'm curious if there is any injury prone people here, and what your warm up is like, or any other injury prevention tips?

FYI I strength train 4 days a week. I warm up for around 20 minutes before I play a round, which includes yoga, I believe this has kept my lower back injury free for just over 3 years. Now I have to figure out how to keep my neck injury free. 

I do swing pretty fast naturally, I don't feel like I'm over-swinging though, all my injuries have happened from driver. 

[iacas]

I meant to type up more yesterday but… some people are just built differently and more injury prone. That’s not always something you can change much.

[Zippo]

16 hours ago, Crim said:

I get a golf injury about once a year, one that takes me out for a least a week, and each time I try to change my warm up and prep before I go out so it doesn't happen again. In the earlier years it had been lower back, but the last 3 years in a row I've pulled a muscle on the right side of my neck and the pain heads down into my right shoulder. I can barely get up for like 3 days, much less golf again for at least a week. 

I'm curious if there is any injury prone people here, and what your warm up is like, or any other injury prevention tips?

FYI I strength train 4 days a week. I warm up for around 20 minutes before I play a round, which includes yoga, I believe this has kept my lower back injury free for just over 3 years. Now I have to figure out how to keep my neck injury free. 

I do swing pretty fast naturally, I don't feel like I'm over-swinging though, all my injuries have happened from driver. 

Have you spoken with a physician specializing in sports medicine? Probably the best bet.

[saevel25]

I agree. I had a friend who had to give up running marathons before the age of 30 because he would need knee replacements by the age of 40 if he continued. Just not built for that activity. 

Yea, some people just get injured more often. A lot of it is bad luck, some is genetics. Some is also compensating when you continue to do the activities you want while injured. A foot injury can cause knee or back issues. The biggest determinate is just reps. The more you do something the higher chance of getting injured. It’s like car accidents.

The best thing to do is. Take an off season and exercise. During the season, still exercise, stretch, and recoup.

That is why 99% of the time, I hit less than 40 golf balls at the range now. Also, I try to practice smarter. Also, it’s less of a toll overall. I found, if I workout twice a week, specifically full body weight lifting, I am able to take less swings at the range to warm up. 

[billchao]

I have long since come to terms with the fact that I didn’t put enough points into Constitution at character creation. I’ve injured myself working out, practicing golf, and simply doing mundane tasks. A lot of injury prevention for me is simply knowing my limits and not doing too much.

I have issues with my right shoulder. It’s been like that as long as I can remember. It doesn’t like to be in internal rotation with my arm elevated as little as 45°, so I try not to put myself in that kind of position. I also can’t lean on my right elbow too much or I will strain something around my scapula. That’s really hard for me to remember because I have to consciously stop myself from laying on my side with my arm supporting my head, which is a super comfortable position for me to lounge around it.

I’ve hurt myself lifting weights. Multiple times, different injuries. I haven’t worked out in months because last time it happened right before golf season started and once it did, I didn’t want to risk missing time playing golf. I’ll get back to lifting again in the offseason but I don’t think I’m going to do any high intensity stuff anymore. I don’t think my body can handle anything above 7 RPE.

I hurt myself last week just standing up from sitting on the ground while working. Pinched a nerve in my lower back or pelvic region. It went away after four or five days.

And yes, sometimes I get that neck thing you’re describing, @Crim. It can happen just from swinging the club.

I wish I had an answer. Like I said, I generally just try not to over exert myself or do a lot of repetitive motions that stress the same parts. My body just isn’t that durable.

[KoHo]

This sounds like me, but I had problems more than once a year. I also lift 4 days a week and have been doing so for about 30 years. I've played multiple competitive sports starting from childhood into my late 20s and have always dealt with pain causing incidents. I started swinging a club in the early summer of 2017. For the first 3 years I visited my doctor multiple times for various problems with my sacroiliac joint, rotator cuff, tendinitis, pinched nerves in my neck, lower back pain. All resulting in days or weeks of recovery. I made some changes and now it's been 2 years since I've had any physical problem that prevented me from swinging a club. Here's what I have done over those years:

- Changed my posture at address. (This is how I found TST in 2017. I read the "Good Golf Posture" topic. I had way too much anterior pelvic tilt.)

- Changed the way I work out. (Went to dumbbells exclusively. Systematically identified/eliminated exercises that caused problems. Wide grip anything, dips, dead-lifts, dumbbell rows, and some others. Increased focus on strengthening my back/neck/glutes/hamstrings.)

- Found out how to recover quicker from the pinched nerve in my neck. (I found out an inflamed/cramped muscle next to my shoulder blade was the cause. I use a percussion massager on that spot and my recovery time went from 5-7 days to 1-2.)

- Cut down on sugar in my diet. (Went to black coffee, no sweetened beverages, limited sweets, etc. This is when I stopped having the pinched nerve problem.)

- Stopped taking NSAIDs unless absolutely necessary. (I was popping ibuprofen at the drop of a hat. I would take them before a round of golf. Now I only take them once in a blue moon when I have a headache.)

There's probably more but that's all I can think of at the moment.

[Crim]

20 hours ago, iacas said:

I meant to type up more yesterday but… some people are just built differently and more injury prone. That’s not always something you can change much.

I wonder if I should just try swinging 75% at all times so this never happens again. The driver swing in question was pretty close to as fast as I go, still balanced, but 95%. 

 

16 hours ago, Zippo said:

Have you spoken with a physician specializing in sports medicine? Probably the best bet.

Sports medicine for relief? Or is there something out there for prevention? I have not even thought about that, should probably look into it, yes. I've been avoiding doctor visits lately as I've had some pretty stellar hospital bills over the last couple years. One visit could mean there goes my new desktop computer I want :P 

15 hours ago, saevel25 said:

I agree. I had a friend who had to give up running marathons before the age of 30 because he would need knee replacements by the age of 40 if he continued. Just not built for that activity. 

Yea, some people just get injured more often. A lot of it is bad luck, some is genetics. Some is also compensating when you continue to do the activities you want while injured. A foot injury can cause knee or back issues. The biggest determinate is just reps. The more you do something the higher chance of getting injured. It’s like car accidents.

The best thing to do is. Take an off season and exercise. During the season, still exercise, stretch, and recoup.

That is why 99% of the time, I hit less than 40 golf balls at the range now. Also, I try to practice smarter. Also, it’s less of a toll overall. I found, if I workout twice a week, specifically full body weight lifting, I am able to take less swings at the range to warm up. 

Interesting! I thought maybe more reps could mean better tolerance to injury. Like building muscle forearm muscle swinging a club could help me stay balanced throughout the swing which could help injury prevention. I may have been looking at that completely wrong. 

13 hours ago, billchao said:

I have long since come to terms with the fact that I didn’t put enough points into Constitution at character creation. I’ve injured myself working out, practicing golf, and simply doing mundane tasks. A lot of injury prevention for me is simply knowing my limits and not doing too much.

I have issues with my right shoulder. It’s been like that as long as I can remember. It doesn’t like to be in internal rotation with my arm elevated as little as 45°, so I try not to put myself in that kind of position. I also can’t lean on my right elbow too much or I will strain something around my scapula. That’s really hard for me to remember because I have to consciously stop myself from laying on my side with my arm supporting my head, which is a super comfortable position for me to lounge around it.

I’ve hurt myself lifting weights. Multiple times, different injuries. I haven’t worked out in months because last time it happened right before golf season started and once it did, I didn’t want to risk missing time playing golf. I’ll get back to lifting again in the offseason but I don’t think I’m going to do any high intensity stuff anymore. I don’t think my body can handle anything above 7 RPE.

I hurt myself last week just standing up from sitting on the ground while working. Pinched a nerve in my lower back or pelvic region. It went away after four or five days.

And yes, sometimes I get that neck thing you’re describing, @Crim. It can happen just from swinging the club.

I wish I had an answer. Like I said, I generally just try not to over exert myself or do a lot of repetitive motions that stress the same parts. My body just isn’t that durable.

YES, a DnD reference! Growing up I thought I was maxed out in constitution, I've never broken a bone and sports was my life (and skateboarded for 20 years on the side). These past 7 years though, these back and neck issues are horrible, even though it is not very often, if it keeps happening I'm going to start dreading stepping up to the ball.  

13 hours ago, KoHo said:

This sounds like me, but I had problems more than once a year. I also lift 4 days a week and have been doing so for about 30 years. I've played multiple competitive sports starting from childhood into my late 20s and have always dealt with pain causing incidents. I started swinging a club in the early summer of 2017. For the first 3 years I visited my doctor multiple times for various problems with my sacroiliac joint, rotator cuff, tendinitis, pinched nerves in my neck, lower back pain. All resulting in days or weeks of recovery. I made some changes and now it's been 2 years since I've had any physical problem that prevented me from swinging a club. Here's what I have done over those years:

- Changed my posture at address. (This is how I found TST in 2017. I read the "Good Golf Posture" topic. I had way too much anterior pelvic tilt.)

- Changed the way I work out. (Went to dumbbells exclusively. Systematically identified/eliminated exercises that caused problems. Wide grip anything, dips, dead-lifts, dumbbell rows, and some others. Increased focus on strengthening my back/neck/glutes/hamstrings.)

- Found out how to recover quicker from the pinched nerve in my neck. (I found out an inflamed/cramped muscle next to my shoulder blade was the cause. I use a percussion massager on that spot and my recovery time went from 5-7 days to 1-2.)

- Cut down on sugar in my diet. (Went to black coffee, no sweetened beverages, limited sweets, etc. This is when I stopped having the pinched nerve problem.)

- Stopped taking NSAIDs unless absolutely necessary. (I was popping ibuprofen at the drop of a hat. I would take them before a round of golf. Now I only take them once in a blue moon when I have a headache.)

There's probably more but that's all I can think of at the moment.

Good stuff! A co-worker encouraged me to get a percussion massager today. I know that would be absolutely too painful right now, maybe in a couple days. I don't eat a lot of sugar, meat eating is my vice, I will say I have eaten more sugar than I usually do lately...interesting...

I love dumbbells, but I have never been injured working out so I have a wide variety of the most popular exercises. Lots of compound lifts. 

I think I'll likely start trying to swing a little slower and see how that feels. I'll probably do that for awhile and what will happen is I'll have to carry 240 yards early in the golf season next year and I'll completely forget about swinging easy. Then I'll be right back here reading this topic again 😄 

[billchao]

12 hours ago, Crim said:

Interesting! I thought maybe more reps could mean better tolerance to injury.

No, some things break down more as you use them. Repetitive strain injuries. And some activities like long distance running cause a lot of wear and tear on joints.

[saevel25]

On 9/3/2022 at 3:39 AM, Crim said:

Interesting! I thought maybe more reps could mean better tolerance to injury. Like building muscle forearm muscle swinging a club could help me stay balanced throughout the swing which could help injury prevention. I may have been looking at that completely wrong. 

Depends on the activity, and also how you perform the movement. 

Rehabbing depends on the type of injury. Some injuries need surgery. Others need time off and physical therapy. Others just need time off. It is my opinion, if you are getting the same injury, after taking time off to recoup, then your body is not built up in the correct way for the movement you want to repeat, or the movement you are performing is not good. 

It is my opinion that everyone should weight lift. There are 70+ year old women, who have osteoporosis, who relieve symptoms by doing heavy lifting (relative for their age). 

1. Weight lift
2. Work on balance
3. If you have an injury that keeps popping up, then learn the correct PT to help prevent it. 

[DrvFrShow]

I missed out on the constitution stat, too. I put enough into dexterity to where I can not practice all season and go out and shoot 90 and sometimes in the upper 80s, but if I try to practice enough to get better than that, I spend more time recovering from injuries than I do playing.