Constant injuries

[Psyber]

I recently started taking up golf a few months ago and it seems I have spent most of my summer so far injured in one way or another. I started by signing up for beginner group lessons and first day out I end up injuring my rotator cuff on my left shoulder. Now to be fair this was more of an aggravation of an old injury but all issues with it seemed to have subsided once the instructor told me to keep my arms against my body through the swing like i was trying to hold my shirt in my arm pits. I did four weeks of those lessons with just the range clubs they loaned out for the beginner class and since I wanted to continue to play I got myself a decent set of clubs. First day out with them I wake up the next day with my hands killing me. Its been two months and my hands are still recovering. Left hand mostly feels better but my right middle finger and ring finger knuckles are a bit sore in the morning. Most of my grip pressure on the right hand is from those two fingers as described in Hogan's book. I tried to give them rest but I never stayed away from the range for more then a week until recently. Last Sunday I go out and play the local executive course and now I have a pulled muscle in my back!

My question is this - are these normal parts of the body getting used to playing? I'm 29 years old and I have been a weightlifter for 10 years now and have had less injuries moving heavy weights around then I do swinging at a stationary ball sitting in the grass! I spent my middle school and high school years as an extreme sports junky and don't remember being this consistently injured jumping off stuff. This is difficult for me because I am the kind of person who wants to practice every day because I feel it's the only way to get good and I hate feeling like I am playing one day and then I need a full week to recover from some injury I get each time I go out.

[Mr. Desmond]

Work on Flexibility and less on weights.

[Psyber]

I do agree that I should work some golf specific movements into my routine if I am going to be playing on a regular basis.

[boogielicious]

I recently started taking up golf a few months ago and it seems I have spent most of my summer so far injured in one way or another. I started by signing up for beginner group lessons and first day out I end up injuring my rotator cuff on my left shoulder. Now to be fair this was more of an aggravation of an old injury but all issues with it seemed to have subsided once the instructor told me to keep my arms against my body through the swing like i was trying to hold my shirt in my arm pits. I did four weeks of those lessons with just the range clubs they loaned out for the beginner class and since I wanted to continue to play I got myself a decent set of clubs. First day out with them I wake up the next day with my hands killing me. Its been two months and my hands are still recovering. Left hand mostly feels better but my right middle finger and ring finger knuckles are a bit sore in the morning. Most of my grip pressure on the right hand is from those two fingers as described in Hogan's book. I tried to give them rest but I never stayed away from the range for more then a week until recently. Last Sunday I go out and play the local executive course and now I have a pulled muscle in my back!

My question is this - are these normal parts of the body getting used to playing? I'm 29 years old and I have been a weightlifter for 10 years now and have had less injuries moving heavy weights around then I do swinging at a stationary ball sitting in the grass! I spent my middle school and high school years as an extreme sports junky and don't remember being this consistently injured jumping off stuff. This is difficult for me because I am the kind of person who wants to practice every day because I feel it's the only way to get good and I hate feeling like I am playing one day and then I need a full week to recover from some injury I get each time I go out.

Remember that the golf swing can put a lot of stress on your body even though it does not feel like it. It is more akin to repetitive use injuries like carpal tunnel than injuries you get from other sports.

You don't have to practice by hitting a great number of balls to improve either. In fact, it is better to practice smart than high quantity. Check out the thread below.

Lastly, I wear some protective gear sometimes when I practice (i.e., a compression wrap around my right forearm and weight lifting wrist wraps), especially when practicing on mats early in the season.  I do wrist strengthening exercises using squeeze balls and wrist curls, etc. After the season gets going, I use the wraps less. I am 55, so I have a bit of wear and tear.  I also do a lot of golf specific exercises design to increase strength and flexibility in the hips, lower back and shoulders.

Hope this helps.