Aches, Pains, and Injuries

[Marty2019]

I have a question for everyone, especially the older golfers like me.  

After you play or practice, do you have any kind of aches and pains?   I'm 62, and I am finding that I have to take at least a day or two in between practicing or playing.   I have little backaches, or my elbows are sore.  I wind up taking anti-inflammatories to deal with it, Advil and the like.  Lately, I have been taking Advil prior to playing 18 holes, to suppress any minor back twinges or elbow pain in the middle of the round.   These are minor aches and pains, but they can be distracting and affect my swing during a round, hence the attempt to suppress them. 

Does this seem normal?   Does anyone else go through this? 

 

 

[GangGreen]

I'm 48 and had the same issues 2 seasons ago, it got to the point where there were times I couldn't sleep at night without taking Advil because of the pain in either my back, shoulders, and/or right elbow.  Even if I took time off of playing/practicing, I never seemed to be able to entirely get rid of the related aches for good. 

For me the fix was getting in better shape (not saying you're not, I wasn't for sure).  I started doing yoga and then progressed to more strength training with light weights this past winter and the results have been amazing for me.  I probably played/practiced twice as much this most recent season with hardly any issues at all and when I did experience the occasional pain it never lasted long.  

[boogielicious]

19 minutes ago, Marty2019 said:

I have a question for everyone, especially the older golfers like me.  

After you play or practice, do you have any kind of aches and pains?   I'm 62, and I am finding that I have to take at least a day or two in between practicing or playing.   I have little backaches, or my elbows are sore.  I wind up taking anti-inflammatories to deal with it, Advil and the like.  Lately, I have been taking Advil prior to playing 18 holes, to suppress any minor back twinges or elbow pain in the middle of the round.   These are minor aches and pains, but they can be distracting and affect my swing during a round, hence the attempt to suppress them. 

Does this seem normal?   Does anyone else go through this? 

 

 

It is normal with age. I am 55 and get aches and pains. I do workout and stay fit doing core exercises and other exercises to strengthen the areas that get sore. That helps. I ice what gets sore too. I have arthritis in my knee caps, so they will get stiff and sore too. I ice my knees everyday.

I would recommend to make your full swing practices very focused and limit the full shots. If I have a medium bucket of say 70 balls, I probably only hit 20 of the balls fulls speed. This lessons the impact stress. I also will wear an elbow wrap at the range if hitting off mats to reduce stress on the elbow due to impact.

[bkuehn1952]

4 hours ago, Marty2019 said:

... After you play or practice, do you have any kind of aches and pains?  Does this seem normal?   Does anyone else go through this? 

63 here.  I am not qualified to discuss physical therapy or health issues but I can give you some of my personal story.  I can and will play 18 holes multiple days in a row.  After walking 18 holes I am a bit tired but not in any discomfort.  After playing a few days in a row, I may be a bit stiffer in the morning than usual.  Again, no discomfort beyond feeling a bit tight.  Being older does give all of us a few physical issues but I have not experienced the extent that you seem to have.

Do you play 3-4 times a week or just weekends?  Part of the issue may be that you and your body are not used to daily play.

Also, I have heard that a proper warm-up and cool down will help cut down on aches and pains.  Many people warm up but don't bother doing anything afterward.  Try some stretching and walking after playing or practicing.

 

Again, this is coming from somebody who knows just enough about stretching and exercise to be potentially dangerous.  ;)

[MacDutch]

Almost 59 and today was my fourth day in a row playing 18, walking and carrying my bag. Won't play tomorrow because of the weather. 

Edited January 13, 2016 by MacDutch

[9wood]

5 hours ago, Marty2019 said:

I have a question for everyone, especially the older golfers like me.  

After you play or practice, do you have any kind of aches and pains?   I'm 62, and I am finding that I have to take at least a day or two in between practicing or playing.   I have little backaches, or my elbows are sore.  I wind up taking anti-inflammatories to deal with it, Advil and the like.  Lately, I have been taking Advil prior to playing 18 holes, to suppress any minor back twinges or elbow pain in the middle of the round.   These are minor aches and pains, but they can be distracting and affect my swing during a round, hence the attempt to suppress them. 

Does this seem normal?   Does anyone else go through this? 

 

 

I'm 67 and my arms and shoulders always ache after a round of golf. I take a statin to keep my cholesterol in check, and have heard that statins cause aches in your joints. So I'm wondering if it's my age, the statins or both that is causing my aches. Like you I also pop an Advil before playing a round of golf which does seem to help until the Advil wears off.

[Patch]

My limit is 4 rounds in a row. If Play the 4th round on Friday, I will feel the 72 hole effect on my body on Sunday. By Tuesday, I am good to go again. Maybe not another 4 rounds, but 36 holes is not out of the question. 

Thing is, I am doing something golf related almost every day which keeps me golf ready. I can't afford much of a lay off,  if I want to keep my present game. 

[Dan42nepa]

I have back problems and couldnt play over 12 holes before my back started hurting. It really affected my game. I started taking kratom and some orange juice which i bring with me when I play and now i can play 27 holes. I am tired afterwards yes but am able to function at least. The only alternative was going to be vicodin or a pain killer. 

[Marty2019]

Good comments all around, thanks everyone.  I think the solution will involve all of the above.  I have hit balls on the range 2 days in a row now, and my lower back aches.  So what I have to do is

A) Hit fewer balls on the range.   Hitting range balls, after a while, I don't get that much out of it except for fun.   After 20 or 30 shots, I'm not really learning anything.  I'm just having a good time.  I have to reduce that. 

B) Undertake some core strengthening and flexibility exercises. 

C) A little bit of Advil.  

D) Last but not least, improve my swing to take the strain off my back.   More legs, less arms, more relaxed and smooth.  Better posture.  

I practice too much and play too little, anyway.   My aches and pains are most pronounced after hitting range balls, and not so much after playing, probably because when I hit range balls I like to stand there and whale away, see how far I can hit it, but when I play, there are only about 40 full shots, half of those aren't even hard swings, and there's a few minutes recovery time in between each shot. 

 

[SteveH]

59 here and play nearly every day in the summer. Only golfed for 6 going on 7 years and in the beginning I ached quite a bit and would take an advil. I stretch and practice a lot and work up to full swing on the range before heading out and it really helps. I mostly use a power cart as sometimes my knee will give me grief after walking due to old injury and surgery which has caused some arthritis. I also have other old injuries that can sometimes cause a bit of pain but I picked up some aleeve to try for those days. I raced motocross till i was 50 which didn't help, lol.  Should have taken up golf sooner instead of hammering my joints, lol.