SPORTS SPECIFIC REHABILITATION

FUNCTIONAL REHABILITATION TECHNIQUES FOR GOLFERS

WITH LOW BACK PAIN

By Jeff Booher, PT, ATC

The necessary components of any golf fitness programme are flexibility, motor con- trol/movement patterns, balance/stability, strength, power and cardiovascular endurance. It is the combination of all of these components which allows profes- sional golfers on the PGA Tour to remain at the top of their game. Most of the com- ponents listed above are addressed when treating athletes for sport. However, what gets lost many times is the application of sport-specific training. The scope of this article is to address functional, golf-specific rehabilitation techniques for each of these components when treating low back pain, the most common golf injury.

14

INTRODUCTION Compared to other athletic activities, golf appears to be relatively benign in its potential for injury. However, the neuro- muscular and musculoskeletal systems are placed under a tremendous amount of stress during the golf swing, which will eventually lead to acute and chronic injuries. Causes of these injuries include overuse, faulty body mechanics and poor physical conditioning (1,2). The most common injuries sustained by golfers are to the low back, more specifically the trail side of the low back (1,2,3). The forces travelling through the lumbar spine dur- ing the forward swing include caudocra- nial compression, anterior-posterior shearing and lateral side bending coupled with trunk rotation to the opposite side (3). This high degree of trunk rotation, along with the velocity and rate of repeti- tion, significantly contribute to the injury rate (1,3).

One of the highest priorities of the neuro- muscular system is to maintain the body’s balance (1). As a golfer’s centre of gravi-

www.sportex.net