Avoiding Muscle and Back Strain While Golfing
Proper golfing involves a lot of rotating at the waist, as well as bending and stooping to survey the land and line up shots properly. While this makes for great exercise, it can also easily lead to muscle and back injuries if you aren’t careful and don’t take the proper precautions. By keeping the following tips in mind, however, you can be sure that you won’t become one of the injured and can continue enjoying your game the way it was meant to be enjoyed.
Warming Up
Like all sports, the difference between the injured and the non-injured usually comes down to something simple and obvious: the warm up. If you don’t warm up and stretch before exercising, you’re putting too much strain on your muscles and you’re going to cause injury; it’s as simple as that! Therefore, when you first get to the green, be sure to warm up by doing some simple stretches or taking some nice easy swings to get your hip joints moving and properly lubricated.
First, pay attention to the stretches, giving special attention to the muscle groups that are heavily involved in the process of playing, such as the trunk muscles, the shoulders, and the hips and hamstrings. Try grasping your club at each end and stretching your arms behind your back, or stretching your legs by doing knee raises, bringing your knees up to the level of your chest. Don’t forget the ever-popular touching the toes, either!
After that, it’s best to pay attention to the actual movements of the game. Go through some light swings with a club, gradually working your way up to a full force swing, being sure to rotate at the waist and hips just as you would during a real swing.
Carrying and Strain
While swinging is clearly the most obvious way that people injure themselves while playing golf, it’s worth mentioning that carrying your golf bag improperly can also lead to strain on your shoulders. Most golfers think nothing of all the times they have to bend over and pick up their bag over and over. This strain can be minimized by purchasing one of the newer models of golf bags that open up when placed on the ground. This enables them to be easily accessed from a standing posture so that not as much bending and lifting is required to play a full round of 18 holes.
Also note that if you’re going to be carrying your own bag around instead of hiring a caddie, you probably want to get a bag that has two shoulder straps instead of just one. It might not look quite as rakish as having the bag dangling jauntily from a single strap, but evenly distributing the weight across your back and shoulders can prevent you from enduring unnecessary stress and strain.
Ultimately, avoiding injuries in golf is a matter of common sense. Be aware of the demands that you’re placing on your body by twisting, turning, and carrying a heavy bag. Then, find ways to compensate for that toil by warming up and using proper carrying procedures. A little prevention now can pay off in the long run and keep you in the game as long as you want to play.