Spine Movement During the Golf Swing

According to the PGA Tour, one in two golfers (not just tour players) will develop at least one back injury due to golf. At a small seminar at the Denver Golf Expo, I asked the audience to raise their hand if they had had a back injury caused by golf. Of the 40 audience members, 38 raised their hands. Over the last few years, many medical journals have written about this phenomenon, but none of that research has addressed why these back problems are occurring. Furthermore, the medical community has failed to offer solutions beyond “listening to your back” and doing exercises. Exercise has not kept world-class golfers like Tiger Woods and Jason Day from having back problems, so how can you expect any different?

During the 2017 Memorial Tournament, Jack Nicklaus questioned whether modern golf instruction was causing back injuries, as he noted that most of the players having problems are under age 30. Dr. Ara Suppiah echoed that concern on the Golf Channel when he presented the case of an 18-year-old who required a spinal fusion because of golfing. This is unconscionable, to think that someone so young should require a procedure so invasive! I have been researching the biomechanics of golf and teaching golf for 10 years. I discovered early on that spine angle maintenance (posture maintenance) is the true key to make the golf swing biomechanically simple and easy to learn. I later learned that Tom Watson came to the same conclusion in 1992. He called spine angle maintenance, or maintaining posture throughout the golf swing, was the secret to golf.

While studying back injuries in medical school, I learned that heavy lifting and turning the back while holding heavy objects should be done in a natural resting position of the spine. If the spine is curved and heavy lifting or turning occurs, ruptured or bulging discs could result. This notion has been applied to the golf swing by creating a natural position at set up, with the vertebrae parallel to each other. Then, when torque occurs during the golf swing, it does not damage the intervertebral discs. In the eight years that I’ve been teaching this principle, I have not seen a single back injury among my students. This technique has an added benefit: when the spine is in a stable position during the golf swing, the arms can swing faster and the ball goes further and straighter.

Maintaining your posture throughout the swing is easier said that done. The body is very complex and the mind is trained to place the spine in certain positions, making the technique quite difficult. The following video provides an overview of what should occur during the golf swing. Typically, these posts offer information on what to do and how to do it. This video just tells you what to do. We will examine several parts of the golf swing and offer simple tips to enable you to maintain your posture throughout the swing in a future post.

I am the only person that I know of who is correlating biomechanics and physiology to find a way to prevent back injuries caused by the golf swing. Unfortunately, many other instructors and commentators have offered solutions that make the problem worse due to their lack of medical and physiological knowledge. In a recent broadcast, a commentator stated that a golfer could prevent back injuries by turning the hips more. This actually causes back problems, as you will see in the video. Interestingly, this noted commentator/instructor’s son suffered from two ruptured intervertebral discs.

There is a myth out there that limiting the hip turn and increasing shoulder turn will cause torque of the spine, causing back problems. This is only partially true. If the vertebrae are parallel to each other when torque occurs in the spine, no back injury will occur. Unfortunately numerous instructors are teaching golf swings that create curvature of the back. Then when torque occurs (which is inevitable during the golf swing), discs are damaged. Excessive spine movement often results in back injuries. The more the spine moves, the greater the chance of developing a back problem.

The PGA of America, as far as I know, does not require its instructors to take a course in biomechanics or anatomy. Perhaps it is time to consider doing that. The large majority of instructors have no knowledge of anatomy or biomechanics and are, in many cases, during more hurt that harm to their students’ back health. Beyond that, I believe that instructors would become better all-around if they had more background knowledge about how the body works.

I do believe that proper warm-up can help prevent back injuries. Most people do not want to take the time to do this; they have limited time to golf and would rather just hit balls instead. In a future post, I will show you a one-minute warm-up. There are more extensive warm-ups available, but most people don’t want to take more than one minute. In my opinion, a good one-minute warm-up is better than no warm-up at all.

I hope you enjoy the video. It reveals the real secret to the golf swing, which also happens to be the secret to preventing back injuries.

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