NEPA Vital Signs - Summer Fall 2018 - 22

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Feature

THE
MOST
COMMON
GOLF
INJURIES
s winter slowly exits and spring begins
to edge its way past winter, the golf
season begins in Northeast Pennsylvania. Time to dust off those golf clubs
and hit those fairways, right?! Golf looks
like an easy sport, but as most golfers know,
trying to hit that little white ball down the
fairway is not an easy task. Even so, golf
continues to grow in popularity! Maybe
it's because it's one of the few activities in
which people of all ages and skill levels can
participate. According to a recent report
the number of people who played golf in
the United States in spring of 2017 rose to
25.95 million!! (Statista, 2018) According
to McHardy et al. (2006), research has
shown with increased participation comes
the risk of injuries in both professional and
recreational golfers. Golf injuries reportedly

affect 15-20% of golfers each year (Walsh,
2017). Among professional golfers, the
injuries can be related to overuse. Injuries
in amateur golfers can be overuse, trauma
and related to the swing patterns developed
around physical limitations. As a result,
they stress areas of the body and create
further injury to pre-existing conditions
such as arthritic regions in the back, hips
and knees, and disc herniation.
The golf swing is a very complex movement that uses the whole body in a
coordinated fashion and when repeated
frequently can result in injury. The most
common injury for golfers is overuse or
traumatic in nature and can be related
to an incorrect golf swing. The overuse
injuries in the older golfer occur because
N E PA

22

VITAL SIGNS

the joint and tendon tissues have more
difficulty adapting to the load and stress
from the swing. The most common injury
sites for golfers occur in the low back, wrist,
elbow and shoulders.
As most golfers know, the golf swing
involves a large range of motion and if
not free flowing or efficient will change
the ability to hit the ball with power and
accuracy. Due to the large range of motion
of the swing, there is a large amount of
forces produced in the low back that may
result in higher incidence of strains, sprains,
disc herniation and arthritis. Traumatic
injury or one time injury to the back have
been related to the impact of hitting the
ground, such as a tree root submerged
in a sand trap.
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEPA Vital Signs - Summer Fall 2018
