4 Tips To Prevent A Golf Injury
While there's no way to guarantee you won't ever get injured, these four tips can help reduce your risk of getting hurt playing golf.
Golfing injuries are frustrating. Whether you're playing golf as a hobby or playing for a living, they can disrupt your game and even put you on the sidelines for a period of time. However, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of a golfing injury. Here are four tips to keep in mind:
- Manage your training volume - Sudden spikes in workload can increase your risk of injury. In golf, this can happen when you make a lot of swings in a short period of time. It's important to keep your swing volume fairly stable and avoid big, sudden increases. This can be especially important when you're making swing changes, practicing after an extended break, or participating in a busy event schedule. Instead of trying to do too much too fast, aim for slow, progressive overload.
- Get stronger: Building up muscle mass and strength can help create a more robust body that's able to handle the demands of your sport. In fact, research has shown that strength training can halve the risk of overuse injuries, which account for about 80% of golf injuries. Look at the top tour players and with very few exceptions over the past 20 years (yeah we're looking at you big guy) the golfers dominating the game have been fit muscular athletes. Don't be afraid to hit the weights and work on strengthening your body.
- Get better sleep: Sleep is often overlooked when it comes to health and fitness, but it's incredibly important for reducing your risk of injury. Research has shown that people who get six hours of sleep or less have a higher risk of injury. Make sure you're getting enough sleep each night by putting away your phone, turning off the TV, and creating a dark, quiet sleep environment. Quality rest not only helps your body regenerate, you'll be more focused on your game and you'll enjoy it more too.
- Improve your swing mechanics: Injuries are usually the result of multiple factors, but swing mechanics usually play a huge role. With numerous swings in the same direction and forces of over eight times bodyweight going through your body, it's important to pay attention to how you swing the club. A team approach where a medical/strength and conditioning coach works alongside your golf coach can be helpful. If you plan on playing with any frequency at all get a PGA teaching pro. It's hard to overstate the value in this actually.
While there's no way to guarantee you won't ever get injured, following these four tips can help you stack the odds in your favor and reduce your risk of experiencing a golf injury. Remember to take things slowly, focus on getting stronger, get plenty of sleep, and pay attention to your swing mechanics.
By doing so, you'll be well on your way to a healthier, injury-free golf game.
Whether you're looking to enhance your performance or just relieve some soreness and stress, we'd love to help! So why not book a session with us and experience the benefits of sports massage for yourself? We look forward to helping you feel your best!

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