4 Swing Faults That Cause a Bad Back

Back issues are reasonably common in golf. Often it is a case of the golfer coming to the game with a bad back in the first place and then the motion of the golf swing aggravates it. However, all too often, the golf swing causes back issues. In this video are what I believe to be the 4 most common swing faults that will cause back problems. There are also fixes that you would need to work on in order to stop the cycle of playing and getting injured.

1. Rotating to much with the lower back. 00:57
2. Hyper-extending the spine. 04:16
3. Overly extending the spine in the follow-through. 07:25
4. Not slowing the club down with the hands. 08:12

[weekendwarrior]

Some of the best explanations for these problems that I've found. And the drills are a huge help. Thanks for this!

[al]

Just found your channel. I have had lots of lessons and read countless books and watched 1000s of videos on YouTube. Never have I understood movement as I do now. Thank you for posting and sharing, I will be reviewing this for a few days. Subscribed 👍

[bonnies]

Hi I just found your videos and appreciate your explanations and drills to feel the differences in posture. Do you have a video that gives some guidance as to how to address the 3rd issue you described here ?

[johannblignaut]

Good solid advice well explained.Much appreciated.

[dunkirk]

A bad back is pulled muscles that are in a spasm, warm yourself up before playing avoid injury.
If injured massage the mucles to relax them and pain stops.

[jamessanders]

What is the solution for the 3rd swing issue.. thats what i do i believe.

[lgoler]

@Dr Noel, I watched the entire video but didn't see anything that would specifically suggest pain for the upper back and shoulders? I went to the range to hit about 20 balls to test a driver. Granted, I hadn't swung a club in 6 months and now my upper back is beyond strained as are my shoulders and lower cervical spine. Is this likely just a factor of not having swung a club for many months or a technique issue? If the latter, it would be great to know what incorrect swing is usually the culprit for upper back pain. Thanks!

[nassersaleh]

What is the solution for 3rd type of people?

[underworldevents]

I had spinal fusion surgery and only have 2 vertebrae on the bottom and 3 on the top that are not fused. As such, getting side bend is very difficult...and impossible without being very painful. Any suggestions on how to address this? I know side bend is crucial and I have tried standing up taller at address, which works decently for the driver, but not for the short irons. Thank you.

[IIISWILIII]

I over extended my downswing last week and paid dearly for it! Wasn't even a hard swing. Strained the hell out of my lattissmus dorsi

[jackflash]

I can understand too much thoracic side bend while rotating can cause pressure on the back but isn't that what most tour pro golfers do? Many get their trail shoulder further down plane and closer to their trail hip in the downswing from P5.5 to P7 so that they don't run out of right arm. They need the trail arm to not straighten before impact to support the lead wrist through impact. In fact Choi did some research on an instrumented grip to measure forces and torques (plus use some inverse dynamics) applied by each hand for a small sample of pro golfers . The graphs actually show that the trail hand is being pulled on by the club, therefore the trail hand is actually preventing an early lead wrist extension flip/roll before impact. That's why there is a need to not run out of right arm because a premature straightening right arm and wrist will exacerbate an early flip action. Therefore to not run out of right arm the pro golfers have to deploy thoracic side-bend (and crunch factor - which is defined as the product of the lateral inclination angle of the torso and the speed of the axial rotation of the torso with respect to the pelvis) to get their trail shoulder further down plane and closer to the ball.

So my question: To reduce that crunch factor and the risk of back injury (which the pros seem to be risking), should the recreational golfer allow their trail arm to straighten early and use a rolling/flip hand release action?

[jamesbaine]

I have a deteriorating L5 disk, It's slowly getting worse. I've already had my hip replaced from osteoporosis. Is there any swing that will truly be pain free

[IverKnackerov]

Someone’s mobile phone is constantly interfering with the audio …. Annoying. Otherwise a good video on 3 faults. No solution to issue 3 offered though ..??🤷‍♂️