Is Increased Flexibility the Key to Preventing Golfing Injuries to Your Lower Back?

Have you ever gotten off the course and your lower back is stiff or sore? It is thought that as many as two thirds of all amateurs will incur a lower back injury in their golfing career. This number of injuries is extremely high, and is probably even higher in actuality, given that a lot of injuries go unreported, and could have been prevented with proper stretching and strengthening of your "trunk" area.

The abdominals and lower back area of your body is, probably the MOST important area of the body for a golfer to improve on and strengthen. Many golfers have a very limited range of motion and pain in their lower backs. It is possible, however, to have your back perform under the sort of strain golf can put on it, even after playing 36 holes in one day.

What a great feeling for a golfer to be able to play better, pain-free golf as they age. If you are willing to take good care of yourself and your back, one of the beauties of golf is that it is a game you can enjoy well into your later years. One obvious test for a golfer is to try touching their toes without their knees bending. This will give you a good indicator of your range of motion in the lower back and hamstrings.

If you cannot get past your knees, you're in big trouble. If you are one of these people I'll bet your back is stiff and sore each time after your golf game. If you can reach down around the middle of your shins, you are half way towards the ideal flexibility score. But if you can touch your toes without too much difficulty you have a great chance at maintaining your golf posture throughout your swing without undue stress on your lower back.

So what is required to reach your ideal range of flexibility, is an ongoing commitment to stretch your hamstrings and lower back muscles regularly. All it takes is 5-10 minutes each day to dramatically improve your flexibility.

Some exercises you could try to increase flexibility are
• Lying on the floor, on your back, with legs extended up and out in front of you
• Place a towel, belt or dressing gown cord on the bottom of one foot by bending your knee and pulling it up and towards body
• Now try to slowly straighten leg against towel or cord
• Stop if you feel a slight pulling sensation in back of leg
• Do not pull with towel, instead straighten your leg against towel and your upper leg should be at a 90 degree angle at hip and remain there during stretch
• Hold for at least 15 seconds, repeat and switch legs at least 3 to 5 times

This increased flexibility will you help maintain posture through the swing which in itself will decrease stress on lower back, therefore reducing potential injury to back. This will also allow for better posture in putting where one tends to hunch more over the ball. Your balance will improve during the swing, making it more likely you can make your swing more consistent.

The other areas of your body that can be subject to injury due to lack of flexibility are the wrist, shoulder, elbow and even the hips. The golf swing can be very stressful to the body. Playing in pain is not what most of us desire and when you see how much stress the body goes through it really does make sense to take the precaution of warming up properly with the appropriate stretching exercises. Most golfing injuries would not occur if your body had an improved level of strength and flexibility.

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