Four tips to help prevent golf-related shoulder pain

Golf Shoulder Pain
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Golf is often viewed as a game where there isn’t much activity, but people who have actually played this sport would disagree strongly. There’s a lot of walking involved, and swinging a club uses muscles in your legs, trunk, shoulders and arms. 

All this movement can lead to many types of pain. One common type of pain people experience during and after a round of golf is shoulder pain. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to prevent this type of pain. 

Shoulder pain from golf can be prevented using these tips

The shoulder is a complex structure. Each shoulder has a group of four muscles and tendons known as the rotator cuff, which holds the upper arm bone in the shoulder socket. Your shoulder also contains structures like the labrum, several bursae and the scapula muscles. Any of these structures can be irritated or injured while you’re playing golf, but there are four tips that can help you stop golfing from causing pain in your shoulder:

  1. Don’t carry your golf bag — Golf bags contain golf clubs, tees, balls and various other articles necessary to your game. All of this equipment makes it pretty heavy, though. Carrying a heavy golf bag on your shoulder can easily lead to shoulder pain, but you can avoid this by using a bag cart or golf cart during your games. 
  1. Use proper equipment — Are you using clubs you inherited from someone? Has it been a while since you invested in new clubs? Using golf clubs that aren’t right for you can increase your risk of developing a painful shoulder injury, but getting a set of clubs that are the proper weight and length for you can help reduce the risk of such injuries. 
  1. Use good technique while swinging — Swinging a golf club puts a lot of strain on your shoulders, arms, wrists and back. Players who use poor swing techniques increase this strain, but they can reduce it by improving their technique, which helps reduce the risk of shoulder injuries and pain. 
  1. Stretch and strengthen your shoulders — It’s important to do exercises outside of the course to help improve strength, flexibility and endurance in your shoulder muscles. By making such improvements, you reduce the likelihood of developing golf-related shoulder pain.

Physical therapy can also help prevent shoulder-based golf injuries

Physical therapists can perform assessments to reveal factors that increase your risk of a shoulder injury while playing golf. They can then build you an individualized prevention plan to help correct these factors. Using this plan can help you improve shoulder mobility, strengthen shoulder structures and increase shoulder stability. 

Find out how Excel Sports & Physical Therapy can help you prevent golf-related shoulder pain

Concerned about your risk of developing shoulder pain from playing golf? Excel Sports & Physical Therapy can help. We’ll assess your shoulder with a free screening. Then, our team will create a personalized prevention plan to fit your needs with therapy techniques, such as: 

Contact our team today for more information about how we can help you prevent shoulder pain or to schedule an initial appointment.