New Study, Golf Injuries Can Occur at Any Point of the Swing

In a recent study, “Golf Injuries: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Treatment,” published in the February 2018 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, researchers analyzed the most common causes of golf-related injuries and found that injuries can occur at any point during the golf swing from takeaway though follow-through.

For a non-contact sport, risk of injury during golf is surprisingly high. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 122,000 people were treated for golf-related injuries in 2016.

The review study included 703 golfers, 643 amateur and 60 professional. Data was collected for two golf seasons and over that time period, 82.6% of the reported injuries were due to overuse, while 17.4% were due to traumatic events.

The researchers found that amateur golfers were more prone to back injuries because they use more of their upper extremity strength to power their swing. Because they tend to have overall better balance and flexibility, professional golfers were less prone to injury because they use their body rotation to amp up their speed.

“Despite the non-contact nature of the sport, golfers are susceptible to a variety of musculoskeletal injuries that can be attributed to both improper mechanics as well as overuse,” Ioannis C. Zouzias, M.D, lead author of the article and an orthopedic surgeon at the New York University Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, NY, said in a press release.

“Good conditioning and a well-rounded, golf-specific exercise program are paramount to help prevent these injuries,” he added.

Zouzaias and colleagues also recommended that physicians need to understand the stages of the golf swing as well as the movements of the golfer in order to better diagnose and treat golf-related injuries.