Why Your Back Hurts After Golf (And What to Do About It)

Did you just finish 18 holes, but it feels more like 72?

A round of golf should leave you feeling satisfied, not sidelined with back pain. Yet, many golfers experience discomfort after 18 holes, or sometimes even before the round is over. 

If that sounds like you, it’s time to dig into the real reasons behind your back pain and—more importantly—how to fix it.

Probably the easiest way to understand this is to break it into two groups - physical factors and technical factors (like your swing technique and your equipment).

Let’s dive in. 

Physical Factors

Golf may not seem like the most physically demanding sport on the surface, but if playing is the hardest thing you do all week, you’re setting yourself up for pain. 

Here are some of the most common issues I see plaguing people’s bodies. 

The Walking Is Getting To You

Walking is great for your health when you’re prepared for it but can be a real problem if you’re not. You’ll generally cover 4-6 miles during a round of golf, and that can be a lot higher if you happen to be playing military golf that day or repeatedly searching for lost balls.

One big, glaring issue is weakness on the outside of your hips - the gluteus medius pictured here.

It’s not a huge muscle but it’s responsible for supporting most of your body weight. When it can’t do this, your pelvis can tilt from side to side with every step like is shown on the left. This is called a Trendelenberg or hip-drop gait pattern. 

This leaves 1 of 2 options - your low back doesn’t help and your hip starts hurting, or the quadratus lumborum and other stabilizer muscles on the left side kick in to lift that side of your pelvis, and you get a stiff back. (I guess the third option would be both things start hurting.)

If you’ve had hip issues (including a fracture or replacement) that weren’t completely rehabbed, this can absolutely be a contributing factor.

For juniors or those who carry their bag, it’s important to use your straps properly and adjust them so it isn’t adding an unnecessary amount of stress. Check out this video for good positioning tips if needed. 

Most adults will be using a push-cart when they walk which helps a lot in comparison to carrying your bag, but a quick note: you do have to make sure you’re engaging your core rather than letting it push your back into hyperextension.

And for those of you that don’t typically walk (yes, I’m guilty of it too), there’s one thing you can never escape…

What’s the Fix?

Working on your hip strength is really effective to help stabilize your back and pelvis while you walk. This can take a lot of forms, but single leg exercises are my go-to when they’re viable.

Make sure you’re pushing your cart, and not letting it push you. If it looks like Myles Garrett just stood you up on a bull rush when you start pushing, you might need to do a better job engaging your abdominal muscles especially when you are moving from a dead stop. Get your hands further out in front of you and take bigger steps to help keep yourself from getting hyperextended.

You’re Not Flexible Enough.

I generally view lack of flexibility as being a bigger predictor of injury with golf, and strength as a predictor of distance. So for the purpose of this blog, let’s talk flexibility.

Your upper back, hip, and shoulder mobility are going to be the most important to ensuring you can turn effectively. This can manifest in any number of ways - swaying, sliding, hanging back, going into a reverse spine angle… and each of these has a tendency to bring about pain in golfers. (Look a little further down the page in the technical components to see pictures of each)

Most often these result in pain in your trail side - so for righties, that would be the right side of your low back.

What’s the Fix?

Build your overall muscular endurance with a strength training regimen, including general strength training exercises (upper and lower body, core exercises) Get yourself cleared by a doctor to make sure this is safe for you before starting, or schedule a session with MyPhysio to help get you started on a program that will work for you. 

You should also be performing a regular stretching regimen targeting at minimum your hips, upper back, and shoulders so you aren’t redirecting all those stresses to your back.

Here’s a video I made following a workshop at Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield that covers the mobility side of things in pretty great detail - even if the quality of the video is sorely lacking!

As of this writing, we’re in the process of developing class-based and online exercise programming options to help people of any ability get stronger and more flexible without feeling like the exercises are too difficult or not quite right for them. 

Shoot us an email if you’re interested in getting started with one of those options and we’ll let you know what’s available!

You’ve got an old injury you haven’t dealt with.

This one is pretty obvious and isn’t much of a departure from the one above this, but I’d be remiss not to include it. An old injury that you’ve never properly addressed is definitely going to have you playing from behind. 

Yes, a general fitness program is probably going to help… if you can tolerate it. 

The problem is, most people in this circumstance need some careful judgment and guidance to make sure they’re doing things that will work for them rather than against them.

What’s the Fix?

This one would come down to seeing a healthcare professional (like a TPI-Certified Physical Therapist at MyPhysio, ahem) to help you sort out what’s going on and the best path to recovery. 

If you’re curious what rehab for your back looks like, or even recovery from surgery, here are some videos that cover that topic a little bit more. (Watch Here)

Your Warm-Up Routine is Failing You

Many golfers either skip their warm-up entirely or rely on ineffective strategies like static stretching, a few half-hearted practice swings, or a quick session with a percussion gun. While these might make you feel looser, they don’t prepare your body for the demands of golf.

What’s the Fix?

A dynamic warm-up that targets mobility first and gets you moving quickly before you actually start swinging is really helpful. 

As a bonus: You won’t be trying to dial in your swing while you’re stiff, and figuring out once you’re loosened up that you can’t control the golf ball anymore!

A good warm-up program includes:

• Hip and thoracic spine mobility exercises

• Muscle activation exercises

• Rapid movements that mimic the rotational and vertical components of the golf swing.

  
  

Make your warm-up routine specific to your body’s needs and stick to it every round.

Embarrassed to do it at the golf course? 

First of all, just know that if your friends are razzing you and you go out and start off hot a few times while they’re just getting warmed up… you’ll see them following suit pretty soon.

But if you’re really against it, get your warm-up in before you leave home and you’ll be ready the moment you hit the course. Plus, you can use a little more equipment at home than you can on the course!

Rapid Fire Section

Too much volume: If you haven’t been playing much and all of a sudden you rapidly increase how many swings you’re taking… you’re putting yourself at risk for issues. Try not to have any marathon swing sessions if you’re trying to fix a massive flaw in your game, and instead try to have focused, efficient practice sessions. This could also mean you’ve switched from grass to artificial turf which can introduce some new aches and pains.

You get tired easily: You’re going to sweat and burn plenty of calories playing golf, so make sure you’re drinking plenty of (non-alcoholic) fluids and snacking on the course. PGA.com recommends snacks like beef jerky, snack mix with nuts, fruit, or sandwiches (skip the mayo so you don’t get your hands messy!). You can see the entire article here. 

TECHNICAL FACTORS

Your swing needs work.

Yes, I know, we all think we can fix our golf game with some Youtube videos and an occasional practice session. But if your scores aren’t dropping or your back is still hurting, it probably means there are still some things to work on.

Not every swing problem has a tendency to cause back pain… but there are a few we see pretty consistently in practice. 

• Reverse Spine Angle

• Hanging Back

• Loss of Posture/Pushing towards the ball

• Excessive S-posture at setup

Reverse spine angle is a big one and often happens when a golfer is trying to take a bigger backswing than their body can actually produce, in the name of getting more distance. 

Hanging Back can indicate a number of issues physically, like a hip you don’t want to load, but may also just be a compensatory mechanism for not hitting the ball cleanly or poor ball position.

Loss of posture or early extension can result in you pushing towards the ball and tends to prevent good, healthy mechanics through the low back and pelvis - and means you’re going to be hitting hosel rockets and shots off the toe as you attempt to figure out how to compensate for whatever miss you had last.

Excessive S-posture often results in back pain because it’s more extension than you should really ever get in your swing - most of the golf swing actually takes place in a some amount of spine flexion - a little more of a C shape.

What’s the Fix?

Take golf lessons. Hold on, I want to make sure you heard me:

TAKE GOLF LESSONS!

Your golf professional will be able to provide the context and drills you need to fix the root causes of these issues from a technical perspective, and help you play better golf.

I can’t begin to tell you just how much better you’ll get if you put in the work, and how much more fun the game of golf is when you’re improving. 

Go find an instructor who some friends have used and is within a convenient drive so you don’t have a ready-made reason to quit, and give it time for you to see how the two of you mesh.

They don’t have to be teaching professional golfers unless that’s where you’re heading. 

They just need to be someone you like, trust, and are willing to listen to. 

Golf is supposed to be fun. Find someone you can have fun learning from.

And of course, a good golf lesson is nothing without reinforcing it through practice. This doesn’t even mean getting to the driving range all the time. If your instructor gives you drills that don’t require a ball, build time into your schedule to go through those drills for 10-15 minutes daily!

Seriously, just take golf lessons and practice. It isn’t easy, but it works. 

If you’re in the Mansfield area, here are the people I have the most experience with in the area and have a high level of trust in:

• Adam Babb at Walnut Creek CC

• Adrian and Matt at SLIC Golf (Book online here)

• Ben Layman at PGA Tour Superstore (Call 682- 318-9008)

• Tanner and Tyler Tongate at the Green Jacket (schedule online here).

Your Equipment Might Be Fighting You

The wrong clubs can make life a lot harder on the golf course.

Clubs that are too heavy or too long can make it much more tiresome to make a good backswing.

Conversely, clubs that are too short might have you bending too much around a stiff hip or lower back, and demand too much movement from you. This is an obvious exaggeration but should help illustrate the point.

But Jared, those things are the opposite of one another - how can they both be bad?

Too much food is a problem. So is too little food… but the symptoms of the two are very different.

What’s the Fix?

See a fitting professional to help get you in the right equipment.

Ben Layman (PGA pro I mentioned earlier) recommends senior golfers get lighter and longer graphite shafts. This will help put less mobility demands on a golfer who isn’t very flexible, while offsetting the most common issue of clubs being too long and therefore too heavy.

The upshot to getting fitted - they’ll fit it to match your body and your swing, and that means you’ll be able to make more clean strikes and play better golf!

Final Thoughts

Why Your Back Hurts After Golf .. If you’re dealing with back pain after every round, it’s a sign that something needs to change. Whether it’s improving your endurance, adjusting your equipment, or upgrading your warm-up routine, small changes can make a big difference in how you feel on and off the course. Implement these strategies, and you’ll not only reduce back pain but also improve your golf performance along the way.