Save Your Back With a Body Friendly Setup

With a growing number of golfers experiencing back injuries, knee pain, and bothersome hip joints, golf is growing the reputation of being a painful game. A lot of common back, hip, and knee-related pain in the golf swing can be traced back to the golfer’s setup and posture. In this segment you can view the following video or also read on to discover the secrets to a pain-free golf swing.

I found a way that has helped my students overcome their back pain, hit it farther, and enjoy the game more as well. The video in this segment explains how to get setup for a body-friendly swing.

How I Switched to a Body-Friendly Swing

A popular way of setting up today consists of doing the following things (you might recognize some of them):

1. Bend from the waist and stick your butt out (forming an ‘S’ curve in the lower to upper back) and placing the hips in a steep downward angle.
2. Keeping the trail leg fixed around a rotating body

This posture would look something like this photo below:

This photo was taken 4 years ago while I was in the PGA Program at Coastal Carolina University. That year I played very spotty golf–shooting anywhere from 75 to what felt like 95. I also experienced a great deal of lower back pain. I was 18 years old. I didn’t think it was my golf setup because that’s all I knew and was taught to do this. Looking back it’s easy to see why I was in pain–and why you could be too.

That year I played very spotty golf–shooting anywhere from 75 to what felt like 95. I also experienced a great deal of lower back pain. I was 18 years old.

There seems to be a confusion about where power comes from in the golf swing. Some of what is being taught today suggests that if you feel a muscle coiling or tensing up, then it is “locked and loaded” to be powerful. So, the more tension you feel, the farther you can hit it.

OUCH!!

I’ve spoken to several chiropractors about golf and its effects on the human body. They see hundreds of golf patients per year and deal with the same injuries in the lower back, hips, and knees. These injuries can be traced back to the amount of tension in one’s setup. I asked a chiropractor if the feeling of tension in the golf swing is healthy and she replied, “Any tension that you feel is essentially stressing the muscle which over time can result in excessive wear and/or damage to the area.”

I asked a chiropractor if the feeling of tension in the golf swing is healthy and she replied, “Any tension that you feel is essentially stressing the muscle which over time can result in excessive wear and/or damage to the area.”

The Body-Friendly Setup

It’s no wonder I was in pain! For three reasons:

1. The ‘S’ curve in my lower back created tension while I turned in my swing. It felt powerful and painful! There is a ton of stress created by keeping an ‘S’ curve throughout the swing. Give it a try and feel the tension. Now imagine snapping that same tension at 80-100 MPH of clubhead speed. Ouch.
2. Keeping my legs flexed throughout the swing restricting my hip turn and lower body. This was part of the idea that coiling creates power. I restricted my lower-half to add speed. Little did I know that it added more stress to my back, hips, and knees because I was restricting them from freely moving.
3. I was turning my shoulders level to the ground which was also stressing the lower back. The lower back is not designed to turn but by turning level my lower back engaged causing more stress.

So I began searching for a solution. I began searching for a “tension-free” setup and swing to maximize my longevity in this game that I love. I found a way that has helped my students overcome their back pain, hit it farther, and enjoy the game more as well. The video in this segment explains how to get setup for a body-friendly swing.

Steps to a Body-Friendly Setup

Since tension was adding pain and inconsistency. I figured if I decreased tension in my swing I could add power and consistency while eliminating pain. Here is the setup I decided on:

You will notice a couple of large differences between the painful setup I started with and the Body-Friendly setup I now utilize.

1. The ‘S’ curve is gone. There is more arch in the upper back and the lower back is comfortably resting in its current position. I am not focusing on creating tension but rather allowing for freedom of movement. The hidden benefit of doing this is that it connects your upper arms to your chest helping your swing to stay in sync.
2. The feet are pointed outward approximately 10-15 degrees. This enables my hips and knees to naturally react to the body turning while at the same time giving me more hip turn than if I would have when restricting my body. You can retain your natural flexibility. NOTE: So many golfers are told that for power they need a 90-degree shoulder turn with a 45-degree hip turn all while restricting their swing with the lower body and ‘S’ curve posture. And golfers who can’t do that are told to go to the gym to build up their flexibility until they can do so. There is NO need to do that here since you are freeing up your body to swing. Trust me, the 90-degree shoulder turn and 45-degree hip turn happen without a hitch when you have a body-friendly setup.
3. I am in a position which I describe as “comfortable athleticism” where you are poised to destroy the golf ball ten miles but at the same time ready to “kill it nicely”.

If you are currently experiencing pain and would like to see a positive impact on your body and your golf game give the body-friendly setup a try. It may help your body like it helped mine!

Hit ’em well!

Tom Saguto