Golf Season in Manitoba: Protecting Your Low Back and Hips

By Dr. Michael Minenna D.C., B.Sc., SFMA, FMS

The Manitoba golf season is gloriously short, which means a lot of us go from zero swings in April to several rounds a week by June. The low back is usually the first thing to complain. Golf is, in fact, one of the most common recreational causes of low back pain — but not for the reason most golfers assume. The swing isn't dangerous. The problem is almost always how the rest of your body is (or isn't) sharing the work.

Why the low back takes the hit

A golf swing is a fast, forceful rotation repeated dozens of times a round. The forces that travel through the spine during a swing are substantial, and the modern, powerful swing in particular places real rotational and compressive demand on the lower back.¹ When the body's rotating joints — chiefly the hips and the mid-back — do their share, the low back is protected. When they don't, the lumbar spine is forced to rotate beyond what it's built for, and it pays the price.

The lumbar spine isn't designed to be a primary rotator. It's built for stability. The hips and thoracic spine are the rotators. So a golfer with stiff hips or a locked-up mid-back ends up generating their turn from the one place that shouldn't be turning much — the low back.²

This is regional interdependence on the tee

This is a textbook example of how a problem shows up in one place but originates in another. Treat only the aching low back — rub it, crack it, stretch it — and you've ignored why it got overloaded. Restore rotation in the hips and mid-back, and the low back finally gets to do its actual job: staying stable while the rotators rotate. We routinely find that a golfer's "bad back" improves most when we address everything except the back.

Build the swing your body can handle

Here's the principle we come back to with every athlete: there are no bad exercises — and no bad swings — only too much too soon.³ The golfer who tweaks their back in June is usually the one who jumped from a winter of inactivity straight into four rounds a week and a bucket of range balls. Your spine and the tissues around it adapt to rotational demand, but they need a ramp.

A few things make the season far kinder to your back. Build up gradually rather than front-loading your golf the first warm week. Warm up before you play — a few minutes of movement and some practice swings beats walking up cold and ripping a driver. Off the course, a little targeted work pays off: hip mobility, mid-back rotation, and trunk strength so the rotators can rotate and the low back can stabilize. And mix up the demand early — half a bucket and a short game session is easier on a deconditioned back than 80 full swings.

If your back flares up

Most golf-related low back pain is non-specific — meaning it's not a sign of serious damage — and it settles. The modern approach is reassuring: stay active, keep gently moving, and avoid the instinct to rest completely or treat your back as fragile. A short adjustment to your golf volume usually beats shutting down entirely, and the back is far more robust than the fear around it suggests.

When to get assessed

If back pain is limiting your game or your sleep, isn't settling over a couple of weeks, or comes with leg symptoms like numbness or weakness, it's worth a proper look. A good assessment maps how your hips, mid-back, and trunk are sharing the load — because that's usually where the answer lives. At Boreal Spine & Sport we help golfers move better so they can enjoy every round of a season that's far too short to spend on the sidelines.

References

1. Cole MH, Grimshaw PN. The biomechanics of the modern golf swing: implications for lower back injuries. Sports Med. 2016;46(3):339-351.
2. Lindsay DM, Vandervoort AA. Golf-related low back pain: a review of causal factors and prevention strategies. Asian J Sports Med. 2014;5(4):e24289.
3. Gabbett TJ. The training-injury prevention paradox: should athletes be training smarter and harder? Br J Sports Med. 2016;50(5):273-280.