Golfing, long regarded a gentle pursuit, could now be the cause of premature back pain and early disc degeneration, according to a new report.
Researchers found that modern professional golfers are experiencing back problems at far younger ages than the general population.
Swing
To explain this, they focused on how the golf swing of present-day professionals, such as Tiger Woods, differs from that of golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan. In the paper, published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, analysed how the game and the biomechanics of golf have evolved over the past two decades.
The swing has become more powerful and the techniques of the swing have also changed.
Compressive force
The study found that during the downswing, greater compressive force is directed toward the spinal disc and facet joints (the joints in the spine) and this affects these structures asymmetrically. Read more