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Injuries and overuse syndromes in golf
Georg Gosheger1, Dennis Liem, Karl Ludwig
1Departments of Orthopaedics, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany.
The American Journal of Sports Medicine
|May 17, 2003
Summary
Golf injuries are often due to overuse, with professionals experiencing more frequent issues. Proper warm-ups can mitigate risks, but unaddressed overuse can lead to chronic musculoskeletal problems.
Area of Science:
- Sports Medicine
- Epidemiology
- Musculoskeletal Health
Background:
- Growing popularity of golf necessitates reliable data on golf-related injuries and overuse syndromes.
- Existing epidemiologic data on golf injuries, particularly their severity, is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct an epidemiologic study on musculoskeletal problems in professional and amateur golfers.
- To identify associations between age, sex, body mass index, warm-up routines, and playing level with injury occurrence.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study design.
- Analysis of injury data from 703 randomly selected golfers over two seasons.
- Data collected via a six-page interview questionnaire.
Main Results:
- Overuse injuries accounted for 82.6% of all reported injuries.
- Professional golfers sustained more frequent injuries (back, wrist, shoulder) than amateurs (elbow, back, shoulder).
- Injury severity: 51.5% minor, 26.8% moderate, 21.7% major. Carrying the golf bag impacted the lower back, shoulder, and ankle.
Conclusions:
- Golf is generally a low-risk activity if overuse injuries are avoided.
- Failure to manage overuse can lead to significant and chronic musculoskeletal issues.
- Warm-up routines exceeding 10 minutes showed a positive effect on injury prevention.