How to Fix Golf Back Pain

Sorry, you need to be a member to access this video.
You Are Just Seconds Away - Become a member here!
Already a member? Log in now

Understand what moves cause back pain in the golf swing and how to fix them.


Hey, Rotary Swing golfers. Chuck Quinton here, founder of Rotary Swing with my best friend and hopefully, your new best friend, the mirror, which is your best training aid in the world.  I want to help you understand how to start fixing back pain in your golf swing. So many golfers struggle with some sort of back ailment that's due to their golf swing and every time they go out and play golf it flares up and gets worse. They take a few days off, they feel a little better, they go out and play golf, all of a sudden their back pain's there.

                Well, guess what. Your golf swing is causing the back pain. You may have some sort of preexisting condition, but if your back hurts every single time you play golf, you need to look at what you're doing with your swing. The great thing about RST, as you know, is that we look at everything from an anatomical and biomechanics perspective to make sure that you're pain and injury free. There's no reason for your back to bother you when you're swinging a golf club.  I'm going to address each issue that is most common that we see all the time and show you how to fix it.

                The first thing starts right from set up.  I'm going to check myself out in the mirror here and make sure that when I set up, particularly if I was looking down the line, technically I'm looking up the line but I can see the same thing. As I hinge forward, I want to make sure that I don't have a lot of curvature in my low back. What does that look like from your perspective? If my back is sticking out and my belly is kind of bulging forward, what you need to do is take your belly button and pull it in. You'll feel as if somebody had a string attached to your belly button and they're pulling it through your back and it will pull your belly button in. Your lower abdominals main job, apart from holding your guts in, is to protect your lower back and keep you from creating lordosis or too much lower back curvature.

                One of the number one common back pain issues in the golf swing starts right from setup and if you start set up with a lot of curvature in your spine because you didn't pull your belly button in at address, it's going to continue to get worse throughout your whole swing because your back's in a position where it's not in neutral joint alignment. The simple fix is from set up all you do, pull your belly button in and all of a sudden you're going to feel that your lower back has support from your abdominals. If you struggle with this you need to do some ab exercises. There's tons and tons of ab exercises out there, obviously, so work on doing some simple ones that are going to help you strengthen your abdominal wall. If you've kind of gotten used to sitting and letting your belly stick out all the time, it will dramatically impact your golf swing. So make sure that you get used to pulling your belly button in every single time at address. That's the number one issue.

                Number two issue. When people set up with no axis tilt that's a huge pet peeve of mine. Our axis tilt, we know, take a club shaft and just slide it into my knee. When people set up like this and they go to the top, all of a sudden they're starting to compress this lower left side in their back because they've let their hips slide out. Those are two directly related problems. If you don't have enough axis tilt at set up, as you start to shift to the right at all your hips are going to start moving too far to the right, which is going to tilt your spine back the other way and going to kink your lower back on the left side. Really, really common back pain issue. The obvious fix here, have axis tilt at set up and make sure that your right hip doesn't slide past this right hip line. If you don't know what that is, take a look at the right hip line video. Make sure your hip doesn't slide past this line so that your lower back doesn't get kinked.

                Those two things are directly related to each other and it's a really, really common low back pain issue, especially if you have sciatic pain in the left side of your back for right-handed golfers. Check your axis tilt and check your hip slide as you go back. If you have these two things, the only way you're going to know, guess what? You've got to video your swing. Don't be lazy. You need to see what you're doing in order to diagnose and fix these problems.  You can't just go by what you feel.  Video your swing and if you see your hip moving past this imaginary line that it's at at address, your spine is almost definitely going to be leaning toward the target at the top of the swing, which also leads to a reverse pivot. Axis tilt, right hip line.

                The third most common back pain issue comes from the downswing stuff. We've addressed one set up issue, one backswing issue and now one downswing issue. The downswing issue all comes from pushing off the right leg way too hard. As you do this, as you'll see from down the line, as I push hard off my right leg notice what happens to my pelvis. You've seen our video on the tush line, watch what happens to my tush line. It moves in toward the ball because that's the only thing this right leg's going to be able to do. As you push off of it, it's going to move your hips into the ball, which is going to cause you to stand up. You're going to look like this at impact, which also creates a lot of stress on your spine. The trick for that, hopefully you know this by now, is not to push off your right leg. If I pull from the left, watch what happens to my tush line. I actually stay in the same spine angle or even increase it by moving from the correct side of my body. If you're pushing off the right side, if you're losing your tush line, I guarantee you're pushing off the right side. If you're doing this and leading into this really uncomfortable back position, you're going to tear up your back.

                Hopefully those three things will help you address back pain and get rid of it forever because you should never, ever hurt your back swinging a golf club correctly.

 

Must be Premium Member to Comment

64x64
James
at the end of this video, when u pull from the left, which keep the toosh line intact, are you also applying counterforce with the right foot?? like right foot into the ground with clockwise rotation. or just a simple demonstration of left side pull.
January 19, 2020
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello James. Take a look at the Sam Snead Squat Video. You can use a little counter force during the squat, but no need to focus on that during post up while ingraining the new drill.
January 20, 2020
64x64
Hector
I have this problem of pushing with right side and back pain and spasm right lower back!!! How I learn to pull left side in the downswing !!! Help me z!!! Not playing due to pain !!!!
May 30, 2019
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Hector. I would combine Step 2 - Core Rotation with the Chair Drill Maintain Tush Line. If you can't maintain tush while sequencing the body only. Don't grab a club. If you struggle with achieving. I would send in a video of yourself doing the drill I listed above so we can see which part you are moving incorrectly and at the wrong time.
May 30, 2019
64x64
Colin
I haven't had back pain since using RotarySwing. I sent the article because I felt it might be of interest. One of the things I have found recently is the importance of axis-tilt. I have never really understood why it's so important but I've realised recently that one of the benefits (and I don't understand the anatomy of this) is that it's so much easier to turn the shoulders when tilted. There is significantly less strain.
February 6, 2019
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Colin. Of course. Definitely appreciate the article. Lots of good information most golfers need to understand better. Axis tilt helps you have a neutral spine which will facilitate better rotation.
February 6, 2019
64x64
Colin
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-47114990
February 5, 2019
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Colin. Without a doubt too much shear force and compressive force will wear out the spine. There is a necessary separation of the lower and upper half. But, we try to keep it to as minimum as possible to save the spine.
February 5, 2019
64x64
Patrick
I think it would be more helpful to not say pull your belly button in. Instead, I think it's better to say you should try to pull your pelvic bone into your lower ribs. If you actually think about this pulling action, the curvature of the back goes away....simply pulling your belly button in does not directly solve the problem. The pull the pelvic bone into the lower ribs exercise is a very effective core exercise.
November 3, 2017
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Patrick. I appreciate the post. The information may be helpful to some of our members.
November 6, 2017
64x64
Carroll
justin Thomas seems to move straight up with Snap ? comment Pls
September 5, 2017
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Carroll. Yes, he does move vertically when posting the lead leg. However, he does over exaggerate the move we prefer for more snap.
November 6, 2017
64x64
Thomas
I have heard that opening the toes of my feet a bit can also help. Any thoughts on that?
August 17, 2017
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Thomas. Take a look at Should You Splay Your Feet Video. A little more linked to hip rotation. However, a little freer in the hips could help.
August 17, 2017
64x64
William
Great instruction video, exactly what I've been trying to work on. You made these three simple to understand. Bill
August 14, 2017
64x64
Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Glad you like the video William!!!
August 23, 2017
64x64
arthur john
I had been swinging / hitting the ball well. i started coming out of a few shots thinning the ball and hit the odd shank. I concentrated hard on staying behind the ball and now have pain in my right lower side. i have been compressing it at and after impact. Is it because i am losing the toosh line? regards A. John
July 23, 2017
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Arthur John. Early extension may cause back pain. I would have to see your swing, or know some other details though to make sure that is exactly what is causing your pain.
July 24, 2017
64x64
Peter
Ouch! It hurt just to watch you go through the 3 "errors" in setup, going back, and in transition. Over 60 years I've done 'em all, plus some that haven't been invented yet! My lumbar spine looks like egg salad with the shells left in. Thanks for the attention you' ve given to this important topic. Next time, explain how to get a stress fracture in the lead fibula while hitting a golf ball. At the time it happened to T.W. the press was all agog at the poor man's dedication; I was in disbelief that it could happen at all!!! Peter S K
July 11, 2017
64x64
Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Thanks for your input as always PK. Stress fracture to the lead fibula while swinging the club should not happen. Send in some swings for review when you are better so we can help protect your body from injuries like this.
July 18, 2017
64x64
David
Great video, thanks
July 7, 2017
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello David. We appreciate the positive post.
July 8, 2017
64x64
Carver
At address, could you clarify 'pelvic tilt" in conjunction with axis tilt. I was under the impression that there was slight pelvic tilt in addition to roughly bending 35 deg or so from the hips and then axis tilt. Chuck's video does not discuss pelvic tilt and would seem to indicate there should not be any. Also, at the top of the bs, should you have a "stacked" feeling slightly behind the ball? Wouldn't excess axis tilt make this difficult? Thank you.
June 8, 2017
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Carver. You need forward hinge from the hips as well as axis tilt-hip bump to rotate properly around the spine. You don't want too much pelvic tilt (sticking the butt out) because it will start to crunch the lower vertebrae. It should be fairly neutral. You should feel loaded away from the target at the top. But, you shouldn't be adding excess tilt in the backswing. Only what was adjusted at setup. Take a look at Common Golf Setup Faults and Fixes to make sure you aren't over doing it.
June 8, 2017
64x64
Tom
Wonderful job of reminding us aspiring golfers of the setup basics and why they are critical. My back will benefit from this for many years. The down the line shots of you moving correctly in the downswing gave me a great vision of the proper leg action in the downswing. I am playing much better as a direct result. Thank you
June 4, 2017
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Tom. Thanks for the post and positive comments.
June 4, 2017

We're after one thing: Real Results - Real Fast. And that's exactly what our members achieve. And that's why they say the AXIOM is: Mind-blowing. Game changing. Revolutionary.

Check it out ...

Here at RotarySwing, talk is cheap and the proof is always in the pudding. Come see the massive transformations we can achieve together in your swing.

See for yourself ...

From beginner to pro, we have what you need to get you where you want to go.

See how inside ...

RotarySwing was founded out of frustration with the current state of golf instruction. Quinton knew a better way had to exist to learn this game we all love.

Learn more ...