How to Fix Golf Shoulder Pain & the Main Reason It Happens

Jul 11, 2023
golf shoulder pain

Golf shoulder pain is one of the most common upper body ailments in the sport. An injury to the shoulder can be uncomfortable and affect several other parts of your life, let alone time on the course. This article is going to talk about why shoulder pain from golf develops and what you can do to prevent it in the future.

The shoulder joint is the most mobile joint in the human body. This gives it a large range of motion, and a complex system of muscles, tendons, and ligaments all work diligently to provide it with strength and stability. However, the magical mobility of the shoulder is also its downfall, as it leaves it susceptible to muscle imbalances, overuse, and eventually injury.

Can Golf Cause Shoulder Problems?

It certainly can. The arms go through all sorts of bending, twisting, flexion, and extension throughout a golf swing, and the shoulder is involved in all of it. Putting the shoulder through this violent, explosive movement can be a recipe for increasing the likelihood of injury. It’s not just the movement, though, it’s more about the body being put through that movement.

One of the main problems contributing to golf shoulder pain is a lack of mobility in the thoracic spine, or mid-back. Many people are stuck in a rounded, hunched-over posture as a result of modern lifestyles (sitting in desks, cars, couches) and faulty training methods (lots of bench pressing and crunches/sit-ups). Here’s why that’s important for golfers.

A stiff thoracic spine doesn’t allow you to rotate effectively into your backswing. In order to get range of motion, then, the body resorts to overusing the shoulders. To produce power, the swing becomes overly dependent on use of the arms, and places excessive demand on the shoulder joint and its surrounding structures.

Donald Trump is an excellent example of somebody with a tight upper back who overuses the arms, and consequently the shoulder, in his swing. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Take a look at the above photos of Donald Trump. He is no stranger to the game, owning several luxurious golf resorts worldwide and playing the game avidly in his downtime. For the purposes of this article, he serves as a perfect example of the condition just previously described; a player with a tight upper back that overuses his shoulders as a result.

Many of you reading likely have a similar posture. Notice in the first photo the lack of rotation coming from his back, and how he is reaching back with his arms to get some range of motion on the backswing. The second photo is his follow through, where you can see the pronounced roundness in his mid-back region, which likely has a hard time moving at all.

John Daly, young and old. He was given the nickname “Long John” for his incredible driving distances. (Image credit: Top-Golfer)

Compare Donald Trump’s swing to John Daly’s (above). Despite having a similar build and height as Trump, look at the tremendous mobility and twisting action in Daly’s spine. By comparing the first and second photo’s above, you can see that he has maintained that spinal capacity even though he is significantly older and heavier in the second picture.

John Daly was known for his monster power off the tee, and was the first player to average 300 yard drives on tour (302 to be exact). The torque he can generate through his spinal mobility, coupled with his abdominal strength, are massive contributors to that ability. It also allows the shoulders to play a balanced role (instead of a compensatory one) throughout the swing.

Why Does My Shoulder Hurt Playing Golf?

The shoulder pain in golfers is often in the non-dominant arm, which, if you’re a right-handed player, would be the left arm (and vice versa). If you are overusing the shoulders to power your swing, you’re placing tremendous strain on a group of muscles in the shoulder called your rotator cuff, which are responsible for stabilizing and moving the shoulder through movement.

The rotator cuff can become irritated, inflamed, and can even tear if the problem isn’t addressed appropriately. The most commonly injured rotator cuff muscle in golfers is the supraspinatus muscle, which is the smallest and sits right on top of the shoulder. It plays a major role in initiating and completing your swing.

Rotator cuff muscles. (Image credit: Adobe Stock)

Supraspinatus is activated prior to any flexion movement of the shoulder, and before any other muscle. This is one of the reasons it becomes injured when overused while golfing, as the arms go through a heavy degree of flexion, extension, and rotation - both internal and external. The non-dominant arms’ shoulder goes through tremendous stretch on the backswing, as well.

Restoring balance in the body is key if we want to get rid of golf shoulder pain once and for all, so now we’re going to talk about the things we can do to fix it.

What Helps Shoulder Pain From Golf?

From what we’ve briefly discussed, here is a simple 3-step plan to getting rid of shoulder pain from golfing:

  1. Mobilize the thoracic spine (mid-back)
  2. Strengthen the shoulder to give it some stability
  3. Continue a regular strength & mobility routine designed for golfers

By following these steps, you can remove a large percentage of the shoulder injuries likely to occur, and spend more time golfing pain-free.

1. Thoracic Spine Mobility

Try out these two mobility exercises to increase the range of motion in your back. They can be done as part of a warm-up, before each hole, throughout the day, and any other time you feel stiff and achy.

Kneeling Thoracic Rotation

Instructions:

  1. Kneel with your hands down in a 4-point position
  2. Raise one hand to your ear
  3. Lift your elbow up towards the sky, rotating through the mid back
  4. Pause for a split second at your end range, then return down, bringing your elbow across your chest
  5. Repeat back and forth on the same side for 30-60 seconds
  6. Move slowly and with intention, you’re trying to mobilize stiff tissues not “workout”
  7. Switch to the other side and repeat

Thoracic Extension w/Foam Roller

Instructions:

  1. Lie with a foam roller, placed horizontally, at the bottom of your thoracic spine, just at the point where the lumbar (low back) curve starts
  2. Engage your core by tucking your tail under, maintain this position so that movement doesn’t come from your low back (we want to emphasize the area above your low back)
  3. With your hands resting behind your head, gentle try to extend over the foam roller (the movement may be small, and that’s ok)
  4. Work back and forth to try and mobilize the vertebrae
  5. Once you feel you’ve made some progress, move the roller up the spine a few inches
  6. Repeat the process until you’re up near your shoulder blades

2. Strengthen the Shoulder

A shoulder that is unstable is the one most likely to cause you pain and injury. Overuse of the shoulder during golf can cause it to become weak and irritable. Challenging it through exercises that strengthen and stabilize the area can mitigate future problems from occurring.

Dumbbell Swing to Reverse Lunge

Instructions:

  1. Start with a dumbbell in one hand
  2. Keep your back flat and drop the weight between your legs
  3. Swing it up to an overhead position and hold
  4. From here, go into a reverse lunge with one leg
  5. Press yourself back up to standing, and let your arm fall down (under control) immediately into another swing
  6. Raise the weight back to overhead, but this time lunge with the other leg
  7. Repeat for 10-15 reps, or, 30-45 seconds with one arm
  8. Repeat on the other side

Lat Pulldown w/Miniband

Instructions:

  1. Wrap a mini band around your wrists and raise your arms straight overhead
  2. Pull your wrists apart, placing tension on the band, and feeling an activation in the back of your shoulders
  3. Maintain this tension as you pull your elbows down towards your sides
  4. Once you’re as low as you can go, return to the top position (remember to keep tension on the band throughout)
  5. At the top, briefly release the tension, before immediately spreading your wrists again and going into another rep
  6. Repeat for 10-15 reps, or, 30-60 seconds

3. Strength & Mobility for Golfers

These exercises are borrowed from our extensive programming here at Dynamic Golfers. It’s just a snippet of the comprehensive routines we’ve designed for people just like you who love to golf and want to do it pain-free. Try us out for 7-days by clicking here, and see the difference that professional strength and mobility training can have on your performance and health!

Written by Eric Lister – Certified Personal Trainer & Corrective Exercise Specialist

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