List of Common Golf Knee Injuries And How To Prevent Them?

Golf is one of the low-impact sport but the injuries associated with this sport are many. And the most common golf injuries occur in the lower back areas of the body. Another spot of the human body most exposed to easy and frequent injury is the knee joint and golf knee injuries constitute 10% of the total golf injuries. As for golfing, golf swing is the most complex and a coordinated movement that engage the entire body. The risk involves in the repetitions of this movement and that is when excessive stress falls on the knee muscles, joints, and tendons. And the things take the worst turn if you are an amateur golfer hitting flawed swings.

However, there are both cure and preventions to these injuries and we need not reinforcing the fact that prevention is far better than cure. As things turn out, both the master golfers and the novice golfers mastering the craft should focus more on preventive measures. Therefore, this article will cover the causes, various knee injuries, and how to prevent them.

The Common Golf Knee Injuries

Given knee is one of the complex joints consisted of several components, it falls victim to varieties of injuries. And other than golf knee pain, following are the frequent injuries golfers need to bear with:

Fractures

When a body part is strained, the weakest link gets fractured to be the most vulnerable part. Our knee joint is the meeting link of the thigh bone and shin bone and receives the highest energy trauma while swinging the golf club. Not only the flawed or frequent golf swing is responsible for such injury rather the human body structure is equally responsible as well. Knee is to absorb the utmost strain as it bears the full weight of the upper body part.

Dislocation

Now, dislocation is a rare case and can occur when sports-related impact is high enough and if the knee of the golfer has a bit of abnormality. People with normal knee anatomy may fall prey to the menace when the energy trauma is so strong that the femur and the tibia break free of the alignment or the patella slips out of place.

ACL Injury

ACL (Anterior cruciate ligament) receives the worst injury during high demand sports like football and basketball. Not to surprise, a low-impact sport like golf too can cause severe ACL injury.

While making a golf swing, you need to change direction of the body rapidly that may strain the knee inviting a knee pain to the least and tearing ligament to the worst. ACL being fragile components of knee joints can be affected while other damage occurs to the other knee structures.

Read: How do you not top a golf ball?

PCL Injuries

Posterior cruciate ligament injury is a common case with the golfers and occurs to the knee front when it is bent. It causes severe knee pain as it gets you the notorious golf left knee pain – the left knee being the most stresses while making the swing. But more often than not, it can heal on it’s own.

Collateral Ligament Injury

It is the fatal knee injury while the force or pressure pushes the bones sideways. While it is unlikely to have in golf, but golf swing with bad left knee can invite the menace. Read on to learn how to protect left knee in golf.

Meniscal Tears

That kind of injury is common with an aged golfer knee and so aged golfers must be cautious while making moves. A simple twist can cause you tears in the meniscal and as simple as getting up from sitting can cause this tear. But individual maintaining regular fitness activities do have strong menisci.

Tendon Tears

Tendon tears often result from falls, running, jumping, and the direct force on the knee front. Though chance is slim, you must be careful while in the course or outside it when doing physical exercise. Like the meniscal tears, this one too is known as old or middle age complication requiring a golfer knee brace occasionally. If need be, find the best knee brace for golfers from here.

How to Prevent Knee Injuries in Golf?

The good news is that you can successfully prevent those injuries. Just know the causes that may put you into these predicaments and avoid them. As you have learnt by now that the root causes include aggravating the bad knee, injuring the soft tissues by violent motion, and not to warm up on regular basis leading to overuse of the knee and the body as a whole.

Whereas the golfer knee pain exercises can relieve you of the mild knee pain, these are the suggestions to forestall knee injuries and halt deterioration.

Keep Lighter Bodyweight

Knee is the crucial most part of body as it bears the body weight and being a joint, it can give way to any unwanted turn while loaded excessively. Therefore, keep a healthy weight by cutting extra pound down.

Grow Strong but stay flexible

Weak muscle is one of the culprits that give athletes and players the bad bruise. So, you should get the muscles around your knee stronger by developing quadriceps and hamstrings. Not stopping here, flex the muscles by stretching them as tight muscle can make your badly hurt.

Adopt the Smart exercising

If you have issues with common exercise methods of running and jumping, you can go other way round. You can go for low-impact exercise like swimming and water aerobics so long you are not relieved of the issues you are presently suffering from.

Get coaching from a profession

Make sure that you are heading in the right direction so that you may not fall prey to severe injuries even if unable to make big in the game. Lessons from a veteran golfer or professional coach will teach you how to play big and safe.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Golf cause knee problems?

Yes, golf can cause you several knee problems if you are not golf-ready – not properly aware of the golfing techniques and the danger associated with it.

How do you know if your knee injury is serious?

Severe knee pain is the symptom that your last swing has gone wrong with your knee if even not with your ball and club. Other symptoms include swelling, stiffness, redness, and inability to flex or straighten the knee.  

What are the most common knee joint injuries?

The most common knee injuries include knee pain, ligament tearing, and displacing of the cartilage.

What is the most common knee injury?

Knee pain is the most common knee injury so far golfing is involved.

Takeaway

Is golf bad for your knees? This is normal to discover the question stirring inside as this article has dealt with the golf injuries around the knee. However trained and careful you are, you may have to suffer from the said knee injuries.

While knowing the causes of the injury is halfway to the recovery, a professional and qualified medical consultation is pretty crucial for a rapid recovery. They only have exposure to the biomechanics and the forces of golf swing to diagnose the symptoms and treat the golf knee injuries properly.

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