My biggest fear is injuring myself early in the golf season. I have, unfortunately, did this before and it makes for a long road to recover because of the amount I want to play. Given the challenges of a rusty swing and very wet terrain, the possibility of injury increases so I must be wary to avoid potential injury scenarios. Well, my second round of the year was one of those scenarios I need to avoid!
The worse injury I ever had was golfer’s elbow for two years in a row. I injured myself early in the season and it too months to recover. This injury did slow me down and as a result I had to cut back on the number of rounds and practice time to allow healing to occur. Of course, I cannot compare myself to someone like Tiger Woods who has recovered from 24 reported injuries throughout his career (not to mention the number of minor injuries unreported), but as an amateur, any injury sucks.
On Saturday past, I played my second 9 holes of the year. The course was in good shape, but still very wet. My swing was not in good shape, but the rust is slowly being knocked off. As I made my way around the course, I found that I was digging in with my irons more than normal and as such cause additional stress on my elbows. Well, around the 5th hole, I pulled something on the inside of my right elbow and it bothered me for the rest of the round. Fortunately, if I did not dig in too deep, there was less pain so I figured my injury was not as serious as I feared.
On a side note, I wrote about golfer / tennis elbow before. It is something that many golfers are aware of and try to avoid…..right Brian Penn?
After my round, I could notice some pain when rotating my arm. So, I took it easy that night and rested it on Sunday (although it was the best weather of the year) to ensure my injury had a time to recover. It is the smart think to do because I want to be able to play for the entire season, not just a few early rounds.
I seems that back injuries is the most common. But, it is not the only one:
Avoiding injuries early in the golf season (well actually any time) is important to us players who have a short season. Not only does it limit your playing time, but it hurts your handicap index because of the higher scores. Taking things slow and easy in early stages of your season is a great first step to enjoying your entire season. This is what I plan to continue doing; how about you?
Do you try to avoid golf injuries? If so, how?
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Grateful Golfer 