Neck pain can disrupt everything you do as a golfer. Aside from neck pain disrupting your sleep patterns at night it can completely change or compromise golf swing mechanics. That is why golfers on the PGA Tour do not waste any time coming into our PGA Performance Center when they have neck pain.
Although PGA golfers can experience general neck pain it can also be localized and isolated to either the right or left side of the cervical spine. Being mid season for some reason players have come in recently with more neck pain on their lead side. For a right handed golfer that would be on the left side of their cervical spine and vice versa.
Typically their pain is localized to the left upper or lower cervical spine. Pain may be low grade and dull but usually becomes sharp with the dynamics of the golf swing. Finding out where during the swing pain occurs is usually helpful in diagnosing the cause. Not always but generally speaking, if left neck pain occurs in a right handed golfer during the backswing a soft tissue injury (strain or sprain) is frequently the cause. If left sided neck pain occurs at impact or follow through it may be more the result of cervical facet restriction or facet capsule inflammation.
Regardless of the source being facet joint or muscle strain the condition will alter golf swing mechanics until corrected. Correction by staff chiropractors will involve manual therapy to loosen muscles in the cervical spine, shoulder, and mid-upper back. Spinal manipulation to restore vertebral alignment and mobility in the upper or lower cervical facet joints is very important. Once structural corrections are in place it is important to address stability with muscle activation techniques and isometrics to establish correct sequencing patterns. Treatment of this nature will be very effective in resolving the condition efficiently. On the PGA Tour resolution of symptoms can be expected in 2-5 days since the golfer can be treated 1-2 times per day due to the accessibility of our facility. Amateur golfers may find recovery to occur over 1-3 weeks.
On the PGA Tour players who suffer from neck pain have to resolve the condition as efficiently as possible. Avoiding down time and preserving any negative swing compensations is the main concern of the professional golfer with neck pain. Coming into the PGA Performance Center provides them with the confidence that this will occur.
