Injuries patterns among professional golfers: an international survey

Abstract

BackgroundGolf is a popular sport played worldwide. The majority of professional golfers work as teaching professionals based at golf clubs. All professional players spend numerous hours on the golf course, placing themselves at increased risk of injury. There have been no recent, large studies investigating injury patterns among male and female professional golfers.ObjectiveTo investigate the frequency, types and mechanism of injury sustained by male and female professional golfers and to compare injury patterns between touring and teaching professionals.MethodsInjury data was analysed from 526 professional golfers recruited through the Professional Golfers Association database. A web based survey was conducted focusing on injury frequency, location and mechanism and any subsequent time or income loss.Results70% of the study population were full time teaching or club professionals and 5% were full time touring players. Overall 66% had sustained an injury during their professional career and 31% had injured themselves within the last year. There were no significant gender differences (x2=0.25, P=0.62). The most frequently injured sites were lower back (44%), wrist (44%), elbow (23%), neck (20%) and shoulder (19%). Men were 2.5 times more likely to sustain a lower back injury than women (OR 2.53). There was no relationship between the number of hours spent playing golf and likelihood of injury (x2=17.30, p value=0.16). Most players took time out from playing golf (72%) and received physiotherapy following injury (83%).ConclusionThe majority of professional golfers will sustain an injury at some point during their career. The back and wrist are the most commonly injured sites. There were no differences in the frequency or types of injury sustained by touring and teaching professional golfers.

The relationships between golf and health: a scoping review

“…115–118 Prospective longitudinal studies report very low injury rates compared to other sports, at 0.28–0.60 injuries per 1000 hours in amateurs 57109 119 Professionals play more, and are injured more frequently, with annual injury rates of between 31.0% and 90.0%,115 120 and quoted lifetime incidence of 60.0–88.5%. Overall, the incidence of injury is moderate, and the rate of injury per hour played is low.…”

A Cohort Analysis on the Career Life Cycles of Players of the LPGA of Japan Tour

“…Many professional athletes' careers are impacted by sports-related and nonsportsrelated injuries [17][18][19]. This study did not consider how the careers of the players on the JLPGA Tour are affected by injuries due to a lack of the appropriate data.…”

“…16 JLPGA adopted the tour system (LPGA of Japan Tour) in 1988. 17 Over the past three decades, the JLPGA Tour has been steadily internationalized in terms of both the composition of the players on the tour and the movement of players to the LPGA Tour for international competition outside Japan. For the 2020 season, 17 of 65 players on the priority list were internationals.…”

“…3 Golf, as a noncontact sport, has not been recognized as a sport associated with injuries. However, epidemiologic studies reported that professional golfers suffer injuries to the wrist and lower back, nearly two serious injuries per player during their career [17][18][19]. Fifth, many professional athletes in non-team sports such as golf and tennis are independent and self-employed, and their earnings are largely dependent upon their performance and the prize money they win in each event.…”

Examining the influence of grip type on wrist and club head kinematics during the golf swing: Benefits of a local co‐ordinate system

“…Examining the Influence of Different Grip Types on Wrist and Club Head Kinematics during the Golf Swing: Benefits of a Local Co-ordinate System Wrists movements have been identified as an important factor in the production of a successful golf swing, with their complex range of motion (ROM) influencing both club head velocity and orientation (Nesbit, 2005;PGA, 2008;Sprigings & Neal, 2000). They have also been identified as having the greatest angular velocities of all joints during the golf swing (Zheng, Barrentine, Fleisig, & Andrews, 2008) and are consistently reported as the primary injury site, particularly in the lead wrist (left in right-handed golfers), amongst high-level golfers (Barclay, West, Shoaib, Morrissey, & Langdown, 2011;McCarroll, Retting, & Shelbourne, 1990). For example, Barclay et al reported within an international survey of 526 club and touring professionals a 66% prevalence of injury and within that sample a 44% incidence rate pertaining to the wrist.…”