PGA TOUR Trainer, Dr. Troy Van Biezen takes you through one of three exercises that he does with Justin Thomas before he plays a competitive round to get his glutes firing.

Many golfers struggle with back pain at least once during their playing tenure. Coincidentally, most amateur golfers struggle with a slice.

There are many causes of back pain of which I don’t want to bore you with. However, I am going to address one of the most common causes, which falls into the technique category: The Sway!!

In order to turn into your right hip (for right hand golfers), there are several physical parameters that must be developed. The most important is right hip internal rotation, if the body is not able to turn around the right hip due to joint or muscle restrictions, then lateral movement will occur. Secondly, the ability to separate your upper body from your lower body allows you to make a shoulder turn without swaying. Limited spinal mobility is the main cause of this physical restriction. Finally, the ability to laterally stabilize your right leg during the backswing is directly proportional to the strength and stability of your glute muscles. This muscle helps prevent the right hip from elevating and shifting laterally during the backswing.

A majority of golfers struggle with the sway, however most do not know that the sway is the beginning phase of the dreaded Slice. In trying to correct the slice, most will try to influence the grip and address posture which is important.

You’re probably asking by now how does the Sway create the Slice and be a causative factor in causing back pain?

If you sway, there is no stable foundation to drive your weight off the right foot during transition into downswing, the golfer will lose power and a breakdown of the kinetic sequence will occur. As the golfer sways, his head and upper body will tilt towards the target creating a reverse spine angle. This will put a tremendous amount of undue stress on the left side of the spine. The golfer will initiate the downswing with his arms creating an over –the-top move, causing an outside to inside swing path. This will put a clockwise spin on the ball and a slice will occur. At follow through, another reverse spine angle occurs creating a “Crunch Factor” causing right low back pain.

I highly recommend you seek out the Golf Forever Fitness app. You will be assessed for imbalances, limitations, weakness’ and provide you a specific treatment/training program to rid of the dreaded sway!

See you on the links,

Troy Van Biezen, DC, TPI-CGFI

Trainer and chiropractor to PGA Tour Champions including Scottie Sheffler, Jordan Speith, Zach Johnson, Ryan Palmer and many others

Golf Digest Top 50 Fitness Instructors