Why So Many Golfers Struggle with Back Pain (and How to Fix It for Good)

15

Back pain is one of the biggest barriers keeping golfers off the course — and women golfers are no exception. In fact, it’s estimated that around a quarter of all golfers struggle with lower back pain after every round. In this exclusive series, adapted from his new book Pain-Free & Confident Golf: Six Essential Practices to Master Lower Back Pain — an Amazon #1 International Best Seller — Gavin Routledge shares practical insights and strategies to help you not only find relief, but build the confidence to keep playing for decades

Lower back pain is the talk of the locker room and the clubhouse. Golfers swap stories of sore backs almost as often as they compare scorecards. And it’s not just golfers — back pain is the world’s leading cause of disability.

To give you perspective: in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists measured 4.13 million years lived with disability globally due to COVID. That same year, lower back pain caused 69 million years lived with disability. It won’t kill you, but it steals more healthy years than any other condition.

Golfers know this first-hand. Titleist estimates that 28% of players report back pain after every round. For many, the problem isn’t recovery from the first flare-up — it’s avoiding the cycle of repeated setbacks.

My Turning Point

I know this cycle all too well. My own back pain started young. By my early 20s, I was suffering several bouts a year. Then, in 1992, on a beach in New Zealand, it all came to a head.

A big black dog bounded up to me, stick in its mouth. As I bent down to pick it up — wham! A spasm of pain shot through my lower back and dropped me to my knees. Agony followed. For three days I lay on a dirty brown carpet in a student flat, writhing between spasms and sciatic pain, unable to find relief.

I’d had episodes before, but this one changed me. It made me realise that while I knew how to find relief, I didn’t know how to stop the recurrences. I needed a new way of thinking.

The Cliff of Pain

That realisation led me to a model I’ve shared with thousands of patients ever since: the Cliff of Pain.

Imagine your back health as a landscape. At first, you’re on solid ground, far from danger. But over time, silent risks (e.g. cumulative loading,, stress, lack of core strength – and many others) push you closer to the edge.

A trigger — bending, twisting, lifting, or even something trivial like picking up a stick — tips you over the edge into the Sea of Suffering. There, aggravators (like sitting too long for me) make pain worse, while relievers (some exercises, massage, medication) help you climb back onto the Cliff Top.

The trouble is, the Cliff Top is unstable. Another trigger comes along, and back you go into the sea. This yo-yo cycle repeats for years. Relief alone doesn’t move you away from the edge.

The real solution is prevention — what I call the preventers. These are practices that pull you back from the cliff edge, giving you the space and confidence to play without fear of the next flare-up.

Why Relief Isn’t Enough

This is the mistake so many golfers make: they confuse relief with prevention. Painkillers, stretching, even physiotherapy can all get you out of the sea temporarily. But unless you reduce the risks and practice the preventers, you’ll find yourself tumbling back in.

That’s why I describe two stages of recovery:

1. Relief – getting out of the Sea of Suffering.
2. Prevention – moving back from the edge so you stay confident and pain-free.

Without prevention, you’re always one awkward swing away from another setback.

What This Means for Golfers

Golf is a demanding game: repeated rotation, hours of standing, and mental stress. But the swing itself isn’t always to blame. Research shows that persistent back pain affects about 23% of the general population — not far off the 28% among golfers.

The lesson? It’s not just about your swing. It’s about your body, your habits, and how you manage the risks and triggers.

The Cliff of Pain gives you a map. Relief strategies get you back onto the Cliff Top, but preventers — the practices I’ll share through this series — are what move you away from danger for good.

Looking Ahead

Over the coming instalments in Women & Golf, I’ll introduce you to the Six Essential Practices that form the heart of my new book, Pain-Free & Confident Golf: Six Essential Practices to Master Lower Back Pain (Amazon #1 International Best Seller). These practices will help you measure your back health, reduce triggers, relax effectively, optimise your mobility and strength, relate better to your support team, and most importantly — enjoy the game again.

Take the free Pain-Free & Confident Scorecard to find out what’s holding you back: https://go.painfreeandconfident.com