Is average club head speed a risk factor for lower back injuries in professional golfers? A retrospective case control study

ABSTRACT

Background

Our hypothesis was that higher average club head speed is correlated with lower back injuries in professional golfers.

Methods

This was a retrospective case control study of male professional golfers who suffered lower back injuries while playing golf. The injured group was composed of 14 Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) golfers who withdrew from a PGA tour event due to a back injury during the years 2017–2019. The case-control matching procedure was used to randomly match cases and controls with a 2:1 allocation ratio, respectively, based on age. Variables were chosen based on currently proposed risk factors. Data was statistically analyzed using SPSS 25

Results

There were 14 PGA golfers who suffered lower back injuries during the years 2017–2019 who were included in this study. There was no significant difference in age, height, weight or BMI between the injured and control group. The injured group had a higher mean club head speed than the control group (P < 0.01).

Conclusion

This study found that average club head speed was significantly higher in PGA golfers who suffered back injuries while golfing during a two-year period (2017–2019) when compared with age-matched controls.

KEYWORDS:

• Golfers
• PGA
• Club head speed
• lower back injury
• posterior spinal fusion

Level of evidence

Level III prognostic study, case control study

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.