Fit for Play
How to Strengthen
Your Knees and
Prevent Injuries
by DAVE POND
I
N LATE AUGUST, PGA pro Lucas Glover strained his right
knee while taking an approach shot on the 18th hole during televised
Northern Trust play. For viewers—and Glover alike—his immediate
collapse was a scary one, and something not usually captured by
the cameras.
However, knee injuries are more common than you think. According to a
GolfChannel.com report, after the lower back, the knee is the most commonly
injured joint for golfers. With so many different types of swings out there, one
thing is common among them all: even if you enjoy riding vs. walking, your
swing creates a tremendous amount of force on your knees.
“Knee pain and injuries involving the golf swing can come from a trau-
matic event or from a repetitive movement over time,” said Crissy White,
athletic director at Chesapeake’s Greenbrier Country Club. “Acute injuries
(or trauma) can come from the explosive rotation that places stress on the
ligaments or meniscus.”
An acute injury can even come from taking a shot on uneven ground or simply
stepping in a hole or a misstep on the course. More commonly, though, overuse
injuries come from swing characteristics that develop over time.
“Often, knee pain can be caused by an insufficiency from a different location
in the body,” said White, a Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Certified Level
3 instructor who also trains clients at Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia
Beach. “For example, if a golfer doesn’t have the physical ability to internally
rotate the hip, the knee bears stress it shouldn’t have to.
“Overuse injuries like tendinitis can result from practicing too much, doing
too much too soon or not enough recovery time.”
Simple biomechanics play into knee injuries as well. The knee is consid-
ered a stable joint in the body, which means it moves in one plane.
“Knees should be strong in both flexion and extension,” White said. “They
have a very simple action, but can be very prone to injury. Actions outside of
a basic hinge, such as hyper-extension, twisting or turning, can really cause
a lot of trauma.
“Knees are meant to move in one plane and the golf swing moves on anoth-
er,” she said. “The rotation of your swing can place torque on your knees,
especially if you have trouble rotating your or torso.”
Additionally, swing characteristics, like sway and slide, can lead to knee
pain that’s caused by lateral hip and knee movement (versus a strong knee
extension and hip rotation). So, when knee pain presents (during or after
play), White finds that, in many cases, the joint above or below the knee (your
ankle or hip) are the insufficient culprit.
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