The purpose of this study is to determine effectiveness of GLEP against LBP in golfers.
This study was conducted with members of Japanese high school golf clubs. The assignment to the GLEP and sham program group was randomized. The GLEP consisted of stretching the lead hip external rotator muscles (left side for a right-handed golfer), trunk flexion/extension, right and left lateral flexion, right and left rotation, forward lunge with trunk rotation, and squat jump. The sham program consisted of stretching the trail hip external rotator muscles (right side of a right-handed golfer), cross-body stretch, shoulder flexion/extension, right and left abduction, forward lunges with neck rotation, and hop exercises. The GLEP focused on the lead hip joint and trunk, while sham program consisted of other movements that did not involve lead hip and trunk movement. The duration of the study period was 12 weeks. Participants recorded their daily golf implementation using Google Forms. Recording included whether the program was implemented or not, whether or not LBP occurred while playing golf. If LBP occurred during golf, the participants themselves checked which trunk motion (flexion, extension, right and left lateral flexion, right and left rotation, and unknown) caused the LBP to occur, and the golf swing phase that caused LBP (address, backswing, downswing, impact, follow- through, finish, unknown). For statistical analysis, poisson regression analysis was performed on the total number of LBP for each item in the GLEP and Sham groups. The significance level was set at 5%.
A total of 45 participants (36 males and 9 females) were included in the study. The trunk motion with LBP was significantly lower for extension and left and right rotation in the GLEP group compared to the sham group (trunk motion: GLEP group ［number］/Sham group ［number］; extension: 7/78, right rotation 1/28, left rotation 0/43, p.05). In addition, the golf swing phase showed significantly lower backswing, downswing, impact, follow-through, and finish (p.05), although no significant difference was shown for address (p>.05).
The golf swing is primarily a body rotational movement of the body. During the backswing to follow through the body is rotated to near the end range, and at the finish the body moves in the direction of trunk extension. It has been suggested that GLEP may have reduced the load on the lumbar spine from trunk rotation and extension from backswing to finish in golfers.
Physical therapists could offer GLEP to golfers to prevent LBP caused by trunk extension and rotation.
low back pain exercise prevention programs
randomized controlled trial
