Golf Injury Prevention & TPI Screening: What's Really Limiting Your Swing

Why Golf Deserves Its Own Assessment

Golf might be a year-round sport here in Northeast Florida, but it puts a different kind of demand on the body than general fitness or everyday movement. In Episode 44 of the Movement Driven Podcast, Dr. Greg explains why golf performance and injury prevention often calls for something more specific than a standard movement screen — and why he leans on TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) certification as part of his approach with golfers at Movement Driven.

TPI brings together physical therapists, chiropractors, personal trainers, and golf instructors around a sixteen-movement screen. The idea: if a golfer can move well through those sixteen patterns, they should have the strength, control, and range of motion to swing efficiently. When something's off in the swing — a slice, inconsistency with certain clubs, or a ceiling on distance — TPI helps Dr. Greg determine whether it's a coaching issue or a body issue, and exactly which joint or movement pattern is holding things back.

The Most Common Golf Injuries Dr. Greg Sees

Low back and hip pain top the list, often feeding into each other. Golfer's elbow, tennis elbow, knee issues, and shoulder pain round out the rest, but the spine remains the most common complaint — especially in older golfers, where reduced mobility in the thoracic spine and hips puts extra strain on the lumbar spine during the swing.

Dr. Greg is clear that these injuries rarely come from a single bad swing. They build up over years of repetitive stress, similar to a car running on poor alignment: nothing fails right away, but the wear eventually catches up.

Is Back Pain Just Part of Playing Golf?

Not necessarily — but the swing itself does put the lumbar spine at risk. Twisting and bending forcefully and repeatedly are exactly the movements the lumbar spine handles worst, and a golf swing asks for both. The real issue comes down to where that rotation is happening. The thoracic spine and hips are built to rotate; the lumbar spine is not. When mobility is limited in the thoracic spine and hips — which Dr. Greg sees especially often in male golfers over 50 — the lumbar spine ends up absorbing rotational forces it wasn't designed for, and that repetitive strain is where injury develops.

His guidance: prioritize thoracic and hip mobility work, but don't stop at stretching alone. Mobility has to be paired with strength and coordination to actually translate into a healthier swing.

The Real Formula for More Distance

Every golfer wants more distance, and Dr. Greg breaks the process down into a clear progression. It starts with passive mobility — and most people aren't holding stretches nearly long enough to create lasting change. Where 30-40 second holds are common, Dr. Greg points to research supporting closer to two-minute holds per stretch to actually lengthen tissue, rather than just temporarily easing tightness.

From there, strength has to be built into that new range of motion, followed by coordination: the ability to dissociate one body part from another so the pelvis, torso, shoulders, and hands can move in the correct sequence instead of all moving as one rigid unit. That sequencing is what creates the "whipping effect" responsible for real clubhead speed and power. Skip the earlier steps, and golfers tend to compensate — coming over the top or early extending because they physically can't create the separation needed.

Dr. Greg notes that many of his golfers see distance and accuracy improvements within the first six to eight weeks of working with him — often before any dedicated strength training has even started, simply from improved mobility and coordination.

Recovery Between Rounds

For golfers playing back-to-back weekends, simple recovery tools go a long way: foam rolling, massage guns, and light mobility work to reset the system rather than add more stress. For rounds spaced further apart — especially ones that matter — Dr. Greg recommends more targeted hands-on care and mobility work to stay ahead of soreness and keep programming current, whether that means reinforcing hip mobility that's regressed or reintroducing exercises that quietly fell out of a golfer's routine.

Golf Is a Lifelong Sport — Train Like It

Dr. Greg estimates golfers now make up close to half of his clientele, many of whom continue seeing him monthly even after resolving their original issue, simply to keep progressing. His long-term view: golf is a sport people can play well into their 80s, and the mobility, strength, and coordination work done now is what makes that possible.

Book a free 15-minute discovery call or mention this podcast episode for a discounted $79 evaluation, including a TPI-specific assessment. Dr. Greg sees patients at both the Jacksonville and St. Johns locations.



🎧 Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.