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Golf after injury

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nixlix26

nixlix26

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I am asking for stories about your golf after your injuries.
On December, 28, 2016. I fell from my attic ten feet onto concrete. I shattered my left ankle and broke the leg in three places.
After 4 surgeries and countless PT hours. I finally started getting playing golf again.
It feels awesome. I was a 4 handicap before the injury and to be honest, still played a nice round of golf (81). Not sure how long it will be before I can walk a full round, but getting out and playing with a cart felt great.

If i could give advice. Don’t practice until you know you can make the correct swing techniques without sacrificing motion. I did not follow that rule at first. But sat back another 2 months to make sure I was not putting a bandage over things.
I have lost a lot of motion in my left ankle. Being a right handed golfer. That was tough at first. Either way I’m thankful to be back plying with friends. And over time it can only get better with practice and work outs.
Let’s hear your stories


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So happy you were be able to recover successfully and can continue to enjoy the game...kudos for all the post injury work and advice.
 
I had a spine fusion surgery in my neck in March of 2013 and wasn't allowed to hit full shots until July 1st. that year. I putted and hit pitch shots before that, but didn't hit full shots until the doctor said I could.
 
I slipped on dormant grass going down a slope, falling back, and put my right hand out to break the fall. I fractured my right forearm just above the wrist. My ortho at the time was a golfer whom I knew and had played with several times. With nothing displaced I was just put into a brace instead of a cast. After about three weeks of weekly x-rays he cleared me to play though I took it very easy.

Several years later I stepped in a poorly maintained drain on the golf course and fractured my right leg just above the ankle. Same ortho, with again no displacement, put me in a boot instead of a cast. Two weeks of weekly x-rays and I was back to playing with the boot on. I was playing so well guys were offering to buy the boot from me when I no longer needed it! LOL

Not exactly injuries, but after each of my total knee replacements I was back to playing in less than 10 weeks. I could have played sooner but my ortho wouldn't give me clearance due to concerns about the consequences if I fell. It had nothing to do with swinging a club, which in fact, I was doing for a few weeks in anticipation of getting back on the course.

When I started playing after my right TKR (I am right handed) I was having a problem getting used to the fact that I could now "drive" off that back foot. Took me a while to adjust. After the left TKR I was a little hesitant for a bit to "post up" on my left, lead, leg but quickly regained confidence after just a few rounds. Both of my TKRs were in 2014 and I have been able to maintain my usual level of play with no ill effects.
 
I broke my left wrist in 2014 and had surgery on my right wrist in 2016. In both instances I rushed myself back and in both instances my golf game suffered. However that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy being back out there playing and wouldn’t do the same thing if I had the chance for a do-over.
 
Developed Achilles soreness late last fall and into early winter. Tried to manage it on the fly and it didn't work, turning into full blown Achilles tendinitis. I was forced to rest it, bothered me I couldn't walk a golf course and workouts were either cut short or less in general. A lot of ibuprofen, stretching and icing finally helped it go away. In hindsight, I wish I had taken the time during the winter to rest the Achilles and let it heal, as I really wanted to walk golf courses more this past summer. I still do the stretching for both Achilles every day and probably will continue to do them daily for a very long time.
 
I fractured the "hook of the hamate" bone in my left/lead hand. I couldn't play for 6+ months while I had doctors incorrectly diagnosing it. After finding the right hand surgeon and getting the correct diagnosis, I had surgery. It took a few more months to get back into full swings, but it's been over a year since my surgery and I have no long term issues from it.
 
In 2013, I tore the Scapholunate ligament in my left wrist. It's the ligament that holds the center bones together and ensures smooth motion and rotation in your wrist. It's the ligament that doctors feared that Kobe tore when he injured his wrist, and they called it a career killer if it was the one he injured. Luckily, I saw a specialist right away and was able to have surgery when the tear was fresh. They screwed the two bones together, reattached the ends of the ligament and put in two pins to hold it in place. I was then casted for 16 weeks, and they removed the pins. 10 weeks later (6 months after the injury), they took the screw out. I had several months of therapy to help recover as much movement as possible, but I only have about 85% of the range of motion of my wrist now. I can't put the palm of my hand flat on the ground to do pushups anymore, and my left wrist much less stable than my right. I can still golf, if you can call it golfing, but it does affect the consistency of my swing. I haven't lost any distance, but my dispersion often sucks. Some of that is due to frequency of play, but it is also because of my wrist. But being able to golf poorly is better than not being able to golf!
 
Torn ligament in my right hand, May, 2017. I didn't get a proper diagnosis initially then didn't follow the orthopedist's instructions to a T and reinjured it in early October. That all contributed to a really rough golf season. I'm just now back to golf activities, having hit 1/2 buckets two weekends in a row (pain free).
 
Left Knee surgery in 2006, 3 months and back at it. 6 months til 100%. Right hip replaced may of 2015. Back on course in August.
 
I had spinal (C5-C6) fusion surgery in Nov of 2013. Luckily I didn't miss much golf in Ohio that time of year during recovery. Started playing again in May of 2014. My running joke is that the fusion took a little off of my fastball. I do seem to have lost some distance but I think that's probably just as much do to father time sneaking up on me. I don't feel real great a lot of the time but I have decided I'm going to keep playing until I can't do it anymore because of the pain.
 
I had triple hernia surgery this past September and was playing 7 weeks later.
 
Currently recuperating from a detached meniscal root surgery 4 weeks ago. The recovery process is significantly harder (no weight bearing on leg and crutches for 6-7 weeks) and longer than expected. I'm following the PT program and doing the strengthening exercises. My goal is to be ready for golf by mid-April which is 5 months after surgery. Doctor say 6 months is the average timeline for golf and running. I'm doing the small things to make sure my recovery is better than average! Golf timeline will be reassessed in March. I'm not going to push the knee too much because the possibility of losing the entire '18 season for a few rounds of Spring golf isn't worth it.
 
I tore my left hamstring (right handed player) and it was a long, slow and painful recovery. I played through it but developed some nasty habits. When my hammy finally healed up, my full range of motion returned. What was a compensating move became toxic and I could hardly hit the ball. I almost quit playing golf.

Instead I took some time off, took a lesson, hit thousands upon thousands of balls, had a personal worse type of score and hit rock bottom. I threw everything out the window and started again. Fast forward another thousands of balls over many practice sessions, etc.. At Thanksgiving all the hard work paid off and I shot a personal low round. It felt really good, and doubly so because I had spent so much time grinding to get there. I appreciated it a lot more.

My tee game is still a mess. I need a few hours over multiple sessions on a monitor to really dial that in. When I do, I will finally feel like I am “back” to where I was.
 
Thank you for this thread and specifically those of you with knee issues. I am currently recovering from a fracture of my right proximal tibia and fractures in my shin. This was caused by a traffic accident at the end of October, the proximal tibia was not diagnosed for another two weeks when I went to my local hospital in Thailand. On the 12th Nov I had surgery to rebuild the tibia at the lower knee.

Today was my second PT session and man its sore now. I haven't been able to play since the 25th October, part of my motivation to get through the PT and carry out the exercises at home is getting out on the course again. Reading how you can play and put weight on your lead knees is a great confidence booster, this is one thing I was concerned about.
 
Slipped a disc almost 5 years ago now, but because I didn't realise that was what I had done (I thought I had just trapped a nerve or pulled a muscle) I actually did more harm than good to the nerves and muscles in my lower back, which meant a cough or a sneeze at the wrong time could put me out of action as the disc was prone to prolapsing with no muscle protection

Lots of physio later, and I can pretty much play golf without any issues - one good thing though is that I know when I need a physio session to loosen things up by how much freedom I have in my swing :D
 
I had a total ACL rebuild on the left knee, using a slice of my hamstring as a replacement. Took two years to fully recover and was incredibly painful the 1st two weeks after surgery.
Very good now 5 years later, doing the PT and rehab is key to coming out well.
Now onto the right shoulder and most likely a right knee clean out type thing.

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Golf after injury

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After a lot of good PT and almost a year. I was back playing after these injuries to my left ankle With some work the Human body is pretty amazing.
Cheers keep working at it guys and girls
 
I was breaking in a new motorcycle for a ride through Alaska and to the pole. Car pulled out in front of me and I t-boned her and went 90 feet over the car before landing. The injuries were too severe for the surgeon on call and they sent me to another city where the hand consultant to the Surgeon General had just arrived after leaving our troops overseas. He described the compound fractures to both arms as "catastrophic" and could not promise I would have use of my left hand. I went from 182lbs to 134lbs as my muscle mass eroded from being in bed. On my first day of PT, the tech literally acted like she was scared to do anything with me but when leaving I saw a therapist going all over that place and he had a good sweat worked up. I asked for his name and requested him for my next appointment. Larry had received his Master at Wash U in St.Louis after playing 2 sports while doing under grad work. His HS football team did not win a game his Freshman year but won the State Championship his senior year. Larry is a winner and he pushed and shoved me forward with the understanding that our only goal was progress regardless of pain. Larry brought tears to my eyes 3 to 4 times a week for months and I still thank him for that today.
Unlike many here who love this game, I did not rush back. In fact, this year I ended my 9 year lay off from golf(trained German Shepherds). My first score was a 98 this spring, but the HC has progressed to a 7. I went through 5 sets of irons this year trying to find what would now work for me. I finally did but the shafts are killing my arms so the search may have to continue. I hurt every day with or without golf so I will play. My goal is to just not do damage while I play. The pain I can play through, but it scares me because one surgeon said that my arms were kind of like retreads, they have some miles in them but not unlimited miles :) So, I will find what hurts the least and work hard at this game.
For those struggling, keep faith that your efforts will be rewarded. When all I could curl in rehab was 2.5lbs, and I only weighed 130 some pounds I would look in the mirror with disgust. Doctors and family would ask if I was depressed. What they saw was not depression, it was resolve.
Larry and his department were VERY kind when I had my last day saying I was the kind of patient they came to work for. All I can say is that they were super heroes to me. They showed me the way and even when I showed up on extra days, they went to work because I was ready to work.
I will eventually lose this battle to age and arthritis if not before. But until then I will give it what I can. I am looking for one more summer to play the back tees and carry a 5HC. This 59 year old needs goals LOL. If I could get there next summer and shoot below 85 at Pebble and below 90 at Spyglass this July, I might be done? Competitive combat shooting is whispering to me very softly, but can wait a few more years :)
 
Wow, what a story. Congratulations on working your way back and you make me feel like a complete wimp forum complaining about some shoulder pain..

It goes to show when you think you have problems there is always someone else dealing with much worst for much longer, try some graphite shafts they will help.
With what is out there if you like heavy shafts they are available and for us older folks the lightweight options are Excellent.

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Hit by drink driver. C2, t3, t5, t6 blast fractures. Years of rehab. Able to pay golf; however, with a lot of pain. I also sustained a severe Traumatic Brain Injury and my docotrs stopped me from almost all other rec activities to decrease chance of another TBI. Glad to hear anyone can play with injuries. I am obsessed with golf now, love playing, love time with my friends on the course, and love life. keep going!!!!!!!!!
 
I broke my left ankle in March of this year and didn't get back on the course until late June/early July. Physical therapy helped to get the range of motion back, but with the hardware in my ankle it will never be 100%.

the main thing i can say is trust the swing and try to let the fear of "injuring" it again go. Once I freed up my swing and didn't worry about re injuring my ankle, my game bounced back. I know all injuries are not the same, but the mental aspect is. Once you get over the mental hurdle, you will get your game back.
 
I tore my left bicep tendon in June 2014, while playing golf. While the surgeon was reattaching that he also cleaned out the rotator cuff. It took about a year before I was able to make a proper, full golf swing. My shoulder still clicks at the top of my back swing and I’ve lost some distance and accuracy but I’m still able to play decently and as much as I’d like without pain or discomfort.
 
I had 3 back surgeries over a two year period (including a fusion). A day and a half after my second surgery I fell and broke my left ankle. It completely broke both bones and It took metal plates and screws to pull it together again. It was a slow recovery because it was difficult to do therapy on the back because I couldn't walk on the broken ankle and it was difficult to get around on crutches, etc. because of the healing back. It took two years to actually be able to fully swing a golf club with anything approaching normal swing speed. I really enjoyed this past golf season and finally started hitting the ball with some authority again. I'm looking forward to the coming season but I'm somewhat hesitant to say I'll pick up where I left off this season because I'm again doing therapy. I had a heart attack just before Halloween and although I feel pretty good, I'm well short of where I want to be.
 
rxk9fan said:
I was breaking in a new motorcycle for a ride through Alaska and to the pole. Car pulled out in front of me and I t-boned her and went 90 feet over the car before landing. The injuries were too severe for the surgeon on call and they sent me to another city where the hand consultant to the Surgeon General had just arrived after leaving our troops overseas. He described the compound fractures to both arms as "catastrophic" and could not promise I would have use of my left hand. I went from 182lbs to 134lbs as my muscle mass eroded from being in bed. On my first day of PT, the tech literally acted like she was scared to do anything with me but when leaving I saw a therapist going all over that place and he had a good sweat worked up. I asked for his name and requested him for my next appointment. Larry had received his Master at Wash U in St.Louis after playing 2 sports while doing under grad work. His HS football team did not win a game his Freshman year but won the State Championship his senior year. Larry is a winner and he pushed and shoved me forward with the understanding that our only goal was progress regardless of pain. Larry brought tears to my eyes 3 to 4 times a week for months and I still thank him for that today.
Unlike many here who love this game, I did not rush back. In fact, this year I ended my 9 year lay off from golf(trained German Shepherds). My first score was a 98 this spring, but the HC has progressed to a 7. I went through 5 sets of irons this year trying to find what would now work for me. I finally did but the shafts are killing my arms so the search may have to continue. I hurt every day with or without golf so I will play. My goal is to just not do damage while I play. The pain I can play through, but it scares me because one surgeon said that my arms were kind of like retreads, they have some miles in them but not unlimited miles :) So, I will find what hurts the least and work hard at this game.
For those struggling, keep faith that your efforts will be rewarded. When all I could curl in rehab was 2.5lbs, and I only weighed 130 some pounds I would look in the mirror with disgust. Doctors and family would ask if I was depressed. What they saw was not depression, it was resolve.
Larry and his department were VERY kind when I had my last day saying I was the kind of patient they came to work for. All I can say is that they were super heroes to me. They showed me the way and even when I showed up on extra days, they went to work because I was ready to work.
I will eventually lose this battle to age and arthritis if not before. But until then I will give it what I can. I am looking for one more summer to play the back tees and carry a 5HC. This 59 year old needs goals LOL. If I could get there next summer and shoot below 85 at Pebble and below 90 at Spyglass this July, I might be done? Competitive combat shooting is whispering to me very softly, but can wait a few more years :)
Click to expand...


That's one hell of a long comeback trail, man! It puts my daily aches & pains into perspective. Thanks for sharing!
 
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