TAKE A KNEE!

How often do you remember hearing take a knee, while playing youth sports?  Was it to make me listen better, make me tougher, help me grow as an athlete?  I now know of course it is mostly because of tradition and respect but as a kid I thought it was goofy, plus it made the knees in my jersey dirty.

Golfers rarely are told to take a knee while practicing.  In fact most golfers are not worried that their knees will ever be a problem.  We hear about backs, shoulders, but rarely about the knee.  The stress that golf puts on the knee can affect a golfer’s performance when pain is involved.  About 8 to 12 percent of all golf injuries are in fact knee injuries.  The stress put into the golfer’s knee occurs in many ways.  The back swing puts added stress on the back knee, the torsion and backward motion puts stress on both ligaments and meniscus.  The downswing puts added compression stress on both knees.  The forward swing puts stress on the front knee (assuming you are getting up on your back toe).  If your back foot is staying planted throughout the swing you are putting a ton of stress on the back knee.

So what does a golf knee injury look like? It can occur in one poor swing, one perfect swing, or many swings over time.  The more common injuries seem to occur after one swing but it was actually the accumulation of tiny injuries that added up to one dramatic one.

To protect your knee first and foremost strengthen the muscles around the knee.  Second make sure the muscles of the calves, hips, and lower back are flexible and strong through the golf swing.  You do not want to have undue stress on your knees because you have poor ankle mobility.

Most importantly if you feel symptoms in your knee be sure to “take a knee” and reevaluate and rest for a period of time so you do not know yourself out of playing for longer than needed.