As a Physical Therapist, I see many patients who have a desire to return to golf after a Total Hip Replacement or Total Knee Replacement. In fact, many of the these patients have the Joint Replacement surgery to extend their ability to play. Many of them are avid golfers and have found increased difficulty with walking a course, driving the ball, or even just playing 18 holes and have had to limit their play time. Most, if not all, of these patients can return to playing golf.

In 1999, Jack Nicklaus, winner of 18-major golf championships and considered by many the games greatest golfer, brought the total joint surgery into the spotlight.  A long history of severe osteoarthritis made it difficult for Jack to finish his golf swing, walk on uneven surfaces or even get out of a chair.  After years of conservative management, including physical therapy, Jack elected to have his left hip replaced. After successful rehabilitation, Jack returned to competitive golf.

Below, I have outlined a general description of the rehab/recovery process after joint replacement from a physical therapy perspective.

In my last blog, I discussed how to maintain the proper golf stance through strengthening and flexibility of the lower body. In Part II, I will discuss the upper half, trunk region. The upper body is extremely important in the golf stance. Since your arms attach to your trunk, it is essential that you have a consistent trunk position to avoid varying positions with your upper extremities and furthermore, your swing position.

I just wanted to post a quick thread on this subject:

First of all I like Matt Kucher's swing and the more I watch him the more I want to try and swing like him.

The Stance Phase of your swing is extremely important because it helps you to reduce the errors in your swing and hopefully improve your shot consistency. Variation in your swing can come from variation in your stance as well errors in the dynamic part of the swing. To physically maintain proper setup stance position it is important for you note the following must occur:

Golf is a game we love to play. Why not get a good workout while playng a round? Did you know that walking 18 holes for 3 to 5 hours can burn 2 times as many calories as driving the cart? The average golf course is roughly 4 miles in length. Here is the breakdown of calories burned:

Dirter: 3 Nike Equipment Rep: 0

I was at Golf Galaxy with my buddy today and some Nike sales reps were running a contest having people test their VRs line of Drivers, Fairway Woods and Hybrids. The deal was that you would hit whatever stuff you had in your bag, then hit the Nike stuff and they guaranteed your distance would increase. If/when your distance increased, you'd be entered in a drawing for some new equipment, blah blah blah.

Many of us are limited with our backswing and follow-through because of limited range and flexibility in our upper bodies. This simple stretch may significantly improve your flexibility and hopefully take off a few strokes to your game.

I read an interesting article the other day. It was written by someone on the golf channel and featured Lee Trevino.

He made some interesting comments on the state of golf. He thinks the game is in terrible shape. I have to admit I share the same views.

Last night I was watching the 2000 players championship on the golf channel. The main 2 players Sutton and Woods battled it out for the win in the final group.

While I was watching some interesting things came to light for me. It was not the outcome but it was the way Tiger played as compared to now. Unless I go back and watch him play during this time, as I did last night, I don't realize how much different he played back then.

I am fortunate to have new clubs.  The new A12 pro idea by Adams irons.  I have been breaking them in.  I noticed that I had lost distance even though I was hitting them solid and well.  Confused, I starting to talk to my friends and learned that many club makers have no consistency when it comes to loft and lie angles from club to club.

Last year I played the Nike VR pro full cavity.  So I went to the their website and looked at the specs and found out the new clubs I have are two degrees weaker and a half degree flatter.  Now I know why I have lost distance.  My seven iron is last years 8 iron.  I am going to have my clubs bent to be stronger all the while keeping the lie angle and offset.  You have to be careful that you do not make the clubs more offset and close the face by mistake.  So go to a trusted club fitter and maker that will take all those concerns in mind.