Why Your Knee Starts Aching in the Middle of Golf Season
By Dr. Wade Roberts, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy
By this point in golf season, we’ve seen thousands of swings, walked plenty of miles, and spent a lot of time getting in and out of golf carts.
And for many golfers, the knees are starting to feel it.
Maybe it’s stiffness during the first few holes. Pain walking downhill. Soreness after the round. Or discomfort in the lead knee as you rotate through impact.
For golfers over 55, it’s easy to blame these symptoms on arthritis or simply getting older.
But just like with the shoulder and hip, the painful joint isn’t always the entire problem.
Sometimes the knee is simply being asked to do more than it should.
The Three Most Common Knee Problems We See
At RobertsPT, some of the most common causes of knee pain we see in golfers include:
- Knee osteoarthritis
- Meniscus-related irritation
- Patellar or quadriceps tendon irritation
These conditions are different, but there’s an important question we ask with all of them:
What is causing the knee to absorb so much stress in the first place?
For a golfer, the answer often starts above and below the knee.
What Your Golf Swing Has To Do With It
The knee is caught between two joints that are designed to provide a tremendous amount of movement during the golf swing: the hip and the ankle.
Your hips need to rotate.
Your ankles need to move.
And your knees need to be strong enough to control the forces created between them.
When a golfer lacks hip rotation, especially in the lead hip, the body still has to find a way to get through the ball.
That can create excessive twisting and rotational stress through the knee.
The same thing can happen when ankle mobility is limited. If the ankle can’t move properly as you shift pressure and rotate, the knee is often forced to compensate.
Over hundreds or thousands of swings, those small compensations can add up.
The Body Restrictions We Find Most Often
When we evaluate golfers dealing with knee pain, we commonly find limitations such as:
- Limited hip internal and external rotation
- Limited ankle dorsiflexion
- Reduced lower-body strength
- Poor single-leg balance and control
- Limited thoracic spine rotation
Here’s why that matters.
Your golf swing is a full-body movement.
If your hips, ankles, or upper back aren’t providing the movement they’re supposed to, the knee can become the middleman trying to make everything work.
Eventually, it may start to hurt.
The Secret to Healthier Knees
One of the biggest mistakes we see golfers make is focusing only on where it hurts.
A painful knee certainly needs to be evaluated and treated appropriately.
But if we strengthen the knee without addressing limited hip rotation, poor ankle mobility, balance, or the golfer’s ability to control rotation, we may be missing a major part of the problem.
The goal isn’t simply to make the knee stronger.
It’s to build a body that distributes the stress of the golf swing the way it was designed to.
That means improving mobility where you need mobility, strength where you need strength, and control throughout the entire movement.
Don’t Just Treat the Knee
If your knee has started aching as the season has progressed, don’t automatically assume your golfing days are numbered.
And don’t assume arthritis on an X-ray means pain is something you simply have to accept.
Instead, ask:
Why is my knee being stressed in the first place?
That’s exactly what we help golfers figure out at RobertsPT.
We will evaluate not only your knee, but also your hip mobility, ankle mobility, strength, balance, and golf-specific movement to determine what may be contributing to the problem.
Because the goal isn’t just to get through another round.
It’s to keep walking fairways, traveling to play the courses you’ve always wanted to play, and enjoying this game for years to come.
Want to find out what’s contributing to your knee pain?
Schedule a Complimentary 20-Minute Golf Body Screen at RobertsPT with Dr. Wade Roberts to take a look at how your body is moving.
Less knee pain.
Better movement.
More fairways and greens.
Stay In The Game, For Life.
FREE MOBILITY SESSION
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