Golf and Racquet Sports Injuries

Abstract

There are specific injuries that are common in golf and racquet sports. These abnormalities have a predilection for specific structures as well and can be divided into two categories on the basis of etiology as either chronic repetitive injury or acute trauma. With golf injuries, upper extremity abnormalities prevail and include rotator cuff disease, epicondylitis, wrist tenosynovitis, and hamate hook fracture. Thoracolumbar spine pain can also occur. The order of frequency of these ailments is different for professional and recreational athletes. With racquet injuries, as in tennis, lower extremity injuries are more common and include medial gastrocnemius and Achilles tendon abnormalities, although shoulder, elbow, and wrist abnormalities may also occur. Knowledge of the biomechanics behind each sport is also helpful in understanding the pathophysiology of injury and in part explains the findings seen at imaging.