Quadratus lumborum

Hi Mark,

Like you said, it's really tough to provide specific advice to an injury. One, I'm not a doctor so I can't diagnose anything. Two, in this specific issue, there's a handful of overlapping structures that can make it tricky to resolve a quadratus lumborum (QLO) area issue. The QLO does get worked in the golf swing from side bend and extension. It's a muscle that I stretch as part of my regular stretching program. After long days with lots of demonstrations and swings, it can get tight on me as well. I find that it's worse if I'm not using my hips (especially trail hip) well and I have more of a stall at impact. But having a smoother body movement through the ball (using the core) does seem to reduce some of the load placed in that area.

As far as the QLO, it has muscle fibers in 3 different directions, so it's prone to getting stuck/stiff. Also, there are two other fascia junctions right near it. One is called Aman Jean's fascia. Another is the deeper layer of fascia around the kidneys. Both of those can have similar symptoms to the QLO but require different treatment and stretches to heal.

Good luck!
Happy Golfing,

Tyler

Thanks for the reply Tyler.
Are the stretches you refer to Eldoa stretches and/or are they available in the public domain.
I have found the QLO difficult to stretch and wonder what stretches might be effective.
Thanks

Here's the version I like to do, I hope it helps!

Thanks very much,Tyler
That is excellent!
Are you familiar with TPI’s Eldoa for Golf and if so what do you think of it?
Cheers!

Hey Mark,

I am somewhat familiar with the program. I have done Guy Voyer's ELDOA training (I'm level 4 certified, in addition to a certified SOMA Trainer). And I've also spent time with both Dan Hellman and Janet Alexander who created the program for TPI.

The ELDOA TPI program has a bunch of the core exercises from the program. With the ELDOA's, and a lot of Guy's exercises, the quality of the exercise is the important thing. Often, the exercises are tricky. For my students who overlap Guy's training with their golf, I often explain that golf to me feels like trying to do an ELDOA, but you don't have the time to make adjustments. With the golf swing, you have to stick the pose perfectly, all at once. So, I find ELDOA's helpful for a lot of students. They help you learn to move multiple areas of your body simultaneously, and when done correctly, you get a really positive effect on the spine.

My personal story is that I didn't get much benefit out of the ELDOA originally because I had some other issues that had to be resolved first. In fact, for a while, doing the ELDOA made my body feel worse. But after working with Guy to improve those areas, now I find good benefit from doing the ELDOAs regularly.

Good luck,

Tyler