If you’re slogging your way around the golf course with your bag heavily strapped to your back, you may look enviously at those golfers zooming around in a golf buggy, or even pushing their bag on a walker buggy. It looks so easy and relaxing – but you may be holding back on making the leap to golf buggy use yourself. Maybe you feel you’re too young and that golf buggies are only for old people. Maybe you feel that you’re fit enough to carry your bags, so it’s lazy to use a golf buggy. Maybe you think a golf buggy will reduce the amount of exercise you get, or maybe your pride won’t allow you to use a golf buggy. Whatever the reason, you have to ask yourself – is it actually true? (click here to discover why some of the common myths you might believe about golf buggies aren’t true). After all, the point of golf is to get the ball in the hole as quickly as possible, not to prove who’s tough enough to lug their bag around the course.
So, if you’re not using a golf buggy yet and are unsure if you need to, here are four ways to tell that it’s time to start using one.
You’re carrying an injury
Whether it’s a niggling injury or something more major, injuries can derail your golf performance. The repeated nature of the golf swing places stress on joints, tendons and muscles, which can lead to overuse injuries over time. You may also have minor or major injuries completely unrelated to golf, but still want to play the game. And there’s no reason you shouldn’t, as long as you’ve been cleared by your doctor or physio to continue to play.
Golf requires your entire body to move in a complex and coordinated way that is made much more difficult if you’re carrying some kind of injury. If you’re injured, the last thing you need is to be carting your heavy bag around the course as well. It’s far better to use a golf buggy and protect your injury as much as possible from excessive use, and only use the injured part when really necessary in your swing.
Click here to read more about how to minimise golf injuries.
You experience back pain
Back pain can unfortunately be a common occurrence for golfers, as the repeated action of swinging a club can eventually lead to pain, especially if your technique is not correct. The back is the most commonly injured area in golfers, due to the compressive, shear, rotational and lateral bending forces generated in the lumbar region by the golf swing. Golfers can also develop poor posture from being hunched over a club, and the rotation of the body during the swing can also sometimes cause pain or injuries.
Back pain can be debilitating, and can seriously affect the way you play your game. But using a golf buggy can really help golfers continue to play through back pain. Carrying your clubs is hard on your back, as that’s a lot of weight and strain that your back is subject to. And it’s especially difficult if you’re experiencing back pain or injury. If you want to give your back the best chance of holding out for the entire 18 holes, choose to use a golf buggy and give your back a break! Your swing, your pain levels and your scorecard will all thank you.
You have mobility issues
This one’s a big one, as you’ll need to cover between eight and nine kilometres when you walk a golf course – something that may not be possible if you have mobility issues. Standing and swinging is an entirely different thing to walking nine kilometres at a good pace so as not to hold up pace of play. Many people with mobility issues are still perfectly able to play golf. They just aren’t able to walk the course.
That’s where a golf buggy provides so much value, as it allows people with limitations to continue to play the game they love.
You’re not performing as well as you’d like
There are many reasons why you might not be performing as well as you’d like, and one of them might be the strain placed on your body by carrying your clubs and walking the course. These can be tiring, especially as you get older, and waste the strength and energy that would be better spent on your game.
To save your strength for where it’s most needed, invest in a golf buggy. This will allow your body to relax between holes, and for you to keep playing as long as possible.
Your choices
So, if it looks like it might be time to consider a golf buggy, you have choices. Depending on your level of pain, injury or disability, you might prefer either a walker or a ride-on buggy. Obviously, those with more significant issues would benefit most from a ride-on, whereas golfers with minimally bothersome issues might be able to get all the help they need from a walker buggy. Whichever type you choose, you can access a great range of quality walker and ride-on golf buggies here.
So, if you’re approaching your later years, or have health issues, mobility issues, back pain or injuries, or just want to improve your game, a golf buggy is definitely something to consider.
