In an article looking at muscle activity through different parts of the golf swing these muscles were most active in initiating downswing and through impact.5 Injuries to bones surrounding the ankle will most likely cause a decrease in ankle dorsiflexion (pulling foot upward). The fractures to his lower extremity were on his trail leg that will cause issues mostly in the acceleration and impact phases. His current injuries will have drastic influences on his golf swing as well. Values of 45.5 degrees of lumbar rotation and approximately 25 degrees of hip external rotation and 5 degrees of hip internal rotation.4 Tiger’s spinal fusion procedure in 2017 causes decreased lumbar rotation range of motion putting more demand on the hip and thoracic spine rotation to compensate for this lack of range of motion. The golf swing is one of the most complex movements in sport, with rotational demands from the entire body that exceed most other movements.
Full list of Tiger Wood’s Injury HistoryĮFFECTS ON HIS GOLF SWING What do these injuries mean for Tiger’s golf swing? Throw in some forearm and ankle injuries and you have quite the mix of obstacles for Tiger to overcome. Back injuries have been the highlight of Tiger’s career as of late, with four surgeries coming in the last 6 years. His early career was plagued with knee injuries and a lingering neck injury resulting from a car accident in 2009. Playing golf at the level that he has for that long has taken its toll on his body and shows that this “leisure” sport is not a walk in the park like some may think. Tiger has not had it easy with injuries throughout his career. His E60 () special highlights the struggles of rehabilitation of this injury and documents an experience similar to what Tiger may have ahead of him. For reference, NFL quarterback Alex Smith suffered similar injuries with complications of infection during surgery. Long term, Tiger will most likely be fighting muscle pain, weakness, and stiffness for the next few years according to articles reporting on outcomes of fasciotomy procedures.
Added time may also occur due to the fasciotomy procedure and the need for healing of the skin and muscles surrounding the tibia.
This timeline may be altered due to metatarsal fractures as these bones need about 6 weeks to fully heal as well. Limited weight-bearing will most likely begin after 3 weeks using crutches or a walker to increase ambulation ability. He will begin with non-weight bearing exercises for the hip musculature, quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles. Looking at the surgical repair of tibial fractures using internal fixation, Tiger can expect approximately 25 weeks until the bones will fully unite barring any complications.2 For this portion, rehab will focus primarily on maintaining muscle strength and range of motion of both the knee and ankle joints. These bones form the base of all five toes and help to make up the arches of the foot supplying stability for ambulation and sporting activities. In addition to the lower leg injuries, he also sustained fractures to the forefoot bones called the metatarsals. To alleviate this pressure a procedure called a fasciotomy was performed on Tiger where the surgeon cut open the fascia to allow pressure release in the injured compartments. Nerves can also be damaged or ruptured causing difficulties innervating the muscles that these nerves supply.
With pressure building, blood vessels can be closed off causing tissue death. In the lower leg there are four compartments that are separated by fascia and house different muscles, nerves and blood vessels. High impact to the shin can also cause a condition called acute compartment syndrome causing dangerous amounts of fluid to put pressure on the structures in the lower leg. Surgery consists of placing a combination of rods and screws to internally fixate the ends of the bone.
Another complication is the displacement of bone fragments and the need for surgery to realign the bone to promote healthy union. With this type of fracture risk of immediate infection is high due to the openings in the skin. These fractures were comminuted meaning multiple fractures, and open (AKA compound) meaning that the fractured pieces of bone broke the skin. Tiger fractured both bones right below the knee joint and right above the ankle joint. Anish Mahajan reported to CNBC that Tiger suffered “comminuted open fractures to both the upper and lower portions of the tibia and fibula,” and “multiple fractures of the foot.”1 Our lower leg is made up of the tibia, or shin bone, and fibula which runs along the outside of the tibia and helps to create the ankle joint near the foot.