Book Review by Jeffrey Reed:
Dr. Divot’s Guide to Golf Injuries
Author: Larry Foster, M.D., F.A.A.O.S.

I think the golf gods were trying to tell me something when I returned recently from the physiotherapist and found a copy of, Dr. Divot’s Guide to Golf Injuries: A Handbook for Golf Injury Prevention and Treatment sitting in my mailbox. My latest ailment: golfer’s elbow, a nasty little injury that now has the Canadian winter to rest. After 89 rounds – late November snow has thus far prevented me from hitting the links for a 90th round, but I’m optimistic about December – my elbow feels more like an exploding divot than a healthy collection of bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerves.

Dr. Larry Foster, aka Dr. Divot, is a North Salem, N.Y.-based orthopedic surgeon and self-described golf nut. In his new book, he writes about all six of those body parts which are susceptible to injury on the golf course. An informative and entertaining guide to understanding golf injuries, Dr. Foster’s book doesn’t just offer a diagnosis and treatment for common golf-related injuries; this book also suggests how to prevent injuries – and this is a key to the book’s importance.

Written in a conversational manner using layman’s terms, and just the right amount of medical jargon, Dr. Divot’s book is just what the doctor ordered for anyone who golfs – weekend warriors, avid amateur golfers, and seasoned professionals. Witness the twisting and turning of the golf swing, and you quickly understand how golf can take a toll on every golfer from head to toe. And as a golf lover himself, Dr. Foster understands that an ailing golfer will continue to play despite, for example, a sore elbow or lower-back spasms – another of my favourite golf companions, but that’s another subject for an entire medical journal.

There are 14 chapters in this book, including an informative introduction to golf injuries, and info on the golf swing itself, and how it can lead to injury. Sprains, strains, fractures and tendonitis in golf are all discussed in chapters including the elbow, wrist and hand, back and spine, shoulder and knee. Warm-up exercises, conditioning and preventive exercises – all golf-specific – help round out this great guide to golf ailments. There are also chapters on the female golfer, the older golfer, and joint replacement.

If you’re addicted to golf like me, and have had to sit out your weekly rounds due to injury, then you know what real pain is. Dr. Divot writes, amateur golfers are more often injured not just because of bad luck, but because of poor physical conditioning, overuse (I’d raise my hand but my elbow hurts too much), inadequate or improper warmup, and even poor swing technique. Touring pros make the game look easy, but even up to one-third of the pros on TV are golfing injured – and they’re all suffering from aches and pains of some sort. And we’re all guilty of returning to the links much too early when suffering from an injury.

This book includes some aces, such as choosing the right equipment (graphite shafts are easier on the joints), and choosing the right swing mechanics (see your local pro). Here’s some good advice: tee up this book, and let the five inches between your ears digest the perfect medicine as prescribed by Dr. Divot. 

Brian Magna, P.T., a former LPGA Tour physical therapist calls Dr. Divot’s Guide to Golf Injuries “the most comprehensive book on this subject I have read over the last 15 years.” Take it from this wounded golfer: if you’re going to buy one golf book for the golfer on your Christmas list this Holiday season, buy Dr. Divot’s book. A comprehensive and fun guide to understanding golf-related injuries, Dr. Divot goes long off the tee in offering valuable advice which will keep you on the fairways and greens, and not sitting on the couch watching The Golf Channel. And if you’re fellow Canadian with golfer’s elbow, hopefully you’ll be able to work the remote a lot easier thanks to the good doctor’s advice.

Dr. Divot’s Guide to Golf Injuries
by Larry Foster, M.D., F.A.A.O.S.
Dr. Divot Publishing, Inc.
www.DoctorDivotMD.com
ISBN 0-9747315-4-4
$19.95 US