Fitness & Warmup

Injury Prevention

Stay healthy so you can keep playing.

Why it matters

The injuries that end disc golf seasons are nearly all overuse: shoulder, elbow and lower back, built up over weeks of throwing hard without warming up or resting. They are largely preventable, and the prevention is unexciting enough that most people skip it until the first time they cannot throw.

How to do it

Warm up before every session and every round, without exceptions.
Build throwing volume gradually. A sudden jump from one session a week to four is how elbows start hurting.
Strengthen the shoulder and upper back, which take the load a throw puts through them.
Keep the hips mobile so the lower back is not doing the rotating.
Treat early soreness as information. Back off for a few days rather than throwing through it.
If something hurts beyond ordinary soreness, or keeps coming back, get it looked at by a professional rather than diagnosing it yourself.

Common mistakes

Throwing through pain because it is only mild.Mild and persistent is how overuse injuries announce themselves. Rest it early, when a few days is enough.

A big jump in throwing volume.Increase gradually. Most throwing injuries arrive a couple of weeks after a sudden increase.

Warming up only before competitive rounds.Every time. Your shoulder does not know it is a casual round.

Working on strength and skipping mobility.Both. Strength without range just loads a restricted joint harder.

Key points

Always warm up before throwing hard.
Strengthen shoulders, core and hips.
Rest early soreness before it becomes injury.

The drill

Drill · Warm up every time — 5-minute warm-up before 100% of sessions, for 1 month. The drill is the habit: five minutes before every single session and round for a month, with no exceptions made for being in a hurry. Count the exceptions at the end. The target is zero, and this is the cheapest insurance available on a throwing arm.

Watch: Shoulder health for disc golfers. — 7th Street Wellness Club