The Best Exercise for Neck and Upper Back Pain In Golfers
Neck, upper back, and shoulder pain are some of the most common complaints among golfers—whether you're dealing with a lingering chronic issue or a more recent acute injury. While the underlying causes can vary widely from one player to another, there’s one foundational exercise that I recommend across the board: the DNS 3-Month Prone Position.
Why? Because this single position targets multiple key elements often lacking in golfers today: stability of the shoulder complex, optimal centration of the glenohumeral joint, extension of the cervico-thoracic junction (a crucial but often underutilized movement), and activation of the deep neck flexors. These components are essential for both performance and long-term pain resolution.
Let’s break down why these elements are so critical in the context of golf rehab and how they can help you move and feel better on and off the course.
The DNS (Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization) 3-month prone position
Check out this video walking through this critical exercise.
Keys to the movement:
1. Keep upper traps OFF. Make sure to keep your ears away from your shoulders, this will help keep the upper traps from taking over and hiking the shoulders.
2. Keep the low back and lower extremity loose/ heavy.
3. Keep your shoulder blades away from each other.
4. Tuck the chin, but drive the back of the head up towards the ceiling.
Shoulder pain
This position is a great starting point with any shoulder pain patient because of the effect it has on how we create stability and movement at the shoulder. We are able to address the shoulder complex as a whole (rib cage, humorous, scapula, thoracic spine), not just the glenohumeral joint. In this position, we are cued to use the small muscles of the rotator cuff to pull the humorous into the glenoid of the scapula creating centration, or optimal positioning of the joint. This is a key starting point when working though shoulder pain. We can make sure to start that we re-train the small supporting muscles of the joint to do their job in creating stability again instead of the larger muscles that typically have taken over.
Upper back pain and neck pain
Critical to this position is that we are starting to drive back extension into the transition point between the cervical spine and thoracic spine. This region is so important for a few reasons…
1. It is the most commonly restricted region/ area of pain.
2. It is a key factor in common neck injuries, like lower cervical disc bulge and herniations.
3. It is a key factor in upper back tightness and pain.
The DNS 3-month prone position forces us to drive extension back into this position. Most people suffer chronic exposure to flexion in this region, much of this having to do with lifestyle habits such as slouched working posture, screen time, and excessive training of the front pushing muscles oppose to the back side pulling muscles. Training this position will go a long way to creating initial symptoms relief and restore some function to mobility in the lower neck and upper back.
This DNS position also encourages deep neck flexor activation. There are small muscles deep in the neck and upper chest that are responsible for creating flexion at the upper and middle neck. As a population, we are often overcompensating with larger and more superficial muscles like the upper traps and scalene’s for this function. When begin training activation of the deeper neck flexors back in, we can get CT-junction extension and middle and upper cervical flexion, restoring a commonly missing motion from daily life.
A closer look
For more detailed and treatment options, check out the article below…
Also, check out these comprehensive videos below…
-Neck and upper back pain in golfers (A comprehensive approach!)
-Is your shoulder mobility limiting your golf swing? (AND HOW TO FIX IT!)
-Dr. Nick DC, TPI, CSCS
If you would like to learn more about your body, pain, and performance, send Dr. Nick an email at contact@integratedrpc.com or call at (585)478-4379, or schedule a FREE discovery visit at Contact.
