Assessment
Your physiotherapist discusses your symptoms, goals, medical history and lifestyle, then completes a thorough assessment. Initial appointments are typically 45 to 60 minutes, so there is time to do it properly.
What We Treat
Golf Injury Treatment in Henley & London
The golf swing asks your spine to rotate fast under load, repeatedly, off an uneven lie, and then asks you to do it again 70 more times. Most golf injuries are that demand meeting a body that has not been prepared for it.
Overview
Golf injuries
Our Henley clinic is based at Badgemore Park Golf Club. We are a physiotherapy practice inside a golf club, which means the assessment, the rehab and the course are in the same place.
What we treat most in golfers:
- Low back pain: by some distance the most common golf complaint, driven by rotation and side-bending under speed.
- Golfer's and tennis elbow: pain on the inside or outside of the elbow, worse gripping.
- Lead shoulder pain: at the top of the backswing and through impact.
- Hip pain and restriction: limited rotation forcing the back to make up the difference.
- Wrist and hand injuries: often from a fat shot or a hidden root.
- Neck and upper back stiffness: restricting the turn and changing the swing.
The pattern worth knowing: when the hips or upper back will not rotate, the lower back does it instead. Treating the sore back without restoring the rotation above and below it is why golfers get the same injury every spring.
Physiotherapy leads the plan. Soft tissue therapy helps with the stiffness that limits the turn, and shockwave therapy is available for stubborn elbow tendon pain. See also low back pain, shoulder pain and tendinopathy.
Excellent
From 4 five-star Google reviews
Source: Google
I first started using Tom last year to help relieve back pain, he has been extremely helpful and now he's supporting me with sprint and fitness training, whilst helping with any minor injuries. Can't recommend him and his team more highly.
I went to Tom with a shoulder injury that had not improved for several months. Tom is very knowledgeable and quickly identified the issue and put me on a course of exercises that, in conjunction with a couple more sessions, steadily resolved the problem. I would highly recommend him.
Parinita was brilliant! Identified my knee problem immediately, used a range of equipment and exercises not only to strengthen my knee, but to maintain it and improve my running long-term.
Excellent service! Sanchez is a true professional who helped me heal a previous injury. Highly recommend!
Golf physiotherapy can help to:
See us at the golf club
Our Henley clinic is inside Badgemore Park Golf Club. Assessment, rehabilitation and the course are in the same place, which makes it considerably easier to test a change and then go and hit balls to see whether it held.
Stop the back doing the hips' job
The most common pattern in golf: stiff hips or a stiff upper back, and a lower back rotating to make up the difference. Treating the sore part without restoring rotation above and below it is why the same injury returns every spring.
Keep playing while you get better
Most golfers do not need to stop. We agree what you play, how many holes, and how much range work, then adjust it at each visit. Being told to rest for six weeks is why people do not come in until March.
Fix a grip-limiting elbow
Golfer's elbow responds to progressive loading and to managing grip volume, not to rest. It takes months rather than weeks and we will say so at the start. Shockwave is available in clinic where it has already dragged on.
Build the rotation back
Our clinics sit inside gym facilities, so restoring hip and thoracic rotation happens with real equipment rather than a sheet of stretches. That matters for a movement that has to hold up at speed, under load, 70 times a round.
Get ready for the season
Most golf injuries appear in the first few weeks of the season, when volume jumps from nothing to three rounds a week. Building tolerance before that happens is far easier than treating what happens when it does.
Why it happens
What causes golf injuries?
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Repeated rotation and side-bending of the lumbar spine at swing speed
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Restricted hip or thoracic rotation, which loads the lower back instead
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A sudden increase in playing or range volume, typically at the start of the season
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Gripping and repeated wrist load, the mechanism behind golfer's elbow
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Impact with the ground or a hidden root, which is where most wrist injuries happen
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Carrying a bag over 18 holes without the strength to tolerate it
What happens at your first physio appointment?
Initial appointments are typically 45 to 60 minutes. You leave with a clear explanation of your condition, treatment recommendations, a report explaining it in simple language, and a personalised rehabilitation plan.
Follow-ups run 30 to 45 minutes, and we reassess at every visit rather than selling you a block of sessions up front.
A thorough, honest, and understandable explanation. Then the best treatment to get you back to a level of activity beyond your pre-injury status. If we can't get you better, we will recommend the world's leading healthcare professionals in London that can.
- Founded in 2015 by Tom Astley: 7 clinicians working across 3 clinics in Crouch End, Marylebone and Henley-on-Thames.
- Our team has successfully worked with local, national and international athletes at 6 major multi-sport events, from London 2012 to Gold Coast 2018, and we bring that expertise to everyone who enters our service.
- Rated 4.9 from 88 Google reviews; recognised by 5 major UK insurers, and self-funded patients book online with no GP referral.
Fees and insurance
Book directly online through Splose. Self-funded patients need no GP referral; if you are claiming through insurance, obtain prior authorisation before booking.
- Physiotherapy with Tom Astley: £85 initial consultation, £77 follow-up
- Sports and dance therapy with Laura Fornoni: £75 initial consultation, £70 follow-up
- Shockwave therapy: £230 for the initial consultation plus 3 sessions, then £80 per further treatment
- Running gait and performance reviews: £80 Base, £135 Intermediate, £185 Expert
- Recognised by Bupa, Cigna, Vitality, WPA and Simply Health
How physiotherapy works
from assessment to return to sport
Book today to get an assessment, advice, a report and a rehabilitation plan. We combine hands-on treatment with gym-based rehab to get you well, today, and we reassess at every visit.
Advice and report
A clear explanation of your condition and a report explaining it in simple language, alongside hands-on treatment: manual therapy, soft tissue techniques and joint mobilisation where they help.
Rehabilitation plan
Exercise rehabilitation tailored to your goals and condition, delivered through Track Rehab. Our clinics sit inside gym facilities, so the plan has the equipment and technology it actually needs.
Return
Structured programmes and return-to-sport testing before you go back, so you return safely and confidently. The goal is a level of activity beyond your pre-injury status, not just less pain.
What our physiotherapists treat
- Manual therapy and joint mobilisation
- Exercise rehabilitation through Track Rehab
- Dry needling for stubborn trigger points
- Shockwave therapy for chronic tendinopathy
- Sensor-based running gait analysis
- Sports massage, scar work and soft tissue therapy
- Women's health, Mummy MOT and postnatal rehabilitation
- Post-operative and ACL rehabilitation
- Return-to-sport testing
Treatment approach
How do we treat golfers?
Physiotherapy & Sports Therapy
From £75Assessment of where your rotation actually comes from, then restoring it at the hips and upper back so the lower back stops compensating, with strength work to tolerate the swing.
See treatment detail →Soft Tissue Therapy
Price on enquiryHands-on work through the thoracic spine, hips and forearms to reduce the stiffness limiting your turn, which usually makes the movement work progress faster.
See treatment detail →Shockwave Therapy
£230 for 3 sessionsFor stubborn golfer's or tennis elbow that has not settled with loading alone. About 80 % of patients report a marked reduction in pain after 3 to 4 sessions.
See treatment detail →FAQ
Frequently asked
questions
Why does my back hurt only when I play?
Because the swing asks for fast rotation under load, and nothing else in your week does. Often the hips or upper back are stiff, so the lower back rotates instead. Restoring the movement above and below is what stops it recurring each season.
Do I need to change my swing?
Sometimes, but it is not usually where we start. More often the body cannot do what the swing is asking, and improving hip and thoracic rotation lets you keep your swing. We work alongside your coach where a technical change genuinely is the answer.
Can I keep playing while we treat it?
Usually yes, with modification. That might mean fewer holes, less range work, or a period without the driver. We agree it with you and reassess each visit, rather than telling you to stop for six weeks and hoping.
Where is your golf clinic?
Our Henley clinic is based at Badgemore Park Golf Club, Henley-on-Thames RG9 4NR. We also see golfers at Crouch End and Marylebone. You can book online directly with no GP referral, and initial appointments run 45 to 60 minutes.
Related What We Treat
Get Started
Book a physiotherapy appointment
in Crouch End, Marylebone or Henley.
Tom Astley Physiotherapy • Park Road Pools & Fitness, Crouch End, London N8 8JN
BookAppointments typically available within 1–2 weeks