I am 61 years old, I have a bulging disc in my lower back, and I still walk 18 holes two or three times a week at my municipal course in Albuquerque. The reason is simple: I stopped carrying my bag and started pushing it on a Caddytek CaddyLite push cart. If you have a stiff lower back and you love this game, this one change did more for my rounds than any swing tip I have ever tried.
I am not a doctor or a physical therapist. I am a retired land surveyor who spent decades bent over instruments, and my back reminds me of it every morning. What I can tell you is what I have lived for the last few seasons, and what I have watched happen to my playing partners who made the same switch. Here are the ten reasons a push cart saves a golfer's back.
Stop carrying the weight that is hurting your back
The Caddytek CaddyLite 11.5 V3 folds flat, rolls smooth, and takes the bag off your shoulders before the first tee. This is the cart I have used for years.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →It takes 20 to 30 pounds off your spine for four hours
A loaded golf bag with clubs, balls, a water bottle, and rain gear weighs more than most guys want to admit. My bag on the scale came in at 24 pounds. Carry that on one shoulder for 18 holes and your lower back is doing the work of keeping you upright against a constant pull. Push that same bag on a Caddytek cart and your hands and legs share the load. The math is simple: less weight on the spine means less strain on the disc.
It keeps your spine from twisting under load
Carrying a bag on one shoulder makes your body twist slightly to balance it. Do that for four hours and the small muscles on one side of your lower back get hammered. Pushing a cart keeps your shoulders square and your spine in a neutral line. My back feels the difference by the back nine, not the next day.
It lets you walk tall instead of hunched
A single-strap carry bag pulls your shoulder down and forward. After a few holes I would catch myself hunched over, and a hunched spine is a compressed spine. With the Caddytek handle set at chest height, I walk the way I do on a sidewalk. My posture stays open and my lower back stays long.
It removes the worst motion in golf: bending to lift the bag
The most dangerous moment for my back used to be the parking lot, when I would grab the bag by the handle and swing it out of the truck. That twisting lift is exactly what my doctor told me to avoid. With a push cart, the bag stays on the cart from the truck to the first tee. I never lift it more than a few inches, and I use my legs when I do.
It keeps your hands free to brace yourself on uneven ground
Walking a hilly municipal course means stepping over roots, down slopes, and across cart-path lips. With a bag on your shoulder, your hands are stuck holding the strap. With a push cart, one hand is always free to grab a branch or steady yourself on a downhill step. I have saved myself from at least a dozen awkward landings that would have sent a jolt through my lower back.
It lets you use the cart as a walking aid on steep holes
On the two steep climbs at my course, I do not just push the Caddytek. I lean into it a little and let it take some of my weight, the way you would use a shopping cart on a hill. That takes pressure off my legs and my lower back at the same time. It is not a medical device, but it works like a walking stick with wheels.
It keeps your clubs and your hands dry, so you do not tense up
When I carried, a light rain meant gripping the strap harder, hunching against the wet, and tensing my whole upper body for four hours. A tense back is a sore back. The Caddytek has a mesh net for small stuff and an umbrella holder, so I stay drier and my shoulders stay relaxed. Less tension from the neck down means less pain in the lower back.
It makes you walk more, and walking is what my back wants
My doctor told me at 52 that the plan for a bulging disc was to stay active and keep moving. Pushing a cart gets me walking 5 or 6 miles a round without the jarring load of a bag on my shoulder. The motion is smooth and rhythmic, and my back feels better at the end of the round than it does after a long car ride to the course.
It saves your back the morning after, not just during the round
The real test of any change I make is the next morning. When I carried, I would wake up stiff and take ten minutes to get out of bed. Since I switched to the Caddytek, the morning-after stiffness is noticeably less. My wife Linda noticed before I did. She is the one who told me to keep the cart in the truck so I would actually use it.
It keeps you playing, and playing keeps you from stiffening up
The real reason I use a push cart is the simplest one: it lets me keep playing. Golfers with back trouble quit because the carrying hurts too much, and then they stiffen up even more. The Caddytek folds flat in seconds, fits in my older pickup truck, and gets me to the first tee without a single painful lift. I am 61, I have a bad disc, and I still walk 18 holes. That is the whole point.
What I'd Skip
I would skip the idea that any cart is a cure. A push cart takes a real load off your lower back, but it will not fix a disc that is already angry. If your pain is sharp, radiates down your leg, or gets worse as the round goes on, skip the cart and talk to your doctor or a physical therapist first. I would also skip the cheapest two-wheel pull carts you see at the big-box store. They sway, they tip, and they make you twist to keep them upright, which is the motion you are trying to avoid. A three-wheel cart with a foot brake, like the Caddytek, tracks straight and stays put on a slope, and that is worth the difference.
I am 61, I have a bulging disc, and I still walk 18 holes two or three times a week. The Caddytek push cart is the reason.
Give your lower back a break before your next round
If you carry your bag and your back complains, this is the change that made the difference for me. The Caddytek CaddyLite 11.5 V3 folds flat, rolls smooth, and takes the weight off your spine from the parking lot to the 18th green.
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