Post ACL recovery

[BSI99]

So I was lucky enough to my ACL over the winter. Had surgery on my leg 6 weeks ago. Back to chipping and putting no issues, talked with my doctor and he said he thinks I can hit some irons by week 8 and playing week 12. I'm jonesing to get back out there but I just can't imagine being able to rotate onto my left leg without compensating in 2 weeks. Has anyone else come back from ACL surgery, specifically on the lead leg and can tell me when they were hitting? 

Edited April 28 by Thollo

[skraly]

Well, everyone heals at a different rate.  I had ACL repair on my lead leg some time ago.  As I recall I was back playing at 3 months.  
Go easy at first until you feel comfortable.  Maybe just 50-60 yd. pitches at first.  I assume you’ve been doing the prescribed rehab exercises.  After that it’s more a matter of gaining confidence in the repaired knee.

[BSI99]

That's great to hear! Did you have any kind of mental hesitations in your swing at first? I'm worried about grooving in a bad habit by avoiding that left side. Rehab wise I'm doing really well, strengthening the leg a lot. Thankfully I'm still young enough where gaining that muscle I lost is pretty easy. 

[skraly]

Yes, at first I was worried about how the knee would hold up.  But that was quickly put to rest after just a round or two.  Once you’re ready to hit  full shots just start with 70% effort and work up.  Most likely you’ll very soon find out that the rehab effort was worth the pain.

[BSI99]

9 hours ago, skraly said:

Yes, at first I was worried about how the knee would hold up.  But that was quickly put to rest after just a round or two.  Once you’re ready to hit  full shots just start with 70% effort and work up.  Most likely you’ll very soon find out that the rehab effort was worth the pain.

Appreciate it! Already seeing some serious improvements with the rehab so excited to get back at it.

[Golferguy209]

I never tore my ACL but I was an athletic trainer for many years at the collegiate level.  I had only one golfer with an ACL tear and I think he was back to playing by 6-8 months.  

[FuzzyKnuckles]

I tore my Right ACL in 2022. Was my trail leg. I started putting at 12 weeks and started hitting full swing around 5.5 months. The twisting is what the Dr's were most concerned about, as well as uneven ground all around.

[jamiesd]

Trail leg acl repair here.  Surgery done in June. Squeezed a comeback game in October same year. 2018.  Wear some knee support for a while.  Best of luck.

[BSI99]

On 4/18/2025 at 9:54 AM, FuzzyKnuckles said:

I tore my Right ACL in 2022. Was my trail leg. I started putting at 12 weeks and started hitting full swing around 5.5 months. The twisting is what the Dr's were most concerned about, as well as uneven ground all around.

Yeah I don't imagine playing in a tournament or serious environment until like 5-6 months because of the uneven lie stuff. Just looking to be back on the range soon

[FuzzyKnuckles]

7 hours ago, Thollo said:

Yeah I don't imagine playing in a tournament or serious environment until like 5-6 months because of the uneven lie stuff. Just looking to be back on the range soon

To scratch the itch in months 4-5.5 before I could do full swings, I would play par 3 courses with my buddies (like under 100 yard holes), but I would use my 4 iron. Since I could only "chip", I would chip the long irons.

I did have some swing issues I had to navigate upon my return, such as weight transfer (as the body naturally was hesitant to commit weight/motion on that leg). But it all worked itself out over time

[BSI99]

Really the biggest motivator for me right now is I got fitted for a brand new set of irons a week before my injury. They came in right before my surgery so they're still in the plastic and I just want to hit some of the short irons.

[rsballer10]

I approached ACL recovery very conservatively and that would be my recommendation. Especially with both knees being repaired at basically the same time. There is enough twisting in a good golf swing that I would wait 6 months before attempting a full swing. I would also go above and beyond in terms of strengthening your legs/hips/ankles, as the PT will clear you but your legs won't be STRONG like good athletes want them to be. I found by coming back stronger than I was before physically, that it gave me confidence to play without any concern.

 

When you get to that 4-6 month point where you work back to full swings, use it as an opportunity to rebuild your swing the way you want it. I had built swing faults from my ACL being untreated for a few years. I wish I had built my swing back the right way and address my swing faults head on. 

[mrgimmemonster]

On 4/23/2025 at 6:37 AM, rsballer10 said:

I approached ACL recovery very conservatively and that would be my recommendation. Especially with both knees being repaired at basically the same time. There is enough twisting in a good golf swing that I would wait 6 months before attempting a full swing. I would also go above and beyond in terms of strengthening your legs/hips/ankles, as the PT will clear you but your legs won't be STRONG like good athletes want them to be. I found by coming back stronger than I was before physically, that it gave me confidence to play without any concern.

 

When you get to that 4-6 month point where you work back to full swings, use it as an opportunity to rebuild your swing the way you want it. I had built swing faults from my ACL being untreated for a few years. I wish I had built my swing back the right way and address my swing faults head on. 

I tend to agree with @rsballer10 in that I would not rush recovery. Return to sport should not be determine based purely on time from surgery. Unfortunately, a lot of surgeons and PTs still use time-dependent protocols and tell everyone they can start running after 3 months and return to sport after 9 months, etc. Also, it can make a difference what graft was used (autograft vs allograft, patellar vs hamstring, etc.) and if there was additional damage (meniscus or other ligamentous injuries, bone contusions, etc.).

 

The reality is that most do not know how properly rehab ACLRs because they typically don't see them long enough (whether due to insurance limits, poor patient compliance, etc.) or enough of them to progress appropriately and adequately prepare patients for return to sport. For people who just want to get back to basic activities, this is often adequate; however, for more advanced athletes or individuals, I often find that they are cleared way too early without meeting more important criteria (limb Symmetry index, quad to hamstring strength ratios, fear avoidance behaviors, etc.). Even rehab professionals who use certain objective or measurable criterion (like hop tests, etc.) to clear patients, often miss certain qualitative components that suggest the patient is actually not ready (for example, someone who can achieve similar triple hop distances bilaterally, but display significant differences in how they load or fail to load their knees). 

 

Although golf may not be quite as reactive of a sport as basketball or soccer, there are still significant horizontal, rotational, and vertical demands on the knees, so you need to make sure that you are properly prepared. Even if you don't have pain or reactive swelling, you still need to make sure that you have adequate strength, stability, neuromuscular control, etc. The less stable and strong your legs are, the more likely that this will lead to other issues down the road (all surgeries tend to accelerate arthritic changes due to the trauma of surgery, but lack of strength and stability with increased laxity will further serve to accelerate those changes). 

 

If I were you, I would try to find a PT that sees a lot of ACLRs (or specializes in it if possible) and works specifically with golfers (because the demands are different than other sports). You should be doing not only your standard lifts and strengthening exercises (i.e. squats, deadlifts, knee extensions, hamstring curls, leg press, etc.), but also a lot of single leg stability/neuromuscular control exercises and golf-specific exercises. 

[BSI99]

On 4/24/2025 at 6:46 PM, mrgimmemonster said:

I tend to agree with @rsballer10 in that I would not rush recovery. Return to sport should not be determine based purely on time from surgery. Unfortunately, a lot of surgeons and PTs still use time-dependent protocols and tell everyone they can start running after 3 months and return to sport after 9 months, etc. Also, it can make a difference what graft was used (autograft vs allograft, patellar vs hamstring, etc.) and if there was additional damage (meniscus or other ligamentous injuries, bone contusions, etc.).

 

The reality is that most do not know how properly rehab ACLRs because they typically don't see them long enough (whether due to insurance limits, poor patient compliance, etc.) or enough of them to progress appropriately and adequately prepare patients for return to sport. For people who just want to get back to basic activities, this is often adequate; however, for more advanced athletes or individuals, I often find that they are cleared way too early without meeting more important criteria (limb Symmetry index, quad to hamstring strength ratios, fear avoidance behaviors, etc.). Even rehab professionals who use certain objective or measurable criterion (like hop tests, etc.) to clear patients, often miss certain qualitative components that suggest the patient is actually not ready (for example, someone who can achieve similar triple hop distances bilaterally, but display significant differences in how they load or fail to load their knees). 

 

Although golf may not be quite as reactive of a sport as basketball or soccer, there are still significant horizontal, rotational, and vertical demands on the knees, so you need to make sure that you are properly prepared. Even if you don't have pain or reactive swelling, you still need to make sure that you have adequate strength, stability, neuromuscular control, etc. The less stable and strong your legs are, the more likely that this will lead to other issues down the road (all surgeries tend to accelerate arthritic changes due to the trauma of surgery, but lack of strength and stability with increased laxity will further serve to accelerate those changes). 

 

If I were you, I would try to find a PT that sees a lot of ACLRs (or specializes in it if possible) and works specifically with golfers (because the demands are different than other sports). You should be doing not only your standard lifts and strengthening exercises (i.e. squats, deadlifts, knee extensions, hamstring curls, leg press, etc.), but also a lot of single leg stability/neuromuscular control exercises and golf-specific exercises. 

Thanks for the detailed reply. While my PT doesn't seem to work with a lot of golfers he certainly sees a lot of ACL tears. I live in Colorado and during the winter the ski resorts have people dropping like flies. To supplement this I started working with a TPI certified PT who gave me more specific golf related exercises.

 

I will say my PT and surgeon have both vocalized how my recovery has been relatively very fast compared to the majority of their patients. Fortunately I am a young guy who was very active before my injury and am no stranger to the gym which I think has helped me regain a lot of that strength I lost faster than an average person. I totally plan to not push my body but it's also hard for me to imagine that 3 months post surgery with the strength and stability progressions I've made a few swings with an 8 iron would cause damage to my graft.  

 

 

[mrgimmemonster]

9 hours ago, Thollo said:

Thanks for the detailed reply. While my PT doesn't seem to work with a lot of golfers he certainly sees a lot of ACL tears. I live in Colorado and during the winter the ski resorts have people dropping like flies. To supplement this I started working with a TPI certified PT who gave me more specific golf related exercises.

 

I will say my PT and surgeon have both vocalized how my recovery has been relatively very fast compared to the majority of their patients. Fortunately I am a young guy who was very active before my injury and am no stranger to the gym which I think has helped me regain a lot of that strength I lost faster than an average person. I totally plan to not push my body but it's also hard for me to imagine that 3 months post surgery with the strength and stability progressions I've made a few swings with an 8 iron would cause damage to my graft.  

 

 

Yup skiing is definitely one of the most common ways people tear their ACLs. Sounds like you're in good hands! Best of luck and wish you a speedy and full recovery!