I Tested 5 Ways to Stay Loose Between Rounds. Only One Stopped My Back From Complaining.

Last spring I noticed something about my Sunday mornings. After a Saturday round, I'd back out of the driveway and struggle to turn far enough to check my blind spot. My lower back would be stiff until noon.

The round itself had changed too. I wasn't finishing my backswing, I was losing distance off the tee, and I'd started hitting a slice I hadn't had in fifteen years.

My physical therapist, who also plays, told me the problem wasn't really my swing. My mid back had gotten so stiff from sitting at a desk all week that it wasn't rotating. So my lower back, which isn't built to twist much, was doing the turning for it. Every swing, and every next morning, I paid for it.

So I spent four months trying to fix it. Here's everything I tried, ranked from least to most useful.

#5: Massage gun

It feels great on tight hamstrings and glutes after a round, and I still use mine. But it only works the surface of the muscles you can reach, and it never touched the stiffness in my mid back. The relief lasted about as long as the battery.

#4: Foam roller

A foam roller along my upper back actually helped a little, which told me I was on the right track. The problem is you balance your whole body on a loose cylinder. At 58, I spent more time trying not to roll off than relaxing into it. After a couple of weeks it went in the closet.

#3: A 15-minute pre-round stretching routine

Every golf fitness video recommends it, and it's not wrong. When I did it, I swung better. But I only did it about half the time, because I was usually rushing from the car to the first tee. It also did nothing for the Sunday stiffness, because most of those stretches bend you forward, the direction my back had been stuck in all week.

#2: Inversion table

My playing partner swears by his, so I borrowed it for three weeks. Hanging upside down did give my back a real stretch. But strapping my ankles in and waiting for the blood to rush to my head wasn't something I wanted to do every night. Most run $150 to $300, and his took up half the spare room. I gave it back.

#1: ReCurve

My physical therapist pointed me here. ReCurve is a small curved stretcher with padded rollers on a steel frame. You lean back over the curve and let your mid and lower back stretch backward.

Here's why it beat everything else. My back needed the opposite of how I sit all week: a stretch that bends the mid back backward and opens the chest. That's the position your spine needs to be able to rotate properly.

The foam roller got close, but I couldn't relax on it. The inversion table did it, but with a lot of drama. ReCurve holds you on a stable frame, so your whole upper back can settle in and actually let go.

MY #1 PICK FOR WEEKEND GOLFERS

Free up your mid back so your lower back stops doing the turning

• Opens the stiff mid back that blocks your rotation
• 5 minutes after a round or in the evening
• Stable steel frame. No balancing like a foam roller
• Fits under the bed, not half a room

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Three weeks later

I started using it for five minutes every evening, plus right after each round. Within about three weeks, the Sunday morning stiffness was mostly gone and I could check my blind spot without thinking about it.

On the course, I'm finishing my backswing again. I won't claim it fixed my slice, but my back is no longer the reason for it.

How they compare

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My verdict

If your back is starting to decide how well you play, ReCurve is the first thing I'd buy.

SALE PRICE TODAY

ReCurve Bundle: $120 (normally $199)

Less than a new driver, and it might do more for your Sunday mornings. Comes with a Hot & Cold Back Wrap plus the free 5-Minute Back Reset guide. Try it for 60 days, plenty of rounds to find out. If it doesn't work for you, send it back for a full refund.

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