Golf after hip replacement: when you can play again, and how to swing

Golf after hip replacement is the normal outcome, not the exception. In a review of the published studies, around 90% of golfers who had a hip replacement went back to the game, usually within four to six months, and many say the hip feels better on the course than it did before surgery. The right moment for you is your surgeon's call, and the first weeks are about walking, healing and your physiotherapy exercises.

This guide brings together what the research shows about timing, scores and comfort, a stage-by-stage outline to talk through with your surgical team, some swing changes that reduce the load on the new joint, and the signs that mean you should get checked.

How many golfers return after a hip replacement?

The best summary comes from a 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis in the American Journal of Sports Medicine by surgeons in Edinburgh and New York. Pooling the available studies, they found a mean return-to-golf rate of 90% after hip replacement, higher than after knee or shoulder replacement. Across all three joints, the average time to return was 4.4 months. The authors note that every included study was retrospective, so the numbers rely on golfers' own recall.

Two large surveys add detail:

• 599 French competitive golfers. A 2021 study in The Journal of Arthroplasty surveyed members of the French Golf Federation at least two years after their hip replacement. On average they were back to a full 18 holes at 4.73 months. Hip pain while playing fell from 6.8 to 2.5 on a 10-point scale, and 88% reported their drive distance was the same or longer.
• 1,097 UK hip replacement golfers. A 2022 study in Bone and Joint Open, run with The R&A, combined a survey with handicap records. Of the hip patients, 94% played the same amount of golf or more after surgery, 23.5% were hitting iron shots at six weeks and 80% were back in club competitions at six months. Only 1.7% were unable to return.

Not every study is quite so rosy. In a 2022 Edinburgh study of 308 hip replacement patients, 32 of the 44 golfers (72.7%) returned to golf. Those who returned were more likely to be men and to have had better hip function and quality of life before surgery. The golfers in that study also improved more on a standard hip function score than the non-golfers did, which suggests that having golf to get back to is a good thing.

How soon can you play golf after hip replacement?

There is no single answer, and your surgeon will base it on your operation, your bone quality and how your rehabilitation is going. The outline below is drawn from the NHS guide to recovering from a hip replacement and the study averages above. Treat it as a set of questions to bring to your follow-up appointment, not a schedule to follow.

1. The first 6 weeks: walk and heal. The NHS advises walking every day as far as is comfortable, doing the exercises your physiotherapist sets and waiting at least 6 weeks before driving. During this period it also advises not bending the hip beyond 90 degrees, not crossing your legs and avoiding sudden turns. A golf swing is a sudden turn, so this is not the time to test it.
2. Around 6 to 12 weeks: the follow-up appointment. The NHS says this usually happens around 6 to 12 weeks after surgery. It is the natural moment to ask whether you can start putting and chipping. In the UK study, about a quarter of golfers were hitting iron shots by six weeks, so some surgeons are comfortable with an early, gentle start.
3. Roughly 3 to 6 months: building to full rounds. Short sessions at the range with mid and short irons, then nine holes, then eighteen. The French golfers averaged 4.73 months to a full round, with a wide range.
4. Around 6 months and beyond: competitive golf. By six months, 80% of the UK golfers were back in club competitions. Some people take longer, and the NHS notes that full recovery can take several months.

If your surgeon has given you specific movement precautions, they apply on the course too. Ask them directly whether any part of the swing, such as turning on the operated leg, should be limited for your type of operation.

Will a hip replacement affect your handicap?

Mostly by a stroke or so, in either direction. The studies disagree slightly, which is itself reassuring:

The UK study found a larger increase after replacing both hips, and no difference between a replaced lead hip and a replaced trail hip. If you were struggling through rounds with an arthritic hip beforehand, a pain-free swing may well be worth more than a stroke on your handicap.

What actually happens in your hip during the golf swing

A small but useful 2023 study in Scientific Reports used motion capture to analyse the driver swing in ten patients with one hip replaced, average age 68. The swing produced around 20 to 30 degrees of rotation in the replaced hips, whether it was the lead or the trail side. The estimated forces through the joint averaged 5.1 times body weight in a replaced lead hip and 6.6 times body weight in a replaced trail hip, a difference the authors found was not statistically significant.

The authors concluded that golf is an acceptable sport after hip replacement because the driver swing does not put excessive rotation or force through the new joint. Golfers in the study who had pain in the replaced hip tended to have higher forces on that side, which is why small swing adjustments can make a difference.

Arthroplasty surgeons have been comfortable with golf for decades. A 1992 paper in The Journal of Arthroplasty reported that members of the Hip Society did not believe golfers had higher complication rates than non-golfers, and permitted their patients to play. It also noted that most golfers with a successful hip replacement do not have pain while playing, though a mild ache after a round is common.

Swing changes after a hip replacement

You do not need to rebuild your swing, but a few adjustments, ideally worked through with your club professional, can reduce the load on the new hip while you rebuild confidence.

• Make a shorter, smoother swing. The authors of the 2023 swing study suggest a partial swing of around 80% of full distance, with less of the natural lateral weight shift, as one way to reduce hip forces. They did not test it directly, so treat it as a sensible starting point.
• Stand a little taller. The same authors describe a more upright set-up, with the turn coming from the torso, as producing smaller loads around the hip. Our guide to golf posture for older golfers shows how to set up without straining your back.
• Let the finish be relaxed. Finish balanced and tall rather than twisting hard onto the lead hip.
• Start with forgiving clubs. Teeing the ball up, and starting with short irons before you move to fairway woods and driver, keeps early sessions gentle.
• Mind the bending. Picking up balls and pushing in tees means bending low. While your hip precautions apply, a ball retriever on the end of your putter, or a playing partner's help, saves you from bending past a right angle.

For more ideas on easing the strain of the full swing, our article on the best golf swing for seniors covers changes that protect the body more generally.

Surgical factors matter too. A 2025 review from the Mayo Clinic in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons notes that changes in leg length, alignment and implant position can affect play. If something feels different at address, mention it to your surgeon or physiotherapist rather than forcing it.

Gentle exercises to get golf-ready

Only start these once your surgeon or physiotherapist has cleared you, and if you have been given hip precautions, check each exercise with them first. They are adapted from the total hip replacement exercise pack from the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, whose class starts from 3 weeks after surgery. They do not replace the programme your own physiotherapist gives you. Move within comfort, go slowly and stop if you feel sharp pain.

1. Seated trunk turns. Sit tall on a firm chair with your feet flat and arms crossed over your chest. Slowly turn your chest to one side, keeping your hips still, and hold for 5 seconds. Return to centre and turn the other way. Start with 5 each way. This trains the mid-back rotation your swing needs without twisting the hip.
2. Standing hip squeeze (isometric abduction). Stand behind a chair or worktop, holding on, feet slightly wider than hip width. Gently press your feet down and out into the floor, as if spreading it apart, without your feet moving. Hold for 5 seconds, relax. Do 5 to 10. You should feel the muscles at the side of your hips working.
3. Sit to stand. Sit near the front of a firm chair with arms, at a height where your hips stay above your knees. Stand up, keeping your knees over your big toes, then sit down slowly. Use your hands at first if you need to. Do 5, building to 10. This is the strength you use to rise out of your posture and to walk hills.
4. Heel raises. Hold a counter lightly, feet hip width apart. Rise onto your toes for a count of 3, hold for 3, then lower slowly. Do 8 to 10.
5. Standing pelvic tilts. Stand tall with a hand on a support. Slowly tip your pelvis forwards, then back, keeping the movement small and controlled. Do 8. This helps you find a comfortable spine angle at address.
6. Tandem stand. Holding a support, place one foot directly in front of the other and stand upright, aiming for 30 seconds, then swap. If it feels too hard, place your feet slightly apart. Balance is what lets you finish the swing with confidence.

When your team is happy for you to progress, the gentle moves in our hip mobility exercises for golf are a good next step, as long as your surgeon has cleared hip rotation.

When to see a professional

A mild ache after a round is common and usually settles. Contact your surgical team or physiotherapist if hip pain keeps building with golf, or if you notice clicking, a feeling of the hip giving way or a change in leg length. The NHS lists complications to watch for after a hip replacement.

Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 (or contact your doctor or surgeon's office in the US) if you have:

• a high temperature, or you feel hot, cold or shivery
• oozing or pus from your wound
• redness, tenderness, swelling or pain in your hip or leg that is not getting better or is getting worse
• throbbing or cramping pain in your hip or leg

Call 999 (911 in the US) or go to A&E if you have pain and swelling in your hip or leg along with difficulty breathing or chest pain. A fall onto the operated hip, or sudden severe pain that stops you putting weight on the leg, also needs prompt medical attention.

Turning this into a daily habit

The golfers who get back soonest tend to be the ones who keep moving, little and often, once their team has given the go-ahead. Evergreen, coming soon to iPhone, is built around that idea: a short in-app assessment asks where you feel stiff or sore, including the hips, then builds a 10-minute daily mobility routine with no equipment, shown as illustrated step-by-step demonstrations with a timer. It is a fitness product, not rehabilitation, so it belongs alongside your physiotherapist's plan, not in place of it. You can read more about how Evergreen builds your daily plan.

This article is general information, not medical advice. Always follow the guidance of your surgeon and physiotherapist after a hip replacement, and speak to them before returning to golf.

Sources

• Rate and Timing of Return to Golf After Hip, Knee, or Shoulder Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2023
• Return to Competitive Level of Play and Performance in Regular Golfers After Total Hip Arthroplasty: Analysis of 599 Patients, The Journal of Arthroplasty, 2021
• How does hip and knee arthroplasty affect golfer performance and what should be expected regarding return to play?, Bone and Joint Open, 2022
• Golfers have a greater improvement in their hip specific function compared to non-golfers after total hip arthroplasty, Bone and Joint Open, 2022
• Lower Extremity Total Joint Arthroplasty Has Minimal Effect on Golf Handicap, Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances, 2020
• Reverse dynamics analysis of contact force and muscle activities during the golf swing after total hip arthroplasty, Scientific Reports, 2023
• Total hip arthroplasty in active golfers, The Journal of Arthroplasty, 1992
• Golf After Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty: Getting Back Into the Swing, Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 2025
• Recovering from a hip replacement, NHS, accessed 2026
• Complications of a hip replacement, NHS, accessed 2026
• Total hip replacement exercise pack, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, accessed 2026