Golf Swing Recovery / Question Presented

Question Presented

After multiple cervical surgeries for severe cervical nerve impingement — involving major loss of right-arm function and significant muscle atrophy — and now with function gradually returning, how do I prevent my brain from continuing to run old compensatory movement patterns while rebuilding my golf swing?

More specifically: am I primarily dealing with strength recovery, motor-pattern retraining, neuroplasticity, or some combination of all three?

Relevant Facts (if useful)

I am a right-handed golfer.

The major areas involved included the supraspinatus, scapular stabilizers, and serratus, with scapular winging that has been improving through PT.

It became so severe prior to surgery that I ultimately lost functional use of my right arm. I could not move it normally in any direction. The orthopedic surgeon told me that if scheduling had allowed, he would have performed surgery immediately, but I had to wait until Monday because he was already in surgery. My understanding at the time was that prolonged nerve compromise risked more permanent loss of function.

To give perspective on the degree of dysfunction involved: after the first surgery it took roughly six weeks before I could do something as simple as pat myself on the head with my right arm.

Before all of this I had a perfectly workable golf swing and generally played around a 9–10 handicap. I then stepped away from golf for a number of years and shifted toward other sports.

When we moved back to the Philadelphia area in the period leading up to surgery, I put a lot of effort into coming back and began working seriously on my game again.

At the time I assumed I was simply rusty from time away from golf. However, what felt unusual to me was the development of deep pulls and weak push fades/push slices. Those patterns did not feel like “my swing,” and I assumed they were part of shaking rust off.

Looking back now, I wonder whether the injury process itself was already progressing and whether I unknowingly developed compensation patterns because certain muscles simply were not functioning normally.

Examples from daily life only made sense in retrospect. Reaching into a cabinet or stirring a pot often required compensatory movement patterns. Instead of the shoulder functioning normally, I would elevate with the trap, side bend, or recruit my body to accomplish tasks.

My working hypothesis is not that the swing was suddenly fixed after surgery. Rather, I may have been creating a compensatory backswing position because of altered shoulder/scapular function, which then forced compensatory movements later in the swing.

Today was my first range session back since surgery.

I was not suddenly striping it, and the swing was obviously rusty. However, something caught my attention: for the first time in a long time I saw flashes of shots that I simply was not producing before surgery.

The old deep pulls and weak push fades were not dominating the session the way they had before.

Requested Analysis

I am not looking for a diagnosis or a quick swing fix.

I am trying to understand whether I am primarily dealing with strength recovery, motor-pattern retraining, neuroplasticity, or some combination of those things.

More specifically: now that function is returning, how do I avoid continuing to reinforce the old compensatory movement patterns that developed while those muscles were unavailable?

Any experience — professional or personal — would be appreciated.