Think about this for a second.

You’re 55.
Maybe 60.
Maybe 65.

Your rotation isn’t what it used to be.
Your shoulder doesn’t move the same.

Your back gets tired.
Your hip feels tight.
Your strength has changed.
And eventually you come to the easiest conclusion:

“Well... I’m getting older.”

Maybe.

Age obviously matters.

But what if there’s more information sitting underneath that statement?

What if something happened 10... 20...
maybe even 30 years ago...

that you completely forgot about?

That brings us to something I call:
​BODY AMNESIA.

THE GOLFER MYTH

“IF IT DOESN’T HURT ANYMORE, IT DOESN’T MATTER.”

The surgery was 15 years ago.
Doesn’t matter.

The back problem happened in college.
Doesn’t matter.

The knee hasn’t bothered you in years.
Doesn’t matter.

You went to physical therapy.
You got cleared.

You went back to work.

You went back to golf.

So mentally you file it away under:

“I’M GOOD.”

And maybe you are.

But pain being gone doesn’t necessarily answer every question.

Does that area move the same?
Does it produce strength the same?
Did something change after the injury?
Did you stop using certain positions?
Did one side begin feeling different?

Did something eventually become your new normal?

Those are very different questions than simply:

“Does it hurt?”

We tend to use pain as the final scoreboard.

Pain gone?

Case closed.

But your physical history doesn’t disappear just because you stopped feeling pain.

WHAT IS BODY AMNESIA?

Here’s my definition:

Body Amnesia is the tendency to forget, dismiss, or downplay what your body has been through because it happened years ago—or because it doesn’t hurt anymore.

I see this with new clients all the time.

I’ll ask:

“Any significant injuries?”
“Nope.”

Any surgeries?
“No.”

Then 10 minutes later:
“Oh yeah... I had shoulder surgery.”

Anything else?
“Well, I blew my back out in my 30s.”

Anything else?
“I broke my wrist when I was younger.”

Brother...

you just went from:
“Nothing.”

to a CVS receipt.

That’s Body Amnesia.

You aren’t intentionally hiding your history.

YOU JUST STOPPED THINKING IT MATTERED.

THE PUMP-AND-DUMP

Body Amnesia reminds me of how I used to study in school.

Remember?  THE PUMP-AND-DUMP.

Cram everything into my head the night before the test.

Take the test.
Hopefully pass the test.

And the next day?
Couldn’t tell you shit.

The information did its job...
so my brain dumped the file.

We can do something very similar with injuries.

Get hurt.
Deal with it.

Go to therapy.
Feel better.

Return to work.

Return to golf.

DUMP THE FILE.

Then 20 years later somebody asks:

“Did anything ever happen to that hip?”

And suddenly:
“Oh yeah...
I forgot about that.”

The injury didn’t disappear from your physical history.

You stopped remembering that it was part of it.

THE BODY YOU HAVE TODAY HAS A HISTORY

The body you’re golfing with at

45...
55...
65...

didn’t magically appear at that age.

IT HAS A HISTORY.

The sports you played.
The way you trained.
The injuries.
The surgeries.
The periods of pain.
The years you were extremely active.
And maybe the years you weren’t.

They all become chapters in your physical story.

Years ago, I was sitting in an anatomy class while I was considering going back to physical therapy school.

We were using Thieme’s Anatomy, and there was an idea in there that stuck with me:

“Every ten years, you have a new body.”

What eventually became more interesting to me wasn’t just the idea of having a “new body.”

It was thinking about how much can change over a decade.

Maybe you lose some motion.
Maybe strength changes.
Maybe an injury changes which positions you use.
Maybe you start rotating less.
Maybe one side begins doing more.
And when those changes happen gradually enough...

you stop noticing them.

Eventually you just say:

“THAT’S JUST HOW I MOVE.”

You may not even remember when it changed.
That’s where Body Amnesia becomes interesting.

Now, this is important:
HISTORY DOESN’T AUTOMATICALLY GIVE YOU CAUSATION.

If you hurt your knee when you were 17, that doesn’t automatically mean it caused the problem you’re dealing with at 57.

That’s not the point.

HISTORY GIVES YOU INFORMATION.

I HAVE BODY AMNESIA TOO

I’m just as guilty of this as anybody.

If you’ve listened to my Golf MATchanics Origin Story, you’ve heard me talk about my back.

My back problems go all the way back to college.

I used to blow my back out pretty consistently.

It would lock up.

I’d be screwed for a few days.

Then it would calm down...

and I’d go right back to training like nothing happened.

Until it happened again.

And again.

Eventually:

MY BACK ENDED MY BODYBUILDING CAREER.

I loved bodybuilding.
I loved training heavy.

But my back kept getting in the way enough that eventually I stopped.

Then in my 30s, those episodes became more frequent.

After my first son was born, I had one that got bad enough that I couldn’t really help the way I needed to.

My wife basically looked at me like:

“You’re an invalid.”

And I remember thinking:

If this is what my back is doing in my 30s, what the hell is this going to look like when I’m 50 or 60?

That became a turning point.

I became much more consistent with Muscle Activation Techniques and much more deliberate with my strength work.

Today?

MY BACK FEELS PRETTY DAMN GOOD.

And that’s exactly where my own Body Amnesia can kick in.

Because now I can say:

“My back is fine.”

And technically...

yeah.

It feels pretty damn good right now.

But this was a problem significant enough to end my bodybuilding career and help change the direction of my entire career.

That belongs in my physical history.

Just because I feel good today doesn’t mean I should erase what my body went through to get here.

Trauma Map your INJURY HISTORY

Here’s where I want you to actually do something.

Don’t just finish reading this blog and say:

“That was interesting.”

Build your Trauma Map.

And keep it simple.

You don’t need a 47-page medical autobiography.

There are only four steps.

STEP 1 — BUILD THE MAP

Grab a piece of paper.

Across the top, divide your life into ten-year blocks:

0–10
10–20
20–30
30–40
40–50
50–60
60–70

Keep going depending on your age.

Then down the left side, list the major areas of your body:

• Head / Neck
• Shoulders / Arms
• Back / Spine
• Hips
• Knees
• Feet

If another area has been important in your history...

add it.

You’ve now created a simple map of your body across your lifetime.

STEP 2 — WRITE DOWN WHAT HAPPENED

Go decade by decade.

Think about:

INJURIES
SURGERIES
ACCIDENTS
SIGNIFICANT PAIN

Broke something?
Write it down.

Had surgery?
Write it down.

Car accident?
Write it down.

Back repeatedly went out?
Write it down.

And don’t get hung up on perfect dates.

This isn’t an FBI background check.

If all you remember is:
“Back problem — sometime in my 30s.”

Good enough.

The goal right now is simply:

REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED.

STEP 3 — ASK WHAT CHANGED

Now look at the bigger events.

Ask:
WHAT CHANGED AFTERWARD?

Did you lose motion?
Did something feel weaker?
Did one side feel different?
Did you stop doing something?
Did you begin avoiding a position?
Did that area never quite feel the same again?

Then ask:

IS ANY OF THAT STILL TRUE TODAY?

Maybe you had shoulder surgery 15 years ago.

No pain today.

Great.

But maybe you never got all of the motion back.

That is information.

You’re simply comparing:

WHAT HAPPENED THEN...

with:

WHAT IS DIFFERENT NOW?

STEP 4 — COMPARE IT TO YOUR GOLF BODY

Now make another short list.

What are you physically struggling with in golf today?

Maybe:

“I can’t turn like I used to.”
“I don’t feel stable.”
“I’ve lost strength.”
“My back gets tired.”
“My shoulder limits my backswing.”
“My body won’t let me get into that position.”

Now put the two lists next to each other.

Your physical history.

And your current golf-body problems.

Then ask:

IS THERE ANYTHING HERE WORTH TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT?

That’s it.

You’re not saying:

“My injury from 25 years ago caused my golf problem.”

You’re saying:

“Here’s something from my history. Here’s something still different today. Maybe it deserves a closer look.”

That’s a much smarter question.

KEEP YOUR BODY INJURY HISTORY SIMPLE

If you remember nothing else:

1. BUILD THE MAP.
2. WRITE DOWN WHAT HAPPENED.
3. ASK WHAT CHANGED.
4. COMPARE IT TO YOUR GOLF BODY.

That’s your Body Injury History.

It doesn’t need to be fancy.
It doesn’t need to be perfect.

It just needs to help you remember the things Body Amnesia may have caused you to forget.

Because saying:

“My hip feels tight.”

gives us one piece of information.

But saying:

“My hip feels tight. I had surgery there 15 years ago, and I’ve never really moved the same since.”

Now we have a much better question to investigate.

YOUR HISTORY DOESN’T GIVE YOU ALL THE ANSWERS.
YOUR HISTORY HELPS YOU ASK BETTER QUESTIONS.

THREE GOLF NERD NINJA TAKEAWAYS

1. IF IT DOESN’T HURT ANYMORE, IT CAN STILL MATTER

Pain-free doesn’t automatically mean everything moves, feels, or performs exactly the same as it did before.
Don’t use pain as the only measure of whether something belongs in your physical history.

2. BODY AMNESIA MAKES US FORGET USEFUL INFORMATION

Don’t obsess over your past.
But don’t erase it either.
Your injuries, surgeries, periods of pain, and physical changes are part of the golf body you’re bringing to the course today.

3. BUILD YOUR BODY INJURY HISTORY

Build the map.
Write down what happened.
Ask what changed.
Compare it to your golf body.

YOUR HISTORY GIVES YOU BETTER QUESTIONS TO ASK.