For more than a decade, keen golfer Lydia Derbyshire suffered with chronic back pain that was repeatedly dismissed as muscle strain, growing pains or the result of playing too much of the sport she loved.

Despite years of appointments and physiotherapists, nobody recognised the real cause. It was not until the then 23-year-old from Knaresborough collapsed in agony during a golf competition that she was finally diagnosed with scoliosis.

“I felt something go in my back and I had numbness all down my left leg and I felt like I couldn’t walk,” says Derbyshire, who harboured dreams of becoming a professional. “I was in agony, I went to a GP and they said, ‘you’ve got a bad back just deal with it.’”

The relentless pain, coupled with not knowing what was wrong, took a toll on her mental health.

Knaresborough Golf Club pro Lydia Derbyshire.

placeholder image — Knaresborough Golf Club pro Lydia Derbyshire.

“I was written off work for nearly a month for anxiety and depression because I just didn't know what was wrong with me,” says Derbyshire, now 25.

Ironically, it was a less experienced physiotherapist who recognised the problem.

She recalls: “He took one look at me and said: ‘you've got scoliosis’”.

“I have had a bad back since I was 12 years-old,” adds Derbyshire, who first picked a golf club at the age of three, when introduced to the sport by her grandad at Calverley.

New path: Lydia Derbyshire saw her golfing dreams ended by a scoliosis diagnosis and as well as raising awareness about the condition, she now teaches others how to play instead.

“As a teenager I used to get terrible pain in my lower back and was told it was muscular or it was brushed off as playing too much golf. It is pretty obvious when you look at me that I don’t stand up straight, I’ve got one shoulder which bulges out and I have a hip that also bulges.”

Further investigations revealed arthritis in her facet joints and a partially slipped disc, alongside the curvature of her spine.

“I felt like I was deformed in some way,” she says. “It made me really self-conscious.”

The diagnosis also threatened the career she had spent her life working towards. Her introduction to the sport via her grandfather had had a transformative effect. By the age of nine, she was competing in club competitions, later progressing to represent Yorkshire Juniors and Ladies. She later left her A-levels to pursue a career in golf, training with the Professional Golfer’s Association to become the highest calibre of golfer.

After the diagnosis, she feared not just that her golf playing days might be over. When doctors warned her that golf was making her condition worse, it felt as though everything she had worked for was slipping away.

“I was told golf was making it worse, but it’s my job and my life,” says Derbyshire, who by now was on the pathway to becoming a PGA teaching professional. “My whole world came crashing down.

“I didn't know what I was going to do because I quit my A levels and the fear of the unknown while being young is so scary.”

New lease of life

The PGA granted her special dispensation so she could continue her qualification despite not being able to compete. And it has given her a new lease of life.

Lydia, now fully qualified, teaches golfers ranging from four-year-old beginners to players in their nineties at Knaresborough Golf Club, and says helping others has given her a renewed sense of purpose.

She says: “Teaching such a wide range of people gives me so much joy, I absolutely love it.”

She attends regular physiotherapy sessions, pilates-based exercises, and attends aqua aerobics to build muscle without putting extra strain on her spine.

Doctors have discussed spinal fusion surgery, but Lydia is reluctant to undergo such a major operation.

“I don't think I'm going to get done because it's such a major surgery and it's not guaranteed to fix the pain,” she says. “My life compared to two years ago is completely different, I’m not depressed or anxious anymore and I’ve got a good quality of life at the minute granted I’m in pain everyday.”

Now, she is determined to ensure others do not spend years searching for the answers as she did.

“For me, the most important thing is about raising awareness of the condition because it can go unnoticed.

“I think for girls, which it is more commonly found in, it is often overlooked as them being overdramatic or it is just growing pains.”

Lydia has been working alongside Socoliosis Support and Research Society, and using social media to raise awareness.

Looking ahead, Lydia plans to build on her PGA qualification by studying for a Bachelor of Science degree in professional golf while continuing to coach.