Sophomore golfer Fia Lindblom is in the midst of a strong comeback this fall after cutting her 2024-25 season short with an injury.
During her freshman year at Texas State, Lindblom tore the right labrum in her hip. Throughout the year, Lindblom played with the injury, unaware of its extent.
“I actually didn’t know about it for almost a year, I think, now when I’m looking back at it,” Lindblom said. “It was right when I got here as a freshman. Our trainer, she was thinking it might be a little bit of a tear, but she didn’t know it was as bad as it was at first.”
Lindblom had surgery in fall 2024, causing her to miss the spring season. She attended rehab for seven months and slowly but surely, Lindblom was able to work back up to playing golf again.
In March, Lindblom started working on putting and short game. Throughout the summer, she worked herself up to full swings.
“It’s both hard physically, like you can’t just bounce right back into it, but it’s also a mental part of it,” Lindblom said. “You need to learn to trust your body again and everything, so for me it was kind of a slow comeback.”
A labrum tear can cause pain in the hip after walking or sitting for a long period of time, according to Mayo Clinic. The tear can also impact the hip joint, which causing locking or stiffness.
Throughout the recovery process, Lindblom stayed around her teammates to continue her involvement in the team.
“I was trying to stay around the team as much as I possibly could, because I think that brought a lot of energy for me,” Lindblom said. “Like seeing them, what they were doing, and kind of still being involved in a way.”
Lindblom joined the Bobcats at the Sam Golden Invitational, the team’s first outing of the 2025-26 season. At the second tournament, Lindblom experienced an injury flare-up, causing her to miss out on the event.
Lindblom said she worked with both the team’s physical therapist, Dr. Tiffany Constantino and assistant athletic trainer Taylor Lippert, to get back into the basics of rehab.
“I’m not used to playing as much as we have been playing,” Lindblom said. “I think that was what was going on a little bit, but it’s always kind of expected coming back from injury.”
Throughout tournaments and practices, head coach Par Nilsson worked with Lindblom on patience after coming back from the injury. At the third tournament of the season, Nilsson walked three rounds with Lindblom in Denver, Colo.
“I saw basically every hole she played,” Nilsson said. “I was mostly there to keep her patient and hit one shot at a time and not try to do everything at once.”
In Denver, Lindblom posted a top-10 finish, placing ninth, carding 2-under 214 (70-77-67).
At the end of the fall season, leading up to spring, the team has continued to motivate Lindblom in practices and tournaments. Assistant coach Maria Jose Martinez said when the team is playing well and practicing, Lindblom wants to go out and do all of the right things that will help her perform strongly.
“The team’s been able to motivate her by working hard so that she wants to work hard as well,” Martinez said. “Since we have a lot of good players this year, it’s been kind of pushing her to also become a better her.”
