Do you know how much of a miracle your back is? Your back is both flexible and it has the ability to bear loads (lift and carry heavy stuff). Any engineer will tell you that it is not possible to build a structure that is both really flexible and supportive at the same time. You have to have a steel rod that can be compressed, twisted, or have shear forces coming against it to provide support. If you replace it with a flexible rod, then it will break under the pressure. Your back does it all. It can both stiffen up to carry a load and stay loose so you can dance!
But how does it stiffen up? This all depends on the actions of the muscles in your core. With a weak core, you can't sprint fast, change direction quickly, or do most athletic movements well. A weak core will also limit your ability to lift or carry heavy things. So, core strengthening and conditioning needs to be a focal point of any person's training! This can be achieve through a combination of different categories of exercises:
1) Lifting heavy, fee weight movements such as squat, deadlift, overhead presses and Olympic lifts
2) Single leg movements such as weight carries and different types of lunges. These movements challenge your core to balance and stabilize and stiffen the way it needs to in order to protect your back.
3) Isolation movements and gymnastics movements. Isolation exercises specifically target the core and gymnastics develop the strength and coordination of your core so it can translate strength to your extremities.
If your coach isn't providing these for you or if you are a coach and you have not included these types of exercises into your program, then you need to start. The back health of people and athletes depends on it!