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Golfers Swing into Summer with Chiropractic Care

Golfers Swing into Summer with Chiropractic Care

afternoon golfing
afternoon golfing

PGA golfers Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington have relied on chiropractic care for years to stay healthy and to improve their performance over the course of their professional careers. Fred Funk and Suzann Pettersen have too. So have a great many others. So there’s really little doubt that elite golfers (and their coaches and trainers) recognize the value of chiropractic care. But what about the weekend warrior? Can chiropractic care help the average golfer play better, longer and with fewer injuries?

If you’re a golfer, you might already know first-hand that your musculoskeletal health plays a huge role in your enjoyment of the sport as well as your performance.

One of the most important things to understand is that the biomechanics of your golf swing can affect your health (back, hips, neck, elbows, etc.) and vice-versa—that your health can affect your swing.  It’s really a feedback loop that can have either a positive or negative effect on your game over time.

Many professionals around the broader golf community—from instructors and trainers to healthcare providers who specialize in sports medicine—are becoming increasingly interested in this feedback loop.  The Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) is one very good example:

“…TPI has analyzed how physical limitations in a player’s body can adversely affect the golf swing and potentially lead to injury.”

“TPI’s mission is to educate golfers and industry professionals on the body/swing connection…”

Let’s talk health first.

The very nature of golf and the biomechanics associated with swinging a club make chiropractic care a great fit for golfers. Golfing can involve considerable strain on the spine as a result of the need to generate club head speed. This requires good swing mechanics—posture, balance and timing. Poor swing mechanics have the potential to create exaggerated or flattened spinal curves that can seriously affect performance. In fact, Tom Ward, PGA Golf Instructor, says, “Over 50% of all golfers will experience some sort of pain due to poor posture and the problems that arise from loss of proper curves in the spine.”

By helping to improve your spine’s stability and range of motion, chiropractic care can help prevent injuries and enhance swing performance. An individualized treatment plan including chiropractic adjustments combined with structured stretching and exercise programs may make a significant difference in how well you golf and how much you enjoy it—as well as in how long you’re able to play the game.

Now what about performance?

Recent research suggests that chiropractic care can indeed lead to improved golf performance. A recent study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine demonstrated that the combination of chiropractic care and stretching are associated with greater improvements in golfers’ swings when compared to stretching alone.

Two groups of golfers participated in the study. One group received a program of stretching only, and the second received both stretching and spinal manipulation. The stretching program was the same for both groups, and both groups had similar average ages, handicaps, and initial swings. All 43 participants initially performed three full swing maneuvers, and the average distances were recorded. Over a 4-week period, all participants hit 3 balls before and after treatment.

After 4 weeks, the stretching only group showed no improvement in swing performance.  However the stretching and manipulation group did improve their swing performance and there was greater driving distance right after treatment each week. So it appears that yes, chiropractic care can help not only top golfers such as Woods and Harrington, but it can help you improve your golf game too.

A good golf swing is the result of a complex combination of balance, flexibility and strength.  And doing it repeatedly over the course of 18 holes (or even more in tournament play) takes a high degree of conditioning as well. If you’re serious about golf, chiropractic care can help you play better, play longer and avoid injuries while you’re doing it!

Call or visit our office today to learn more!

Top 5 Ways to Warm-Up Before a Golf Game

Top 5 Ways to Warm-Up Before a Golf Game

danger-golf
danger-golf

If you don’t know better, golf can seem like a laid-back sport that carries little risk of physical injury other than being hit by a stray ball or having a foot run over by a speeding golf cart. But the truth is that a correct golf swing requires a great deal of balance, flexibility and core strength and that it can place a great deal of strain on the golfer’s back.

Unfortunately, many golfers don’t recognize the importance of warming up before teeing off until it’s too late. With more men and women playing golf than ever before, the incidence of golf-related back pain is also growing. Frequent play can aggravate chronic or intermittent low back pain that, in turn, can interfere with your ability to play golf. However, warming up before you play can go a long way to stop the cycle of golf and back pain. Not only can it keep you on the course, it can also improve the quality of your game.

Focus on Stretching and Taking Practice Swings

  • Trunk rotations allow you to warm-up the torso by mimicking the motion you will use to swing your club. Place a golf club across the back of your shoulders and slowly twist from left to right to stretch the torso and the shoulders. The lower body should remain stable with the movement taking place in the torso.
  • Stretch quadriceps by standing with a chair or bench behind you with your arms crossed over your chest. Bend your knee so that one foot is resting on the seat of the chair or bench. Squeeze your buttocks muscles to cause a contraction of the quadriceps (muscles in the front of the thigh). Follow the motions of your golf swing. Repeat on the other side.
  • Stretch your back by standing behind the back of a chair with your feet apart. Hold the back of the chair while keeping the back straight. Still holding the chair, drop your body down and pull it away from the chair to create a stretch near the armpits.
  • Sitting on a bench or chair, place the ankle from one leg on top of the thigh of the other leg. Use your forearm to push down on the bent leg. Lean forward to create a gentle stretch in your hip. Repeat on the other side.
  • Woodchops are a good golf warm-up because they reach the abs, legs and back. To perform these, stand holding a golf club straight up and down, perpendicular to the ground. Raise the club slowly over the head while holding your arms straight. Keep back slightly arched to stretch the chest. Next, bring the club down and between your knees while you go into a squatting position. Maintain a flat back and hold abs in throughout the stretch. Move slowly enough that it takes 30 seconds to complete the entire stretch.

Good Swing Mechanics For a Healthy Back and a Healthy Back for Good Swing Mechanics

It really does work both ways. Golf-related back pain is often the result of muscle sprains or strains that can be prevented with appropriate preparation and warm-ups. But poor swing mechanics will also take their toll over time—even for golfers who are relatively young and fit. Swings that are off-balance or that rely on the wrong muscle groups to generate power put players’ backs at risk. The reverse is also true—players who are nursing back injuries (and other types of injuries, for that matter) frequently compensate for them by making changes in their golf swing that hurt their performance and that may increase the risk of additional injuries.

Golfers of all skill levels can benefit from regular chiropractic care. Many chiropractic physicians have specialized training in biomechanics and some have made a particular study of golf performance and golf-related injuries. If you’re a golfer who’s interested in getting or staying healthy and improving your game, call or visit our office today!

Chiropractic Expertise Helps Reduce Golf Injuries and Improve Player Performance

Chiropractic Expertise Helps Reduce Golf Injuries and Improve Player Performance

golfer-at-sunset
golfer-at-sunset

Can chiropractic care improve your golf game? As a golfer, you may have pondered this very question—and now you’re in luck. A recent Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) study showed that a combination of chiropractic care and stretching enables golfers to increase their drive distance by nearly 10%. PGA golfers such as Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington certainly believe this to be true, as they’ve incorporated chiropractic treatment into their training regimens for years. Unsurprisingly, the Titleist Performance Institute believes this to be true as well.

Sponsored by one of the most respected and popular purveyors of golf equipment and apparel, the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) has incorporated chiropractic as a fundamental part of its program since its founding in 2003. TPI was created to study how the human body functions—and functions at its best—when it comes to the game of golf. TPI believes that chiropractors have a unique and valuable perspective in this area given their expertise in human biomechanics as well as their specialized knowledge of the musculoskeletal system. At present, there are over 9,000 TPI-certified professionals in 57 countries, employing chiropractic and other methodologies to help golfers not only improve their performance, but also to avoid injury.

TPI’s work over the past decade has clearly demonstrated that chiropractors have even more to offer golfers than pain relief and rehab support. In fact, chiropractic physicians can actually help golfers to improve their game by identifying and correcting physical limitations that can adversely affect their swings. As an example, the TPI study mentioned above compared two groups of golfers: one practicing only stretching exercises, and the other practicing stretching exercises while receiving chiropractic spinal adjustments. Both groups performed three full swing maneuvers before and after each treatment, and the driving distances they achieved were recorded. After four weeks, the stretching-only group showed no improvement in swing performance, whereas the stretching plus chiropractic group achieved greater driving distance after each treatment.

This is important information for performance-oriented golfers, because although many of them rely on chiropractic care to help them when they are in pain or injured, they may not recognize that chiropractic care can help prevent problems and improve their game. But the TPI-certified chiropractors may to be able to do just that, offering tips and techniques that allow golfers to improve their joint function, customize and optimize their warm-up exercises, recover faster from injuries and soreness, and maximize their efficiency.

So if you’re a golfer, give your chiropractor a call and ask how he or she might be able to help you. Who knows—you might end up seeing your chiropractor to relieve your back or neck pain after an overly enthusiastic round of golf and find that he or she can help take a few strokes off your score!