Using Chiropractic Services To Improve Golf Performance

PGA golfers Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington have used chiropractic services for years in order to improve and maintain their golfing performance. Their successes suggest a benefit of chiropractic care, but it’s hard to know if it’s because of the care or because they are world-class athletes. Can chiropractic care help the average golfer improve their performance as well?

The very nature of the game of golf suggests a good match for players with chiropractic care. Golfing can involve considerable strain on the spine. Golfers need to move from a standing position quickly to club head speeds, requiring good posture, balance, and the ability to rotate the spine properly. Poor posture can create exaggerated or flattened spinal curves that can seriously affect swing 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.”[1]

By working with your spinal range of motion, chiropractic care can help correct golf injuries, maintain performance, and improve the posture needed to perform a good golf swing. When the chiropractor aligns all the vertebrae, the spine can move better. An individualized treatment plan including chiropractic adjustments, specific rehabilitation exercises and muscle techniques may make a significant difference in your overall performance and enjoyment of the sport.

Recent research confirms 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 swing when compared to stretching alone.[2]

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.

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References:

[1] Tom Ward, PGA Instructor. Golf Tips – The Importance of a Well Aligned Body to Your Golf Game.

[2] Journal of Chiropractic Medicine (2009) 8, 165-170.

Chiropractic Care for Improved Triathlon Performance Training and Recovery

A triathlon is an athletic event incorporating back-to-back running, cycling and swimming. Triathlons exert great strain on the body, which may challenge athletes on both physical and mental levels. The extreme training a triathlete must endure can put the body under great cumulative stress, and it’s not uncommon for the athletes to suffer from a broad range of injuries and overuse stresses.

There are numerous worldwide triathlon events, such as Ironman, Half-Ironman, Olympic and Spring. The majority of these events advocate the use of chiropractic care to aid not only in treating injuries, but also to improve performance. Chiropractic care offers the possibility of enhanced finishing times and a greater likelihood of triathletes finishing events.

Chiropractic treatment is a practice that focuses on the neuromuscular skeletal system and its use optimizes biomechanics. For these reasons, Fremont chiropractic care is ideal for athletes looking to treat or prevent injuries.

One type of chiropractic treatment used by many triathletes is the “Active Release Technique,” which is a form of soft tissue treatment based on an advanced movement massage system. It is very effective in locating and treating the cause of soft tissue conditions. Active Release Techniques are used in most of the large name triathlons. Many triathletes suffer from injuries attributed to repetitive strain and stress, since excessive training can result in muscle restrictions due to adhesion formation. Before treatment takes place, a biomechanical analysis of the athlete is conducted to determine the exact location of restrictions in the body along the kinetic chain.

Active Release Techniques focus on specific tissues that have become restricted physically, and are then manipulated back into their original texture, tension and position. Once the soft tissues are repositioned, specific exercises are then carried out in order to aid the recovery of damaged tissues. Unlike most treatments, treating the injured triathlete with chiropractic care does not require extended rest periods before improvements are seen. It is very common that injured athletes who receive the Active Release Technique show signs of improvement in just a few sessions. For those who are looking to invest only in preventive treatment, improvement in performance is also achieved in the span of a few sessions.

A possible reason that chiropractic care prior to an event can result in performance enhancement may be that spinal adjustments improve the body’s maximal oxygen consumption ability. Since prevention is easier than treatment of an injury, many professional athletes invest in preventive and performance enhancing chiropractic treatment.

 

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References:

[1] Triathalon. Accessed September 2011

[2] Sports Injuries Performance. Accessed September 2011