Did you know that PGA golfers like Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington have used the services of a chiropractor for them to be able to keep playing a tournament and recover between events? It is not just PGA pros who can benefit from seeing chiropractors even everyday golfers can benefit from chiropractic treatment.
There are three main causes of golf injuries: poor posture, lack of flexibility, and poor swing mechanics. The root cause of poor mechanics is often a result of a physical restriction or mechanical dysfunction, which may be alleviated through chiropractic care. Lack of flexibility can also be addressed by treatment and a stretching program can be designed around each patient’s restrictions. Chiropractic care is ideally suited to deal with poor posture and poor mechanics.
On the golf course, physical exertion is intermittent. A golfer will attempt approximately 50-70 violent swings every five minutes or so while playing 18 holes. The average golfer will swing there a club at 80-100 miles per hour. On the driving range, the pounding is rapid and relentless. A golfer will do this for hours and continue injuring there body repeatedly. These repetitive motions can cause injury to your wrist, elbow, shoulder, arm, head, and spine. The next day after golfing you may feel sore but with proper stretching beforehand and the use of proper posture this soreness could be erased. The golf swing requires the spine to rotate, bend laterally and extend. This requires flexibility that is golf-specific. Chiropractors have extensive training in the biomechanics of human movement. It is important to maintain movement in your spine, so you can bend properly and make the movements necessary to have the perfect swing on the course. A Chiropractor can take you through correct posture and how to maintain it while swinging a golf club. They may give you stretches to do before you start playing for the day, these stretches will help you warm up and will help prevent a sprain/strain injury; these may also improve your golf swing. It is also important to walk from hole to hole because this gives you a cardio work out and may help you lose a couple of pounds.
The normal healthy spine should have three curves creating a gentle S-shape to it. When addressing a golf ball poor posture can easily create flattened or exaggerated curves in your spine that will play havoc with your swing. Having a chiropractor look at your spinal ranges of motion could help pick up restriction in the joints in your back. Releasing these restrictions through a chiropractic adjustment and specific muscle techniques and rehabilitation exercises could get you back on the course in no time.