Should You Use It?
We recently discussed playing golf with arthritis. Trying to maintain your body to allow for a long ‘golf life’ is a quest and challenge faced by most ‘older’ golfers. (I’ll let you define the word ‘older’). As we age we get stiffer in the joints, become less flexible and have more pain than in our youth. My mother always told me that I would ‘pay’ for all of my years in sports. I hate to say she was right but I have found there are ways to deflect the sting from that adage.
Regular exercise (off the golf course) including stretching, cardio and weight training are keys to keep up your stamina, improve waning flexibility and building strength, tone and balance. For some specific exercises look at our articles on our Golf Fitness section of our blog.
However, there are times that more is needed to keep the body tuned up. There are two primary options that I personally recommend. One is getting regular medical massages (which I will discuss in another article). The other is chiropractic treatment. A lot of us have ill perceived views towards the chiropractic profession. Folks…that is OLD SCHOOL!! Chiropractors are definitely mainstream today often working hand-in-hand with physicians to maximize the treatment options for patients everywhere.
Chiropractic care is more prevalent today than ever before. In fact, chiropractic care is standard for many professional golfers and should be for more amateurs. Choosing the right Chiropractor is key. Just as with other physicians, you need to seek out the professional that you can relate to on a personality/temperament basis and that is up-to-date with current modalities. Ask your primary care physician as well as friends and family for recommendations. Once decided who to go to make sure you discuss not only what is going wrong with your body but what the options are for treatment. Don’t be afraid to ask questions a la interview style.
Treatment options can range from manual manipulation, the use of an activator and body energy to focus on trigger points, as well as the Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique (B.E.S.T.). There are others as well but the old ‘neck-cracking’ techniques have been supplanted by more modern and effective treatments.
Think about what the golf swing does to your body, especially your back. There is tension in the spine along with all of the twisting and bending incurred. No wonder so many golfers have back problems. Unfortunately the problems are not limited to the back. Hip pain, shoulder, neck and knee problems all seem to surface after years of abuse. These problems aren’t specific to golf…just aging in general.
So if you are feeling ‘out of joint’ don’t overlook the value of having a good chiropractor on your medical team. Who knows maybe you will gain extra yardage off the tee…just so your drive will go deeper into the woods. 
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Tags: activator, back problems, Chiropractic, golf, golf exercise
I believe that all of the “strains” mentioned above as having to do with the golf swing are also “strains” that can be created and worsened by the repeatative motions made by players bending over to pick clubs up off of the ground. Hips, legs, knees, neck, shoulders and back are all “stressed” by the non-exercise motions of stooping over to pick clubs up.
These motions are mostly executed with most of the body weight on one foot, somewhat off balance and stretching out to retrieve a club. How many out there have ever seen an exercise video that teaches picking up clubs as an “exercise”? It’s not and over time (the average player picks up clubs during one round between 40-70 times) that add stessful motion will take it’s toll.
Think about it.
Dave,
Thanks for adding that very important observation. It’s those actions that we don’t think about as having repercussions until we ‘overdo’ it. I know firsthand that your product The Club Caddy is a perfect remedy to alleviate some of those actions. Also, a ball ‘picker’ on the end of a putter also may help…unless of course, you have the good fortune of playing with a caddy on your bag.
I find this conversation of great interest, thanks for introducing it Sherry. I think “golf and fitness” is one of the next Big things in the golf industry and an area that will begin to grow by the day. Believe it or not I credit much of the attention to this subject to Tiger Woods (which is another story altogether…). Anyway, with so much attention coming to health and fitness in the golf arena we at Sweet Spot thought it important enough to bring on an Advisor to our business with this expertise, Dr. Christian Reichardt who wrote the book, PAIN-FREE GOLF. I highly recommend this book, it and Dr. Reichardt’s knowledge’s about fitness and golf has been an enormous benefit to our business approach at Sweet Spot. I also am a fan of Golf Fitness Magazine.
Brian, I agree wholeheartedly. Annika raised the level of fitness for the women as Tiger has done for the men. I’ll check out the book. At my age anything to reduce pain and improve flexibility is of interest to me.
Hello Sherry
I want to thank Brian for the trust put in me and my approach to golf.
The basic concept arose out of the observation that golf is responsible for more injuries than football according to thr NIH!
Looking at the long range and fast paced, repetitive motions necessary for a decent golfswing and then also looking at the age of many golfers, it is no wonder that many experience difficulties and pain/injuries.
Getting more limber and pliable will not only yards to your game, but also longevity!
Please feel free to contact me for more info!
All the best and swing easy!
Dr. Christian Reichardt
Dr. Reichardt,
I am looking forward to learning more about you and your approach to helping reduce injury and adding longevity to our golf games. Thanks for touching base.
[...] Sherry wrote an interesting post today onGolf and Chiropractic Care-Should You Use It? | Ladies on the TeeHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
sherry,
I like your attempted endorsement of chiropractic and its effectivness however I must point out to the readers that the techniques you listed are not mainstream and the old “neck cracking ” that you mention is still very much a part of regular chiropractic treatment. After all, that is what chiropractic is, manipulating the spine to remove nervous system interferance. It has not, in any way shape or form been replaced by more modern, and certainly not more effective treatments. It is very obvious that you don’t enjoy regular chiropractic care, adjusting the spine, and found a chiropractor that does the not so mainstream technique you mentioned, BEST. I don’t personally know one chiro that does that technique and I’ve been a DC for 20 yrs now.
If your going to endorse chiropractic, which I think you attempted to do, don’t put it down by calling it the “old neck cracking” technique.
Any effort to treat golf-related injury or improve the golf swing requires a combined approach that addresses both joint mechanics AND muscle flexibility. Joint mechanics are best addressed with corrective chiropractic adjustments to the affected joints. Chiropractors use massage, physical therapy, Active Release or Graston therapy to restore flexibility to tight damaged muscles.
Hi Sherry-
As a chiropractor, I appreciate your endorsement however, “old neck cracking”?? Chiropractic adjustments are the foundation that chiropractic was developed on and still is the primary tool 99% of chiropractors use to restore mobility and encourage better spinal alignment. Though I have heard of BEST technique very few chiropractors use it (none that I know) and the ones who do, aren’t doing it because it is a more modern and more effective technique. Delivering a skilled and proper adjustment takes a tremendous amount of skill, strength and speed. Plenty of chiropractor don’t learn to do it well or get injured and take up low force techniques. They are good and valid techniques however, not superior and not more “modern”
Lori,
You make some very good points. Like anything else we need to seek out the ‘best’ when it comes to medical care. A medical diploma does not mean that the practitioner is the best in their field. It does not tell us how much additional work/study has been done to stay current in their field nor where they stood in terms of competency when they finished their program.
I had the misfortune of going to someone who caused some serious problems to an already damaged neck by not listening to me and my needs. Hence, my use of the term ‘neck-cracking’. That does not in any way reflect on the entire chiropractic field. There is a definite place for what you do and the skills you have including the use of the modulator and BEST techniques as suggested in my article.