PEAK PERFORMANCE GOLF
Hitting the Greens with a Great Back

There are over 25 to 27 million golfers in America, as the popularity of the sport has skyrocketed in recent years. As you may have read in many recent golf publications, several PGA Tour players (David Duval, Tiger Woods, Fred Couples and Raymond Floyd) are citing chiropractic along with their fitness training programs as a primary reason for their improved play and decreased incidence of injury. Training programs such as joint mobility, flexibility, strength, and stamina designed for you to increase drives and accuracy while decreasing chances for injury.

The golf swing subjects the lower back to rapid, complex and intense loading patterns. The low back must contend with significant lateral bending, shear, compression, and torsional forces. For example, the golf swing generates a peak compression load of more than eight times the body weight in both amateurs and professionals, where as running and rowing only generate four to seven times body weight, respectively. It is not surprising that 62% of golfers will incur an injury directly related to the sport.

Back in the mid-1980's Raymond Floyd and Payne Stewart were some of the first golfers to go to their chiropractor and the fitness trailer for stretching and light weight work. Since then, working out and chiropractic care have become mandatory among the best players. Proper joint mobility allows the golfer to have a complete, full turn for his back swing and permits his/her hip to clear toward the target producing power and accuracy. The more flexibility and strength a person can develop the longer that golfer will hit the ball.

For amateurs, flexibility is paramount because they sit in offices most of their working days. Flexibility is something the body loses quickly, but also something it can regain with time and proper instruction. Most golf publications show many stretching exercises that may be very wrong for you. In fact they may cause injury to your back and neck. That is why you need to be evaluated by a professional that knows tissue specific rehabilitation and how it relates to golf.