Improve Your Golf With Osteopathy

Suffering from a golfing injury? Or want to improve your performance? Osteopathy can help! Osteopathy is a natural approach to healing and preventative health that focuses on treating your injuries while taking into account the body as a whole.

How does this relate to golf you ask? Golf requires good muscle strength and function, plus a good range of motion and flexibility of the spine and peripheral joints. It makes sense to take care of all of these areas when seeking to avoid injury and during rehabilitation but also when looking to get ahead with your technique.

How Can An Osteopath Help With Your Golf?

An Osteopath’s method for improving your golfing begins with a whole-body or holistic approach. This means taking into account golfing specifics such as stance, grip and swing along with other contributing factors including nutrition, lifestyle and general fitness.

Through a comprehensive consultation procedure and hands-on treatment process an Osteopath is able to provide assistance for injury prevention and rehabilitation as well as working towards improving overall performance out on the golf course.

5 Benefits Of Osteopathy For Golfers

How can Osteopathic treatment help you with your golfing? Here are our top 5 benefits of using and Osteopath.

• Better overall technique
• More efficient swing
• Stronger, more flexible spine
• Increased range of motion
• Decreased likelihood of injury

6 Common Golf Injury Prone Areas

Golf places the greatest amount of stress on the spine and peripheral joints such as the knees, shoulders and elbows. Some common areas of concern are the:

1. Neck. Full range of motion in the neck is desirable as keeping eye contact on the ball is an essential aspect of the game.
2. Lower Back. Flexibility and strength is key here with a focus on maintaining the correct overall posture throughout your swing as this is the most significant factor affecting the ligaments, tendons and muscles of your lower back.
3. Knees. Your knees are required to withstand a large amount of torque and compression when swinging a golf club. As a golfer it is important to understand the pressure your knees are under and how to look after them in order to avoid injuries such as tears to the cartilage and aggravation of existing degenerative conditions.
4. Shoulders. Shoulder injuries and complaints in golf tend to be related to the back swing, the most common injuries are damage to the rotator cuff and torn cartilage.
5. Wrists. The wrists are required to absorb a significant amount of force as the club strikes the golf ball. It is the repetitiveness of this action that can lead to issues particularly where there are pre-existing conditions such as arthritis or tendonitis present.
6. Elbows. Similar to the wrists, it’s the repetitive nature of bending and straightening of the elbow that can lead to problems. A common elbow related golfing injury is Lateral Epicondylitis (sometimes known as “golfer’s elbow”).

Improving Your Golf Swing

A golfer’s swing requires a complex combination of muscle and joint coordination, balance and timing. Even small variations in these various components can result in significant changes in overall performance.

Think of it this way, if one part of the body is not functioning at 100 percent it can mean other parts are exposed to extra strain or need to compensate for this weak link – which can lead to pain and unnecessary injury.

An Osteopath works to restore balance to the entire body (including a focus on strength, flexibility, posture and fitness), seeking to unearth the real issue behind the body’s disharmony thereby improving performance and decreasing the risk of injury.

6 Common Osteopathic Techniques Used For Golfers

The therapeutic techniques used by Osteopath’s will vary from patient to patient and will focus not only on the specific area causing you pain, but also in other related areas around the body. The general methods used in Osteopathic treatment revolve around common techniques, some of those you might encounter during your consultation for golfing injuries and pain are;

1. Soft Tissue Manipulation And Massage
2. Joint Articulation
3. Progressive Stretching
4. Joint Manipulation
5. Trigger Point Release
6. Positional Release

If you are struggling with a reoccurring golfing injury or have just want to improve your golf swing – let Lorraine Herity at Better Health Osteopathy show you just what Osteopathy can do for you and your golf game today. Call 027 7555700 or book online.