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Did you know that a study completed in 1997 found that 1 in 5 women who discontinued physical activity cited injury or health problems as their major reason?
The study also showed that 1 in 4 women gave up physical activity as a result of not having enough time. These were the top two responses to the study. Do you or have ever fitted into one of these two groups? Chances are you will at some stage.
In today’s busy world you can’t afford not to exercise, as we all know a lack of exercise leads to a decrease in fitness and ultimately results in poor health.
For women who want to stay fit and healthy on and off the golf course, the following will provide a little guidance.
In order for you to get on top of your game and stay there, spinal health is paramount.
However, fitness is not gained by reading, so get up and get out there, walk, swim, play golf, ride your bike, and enjoy life. You only get out what you put in.
Just to let you know golfers notoriously have the highest incidence of back injury of any professional athlete. This situation generally arises as a result of uneven wear and tear on the structures surrounding the spinal joints and the joints themselves due to the repetitive nature of the golf swing.
Your spine is made up of 24 moveable bones (vertebrae) each connected by a pair of joints and a spongy cartilaginous disk.
Your spine has two major functions:
- Protection of your delicate spinal cord. The vertebrae form a solid ring of bone around the spinal cord.
- Mobility. A correctly functioning spine allows you an almost unlimited freedom of movement.
Lower back pain in golfers is usually as a result of torsional (twisting) stress on the lumbar spine. The mobility of the spine is pushed beyond its normal limits.
The key to injury prevention and pain minimization is to reduce the torsion stress by absorbing the rotation in the hips, knees, and shoulders and by spreading the rotational stress over the whole spine, if there are joints in your spine that are subluxated or not moving correctly then there is a good chance that the joints above and below will have to work harder to produce the amount of movement necessary for a golf swing.
Maintaining rigid, tight control through the power portion of the swing is critical. Strong and coordinated abdominal muscles are vitally important.
Proper technique in golf begins when addressing the ball. Bending your knees as you address the ball tenses the abdominal musculature. Abdominal tension is the basis of trunk control, maintaining tight abdominal muscles during the swing phase, results in greater control over where your clubface ends up (hopefully on the ball).
The amount of back swing is not as important to power generation as the ability of the golfer to regain tight muscle control as she proceeds from maximum back swing down through the power portion of the swing. It is the ability to obtain and maintain tight control that produces the power and protection for the lumbar spine.
Advice for any recreational golfer with back pain is as follows:
- Stop the activity that is causing the pain and consult your local chiropractor.
- Instead try walking or swimming several times a week or until your spine heals. However, if you just have to play try some of the following:
- Reduce the length of your back swing and your follow through.
- Concentrate on tight abdominal control during the power portion of the swing.
- Avoid arching your back when you follow through.
- Avoid bending sideways during your back swing and follow through.
- Most importantly stay balanced. An asymmetrical swing and uneven loading on the spine leads to injury.
What is Chiropractic?
With a history of over 100 years, Chiropractic concerns itself with the structure of the spine and the optimum function of the nervous system.
The nervous system controls the function of every cell, tissue, organ and system of your body. The spine is designed in such a way that any “misalignments” (improper motions or positions) of the spinal bones can irritate or compress delicate spinal nerves – interfering with the function of the tissues they control.
Sometimes there are no immediate symptoms of nerve interference, hence many of our patients choose to visit us regularly to identify & correct any potential problems before they arise. Should you already be experiencing symptoms of nerve interference, these may include muscle tightness, back pain, headaches, indigestion or sciatica, among many others.
At Shirley Road Chiropractic, our goal is to detect and remove interference to your nervous system, through the use of gentle spinal adjustments, and to provide you with the knowledge and understanding of how to maintain the health of your spine.
Shirley Road Chiropractic was founded by Brent Gordon and is driven by a philosophy of serving the local community and helping its members to better understand the importance of improving and maintaining their health.
Ravi Rudner
Your Chiropractic Team
Brent Gordon completed a Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours) at the University of Sydney and Master of Chiropractic at Macquarie University. He has a special research interest in neuroscience and lectures in Neurology at Macquarie University. The team has expanded to include Ravi Rudner, who has completed a Bachelor of Science and Master of Chiropractic at Macquarie University.
Our passion is to help our patients, and the community at large, achieve and maintain optimum well being. We believe that, as a gentle, non-invasive, drug-free therapy, Chiropractic is the best profession through which to achieve this goal. We fully subscribe to the principle that prevention is better than cure and that no-one is too young or too old to improve their health.
If you have any niggling problems with your back please contact Brent or Ravi at their offices at Crows Nest on (02) 9966 0992 or Castle Hill on (02) 9659 1711 alternatively you can contact a chiropractor through the Chiropractors Association of Australia web site.
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