| What do Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and the Grinch | | | | So they stretch what can be stretched and |
| Have in Common? | | | | strengthen what the pain will allow them to |
| | | | strengthen. They work around the pain, and allow |
| Do you remember the infamous Presidents Cup of | | | | other parts of their body to do more of the work. |
| 2005? Those close ups of Tiger Woods and Jim | | | | After awhile, they have lived with the pain and |
| Furyk wincing in pain with every big swing because | | | | physical limits for so long, they forget what it is like |
| they both had back injuries. And one image in | | | | to move freely. |
| particular of Furyk lying face down on the fairway | | | | Move - Just Move |
| while a therapist worked to loosen his back. Neither | | | | Compensating for weakness and limiting your motion |
| golfer succumbed to the pain, and the U.S. won the | | | | is precisely the wrong thing to do when you are |
| week. But that tournament is a reminder to those | | | | dealing with problems of the back and pelvic area. |
| who golf what a fragile thing your back is. | | | | When you first injure yourself, something called the |
| If you golf, and daily stretching, wall squats, power | | | | Fascia (the protective sheath that covers every |
| lunges and crunchies are not already a part of your | | | | muscle, tendon, ligament and cell of the body) |
| daily routine, it's time to start. When you consider the | | | | tightens up around the affected area to protect it. |
| way your back is twisted and torqued before and | | | | But if you do nothing to stretch the fascia, or worse, |
| after any swing, but your drive in particular, it makes | | | | work around it, it tightens more and more, steadily |
| good sense that you should put effort into | | | | pulling ligaments and tendons and your all-important |
| strengthening and lengthening your back, shoulders, | | | | pelvic cavity into unnatural positions. For you, this |
| legs etc. to prevent injury (it also allows for a more | | | | means pain, pain and more pain. It also means |
| fluid swing, by the way). | | | | restricted movement. |
| The goal of your exercise program should be to | | | | With that knowledge top of mind, when a patient |
| strengthen your pelvic girdle and surrounding muscle , | | | | comes for his/her first visit, the first thing I do is |
| according to Dr. Stephen H. Hochschuler, chairman and | | | | treat the throbbing in his back or pelvis. The second |
| co-founder of the Texas Back Institute. | | | | thing I do is ask him what injuries he has had in the |
| What do you do if your back is already tender and | | | | last six months to a year, as well as observe his/her |
| you haven't exactly been DOING those exercises so | | | | overall structure and posture to understand the |
| much as reading and talking about them? | | | | adaptations and strain patterns that have developed. |
| Tangled up in Mangled up Knots | | | | Once I understand the origin of the injury, I can treat |
| The first thing you need to do is to take pressure | | | | the source of the pain and restore free movement |
| off of your back. That may mean taking a week or | | | | and real healing. |
| two away from golf. But eventually it will mean | | | | Over the course of several sessions, I work the |
| lengthening your back, leg and abdominal muscles | | | | fascia like sculptor's clay. I warm the fascia with long, |
| AND aligning your pelvis and back. Without this last | | | | steady, myofascial spreading movements with my |
| step, all the stretching and strengthening in the world | | | | hands, fingers, knuckles and sometimes elbows. I |
| will only loosen ancillary muscles. And just like the | | | | sooth spasming muscles and create long-lost elasticity |
| Grinch (who Stole Christmas), the ligaments, tendons | | | | in the fascia. I do this layer by layer, through fascia |
| and myofascia that hold your pelvis in place and | | | | to muscle to tendon and bone. And I as I pass |
| attach to your hips and back will be "tangled up in | | | | through, I am able to right the "tangled up, mangled |
| mangled up knots". | | | | up knots" in the lower back and pelvis. |
| How do you fix THAT? | | | | By the end of treatment, the patient is pain free. His |
| As an Rolf practitioner, I've been observing and and | | | | movements are long and fluid. His exercise routine |
| treating many golfer's backs. And what I have found | | | | includes every muscle. And his swing? 360%! |
| is that many people begin their exercise routine, if | | | | _________________ |
| they have one, AFTER they start experiencing pain. | | | | 1. |