Sports Injury & Performance Care – Orange County, California

Golf & ART®

Golf and Active Release Techniques®

Dr. Sebastian Gonzales D.C., C.S.C.S., ART , Orange California

How to Improve your Golf Game with Active Release Techniques®

Common faults seen in golf swings

What causes a lack of hip internal rotation and abnormal pelvic tilt?

So how does this lead to a problem with your swing?

How can Active Release Techniques® help with this problem?

Common faults seen in golf swings

Have you ever been swinging your club and thought, “Man, my body feels tight and my swing just does not feel like it did five years ago.”  There can be a number of reasons why your swing feels this way and the most all of them can be easily fixed; however, if left alone, will cause more severe swing faults and even injuries.  Although problems are more common with weekend golfers, they can be found in the pros as well. The first of these problems is a lack in internal rotation of the hips, especially the lead leg.  This causes decrease efficiency and effectiveness of your swing.  In order to attain full power, the hips need to be loose enough to take the swing through full rotation.  Lack of internal rotation also can cause any forward motion towards the ball during the down stroke.  To effectively swing a golf club, you should have at least 45 degrees of internal rotation; in fact, the average PGA tour player has greater than 45 degrees of internal rotation of the hip.  During your swing, you could have this problem if you notice your front foot does not want to stay put and is drifting outward during the downswing. Many players compensate for this by starting with their foot flared outward, on the tight side, but this is not fixing the problem.  It is just a way of getting around it.

The second problem resides at the pelvis.  Some people think that the pelvis is the same thing as the hips, but they are actually different.  The pelvis moves as a unit and majority of players who spend a lot of their time at a desk job have an anterior pelvic tilt.  So you might wonder what catastrophic events can happen from anterior pelvic tilt, well why don’t you put yourself in the position and you’ll see.  Stand up and stick out your butt, do you feel the tightness in your low back?  When playing with an anterior pelvic tilt you are at an increased risk to low back injuries as well as losing power in your swing.

The third problem stems from the previously noted anterior pelvic tilt.  The core of the body is basically the area in the front and back of your abdomen, as well as your pelvis.  These muscles are important for protecting and stabilizing your spine; a strong core provides a stable base for all motions of the trunk, arms, and legs.  When your pelvis is tilted forward, your core cannot work as designed.  It is needed for efficient transfer of power from your lower body to the upper body and if not working properly it can effect your swing by changing the path of your club head, your hands and the plane of your shoulders, which can all ruin your swing.  Your lower extremity and upper extremity need to be in sync for good power and posture in golfing.

What causes a lack of hip internal rotation and abnormal pelvic tilt? As stated before, players who spend much of their day at a desk can and most likely do have these problems.  When you consider what happens to the pelvis and hips when you are in the seated position, it is not hard to understand.  During a long day of sitting, the hip flexors will be come chronically shortened and tight.  Since the hip flexors attach to the low back, the pulling effect will lead to some increased spinal curvature and pain, but the worst effect is not that.  When the hip flexors are tight, essentially it is like the brain is always telling them to contract.  This constant signal to the hip flexors makes it impossible for the brain to tell the gluteus maximus to contract.  This effect is called the Law of Reciprocal Inhibition.  To visualize this law better, try to flex your bicep and triceps at the same time; you can’t.  After sitting for hours on end, day after day, this lack of signal to the butt will eventually cause the brain to neurologically “turn off” the butt, from disuse.

Now consider what the gluteus maximus normally does, it is the primary muscle that causes extension of the hip.  When it is not working properly, the body will try to extend the hip by using other synergistic muscles in the area.  These muscles will then become injured and tight from abnormal use.  A few of these muscles are the hamstrings, low back muscles, and external rotators of the hips.

So how does this lead to a problem with your swing?

1.    You become more prone to injuries, which will alter your posture in every aspect of your life.

2.    Your external rotators (ie: Piriformis muscle) will be chronically tight from trying assist in hip extension, which kills the speed of your swing.  (Remember, when the external rotators are tight, they keep your hip in constant external rotation, limiting the amount of critical internal rotation need for an effective swing.)

3.    Your swing will be less powerful because it will be lacking the involvement of one of the most powerful muscles of the lower body, your gluteus maximus.

4.    Your core muscles, which are important in coordination of motions between the upper and lower body as well as protection and stabilization of the spine, will be turned off due the stretch of the abdominal area with an anterior pelvic tilt.

How can Active Release Techniques® help with this problem?

All of these problems talked about above can be helped very quickly by receiving Active Release Techniques® (ART®).  ART® is used throughout professional sports, by hockey players to Olympic medalists, and is considered the “Gold Standard” of soft tissue treatment.  This is the most effective and specific form of care for soft tissue injuries and repetitive trauma disorders, which is exactly what limits your golf game.  ART® fixes the problem by removing fibrous scar tissue from within muscles, ligaments and tendons, resulting in increases in range of motion and flexibility.  This scar tissue is the body’s natural way of healing from day to day use, but it is also what decreases your range of motion and causes muscles to become tight and painful.

When playing golf, the hips are exposed to an extremely high velocity during rotation, which requires the muscles of the hip, pelvis and lower back to be in their optimal states.  They should be strong enough to withstand these forces during the downswing and Active Release Techniques® can help accomplish this.

For more on ART® or to find a provider in your area:

www.activerelease.com

For more information on other aspects of your golf swing: www.mytpi.com

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P3 Sports Care, previously Orange County Pain Management, has been serving Southern California for over 5 years. Although many of our patients live right in the city of Huntington Beach, many of them will come from a great distance to receive our Active Release Techniques®, Chiropractic Care, and Rehabilitation. Our customer service is second to none; our patients always come first.  Even patient who are afraid of going to a chiropractor love our style of care.

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Check out our other articles and information on Active Release Techniques® and Injury Prevention Assessments to see if it can help you or any of your loved ones get out of pain and prevent new injuries.