Original articleEffect of spinal manipulative therapy with stretching compared with stretching alone on full-swing performance of golf players: a randomized pilot trial☆
Introduction
Participation in sports is a growing social phenomenon that profoundly influences daily life.1 One's sport of choice is decided according to each participant's profile, matching one's affinity, desire, facility, and viability.2 There has been a steady growth of chiropractic treatment for various sports for the maintenance of athletes in optimal competitive conditions. Various therapeutic modalities have been used, with an emphasis on spinal manipulative therapy (SMT). With athletes, chiropractic treatment often aims at increasing performance, rather than treating specific conditions such as pain. It is argued that the maintenance and improvement of joint function, muscle balance, and the speed of neuromuscular reflexes obtained through this treatment may help optimize performance.
Given that SMT is known for pain reduction and enhancing spinal mobility, many professional and high-level amateur golfers in the United States depend on their doctor of chiropractic to prevent them from disorders that may threaten their careers. These athletes want to improve their performance and manage pain in a conservative way and in a short amount of time.3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Golf sport requires a person to strike a small ball with a club from the teeing ground into a distant hole while following the rules. Golfers may swing the club head as fast as 100 mph in about 0.2 second as they downswing. After they hit the ball, they make a smooth transition from this rapid acceleration to deceleration. To move the golf club going to a high rate of speed, right-handed golfers rotate their knees, hips, trunk, shoulders, and arms clockwise during the backswing, turning away from where they want the ball to go. Afterward, as they unleash their downswing, they quickly uncoil counterclockwise toward the target. In the classic swing, the hips turn about as much as the shoulders. The follow-through ends in more or less a straight up-and-down position. Today's golfers twist more, rotating their shoulders back by as much as 90° and their hips by about 45°. This golf swing puts a higher compressive load on the low back (8 times body weight) than running (3 times) or even rowing (7 times). That is why a single swing can produce a herniated disk or even a compression fracture of one of the vertebral bodies. Although these injuries are extremely painful and can be quite serious, they are rare. Muscle strains, however, are quite common because of the twisting that is required for a good swing.12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
The present study evaluates the effect of SMT on the performance of golf players with a handicap between 0 and 15 during their full swing using a driver club at 2 golf clubs in São Paulo, Brazil.
Section snippets
Methods
A questionnaire was given to associates of 2 golf clubs in São Paulo, Brazil, to those who met the inclusion criteria. The inclusion criteria were as follows: men between 18 and 55 years of age, with a handicap from 0 to 15, practicing golf at least once a week for a 4-hour period. The purpose of the research was clarified; they signed an informed consent and were admitted. Subjects were randomized by lottery to 1 of 2 groups: Group I was a stretch program, and group II included the stretch
Results
Forty-three subjects were admitted from February to April 2006. All subjects completed the 4 sessions that comprised the protocol. Twenty participants were allocated to group I and 23 to group II. Average age, handicap, and initial swing at each group were comparable, as follows: age—I, 37.15; II, 32.1 (Table 1); handicap—I, 11.95; II, 8.17 (Table 2); initial swing—I, 205 m; II: 219 m (Table 3).
Group II demonstrated values significantly greater at all evaluation moments (P = .003), just not
Discussion
This study assembled homogeneous groups as demonstrated on Table 1, Table 2, providing to the present research a credible population with the same characteristics. By observing Fig 1, each day had an improvement on the ball's scope. Furthermore, the increase of performance on the fourth day of treatment was statistically significant (P = .005), according to the Student t test. The same graph demonstrates a golfer's performance improvement on group II, despite being without statistical
Conclusions
Spinal manipulative therapy in association with muscle stretching seems to be associated with an improvement of golf players' full-swing performance when compared with muscle stretching alone.
References (21)
- et al.
The contribution of golf to daily physical activity recommendations: how many steps does it take to complete a round of golf?
Mayo Clin Proc
(2006) Proper swing technique and biomechanics of golf
Clin Sports Med
(1996)- et al.
Golf injuries: common and potentially avoidable
J Sci Med Sport
(2005) - et al.
The short golf backswing: effects on performance and spinal health implications
J Manipulative Physiol Ther
(2001) Sociologia do esporte
(1969)Barriers to performance: part l of 4
Dyn Chiropr
(2004)- et al.
Chiropractic and golf: part II (12-part series)
Dyn Chiropr
(2002) Chiropractic and golf: part III of 12
Dyn Chiropr
(2002)Golf and chiropractic: a natural combination
Dyn Chiropr
(1999)
Cited by (18)
Immediate Effects of Spinal Manipulative Therapy on the Performance of Elite Brazilian Soccer Players: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial With an Internally Validated Sham Treatment
2022, Journal of Chiropractic MedicineCitation Excerpt :It has been proposed that SMT may influence and improve aspects of sports performance. These aspects include increased full-swing for golfers,40 increased judoka grip strength,25 and increased ball kicking speed for soccer players41; however, there are few studies in this field about the influence of SMT on sports performance from laboratory studies, field tests, and real events.42 In soccer, athletic trainers and coaches use various field tests to assess the fitness and capacity of their players.43,44
Effect of Drop-Piece High-Velocity, Low-Amplitude Manipulation to the Midfoot of Asymptomatic Adult Sprinters on Performance During a Unilateral Horizontal Drop-Jump Test: A Feasibility Investigation
2021, Journal of Manipulative and Physiological TherapeuticsPreliminary Feasibility Study to Measure the Immediate Changes of Bilateral Asymmetry After Lumbar Spinal Manipulative Therapy in Asymptomatic Athletes
2019, Journal of Chiropractic MedicineResponse to Letter to Editor: “Spinal Manipulative Therapy and Sports Performance Enhancement: A Systematic Review”
2019, Journal of Manipulative and Physiological TherapeuticsResponse to “Spinal Manipulative Therapy and Sports Performance Enhancement: A Systematic Review”
2019, Journal of Manipulative and Physiological TherapeuticsSpinal Manipulative Therapy and Sports Performance Enhancement: A Systematic Review
2017, Journal of Manipulative and Physiological TherapeuticsCitation Excerpt :These contrasting results suggest that the SMT effect is transient, and this needs to be further demonstrated. CNS modulation through sensorimotor integration, combined with cortical motoneuron and spinal reflex excitability changes after SMT, should be the central mechanism associated with the increased full-swing in golfers,61 the increased kicking speed in soccer players,69 and the increased hip extension in runners.60 These mechanisms should be related to the improved muscle strength observed in judokas44 and in non-athletes.43,45
- ☆
No funding sources or conflicts of interest were reported for this study.