Many avid golfers are familiar with heading to their physiotherapist to help with golf related injuries such as golfers elbow or back pain, but did you know physiotherapy can do more for your golf game than just help with injuries?
Physiotherapy can actually help boost your golf performance with a full golf analysis and can help you prevent further injury by uncovering movement dysfunctions.
What is a golf assessment?
If you’re considering golf physiotherapy, you may be wondering what exactly goes into their golf assessments. A golf assessment has a few components but is a super easy process, here’s what you can expect:
- Evaluation: An in-depth look at your golf swing, strengths and weaknesses, your desired goals and outcomes, any necessary modifications you may need. Evaluation includes photos and videos of your golf swing so you can see exactly where you need to improve and can monitor your progress.
- Identify Weaknesses: Any weaknesses or limitations identified during your evaluations will be used to create a custom plan to help you address and improve them.
- Treatment Plan: Your treatment plan will combine a variety of therapies that target your specific needs. These may include manual physical therapy, exercise and stretches, KT taping, etc.
- Follow-up: Your goals and particular concerns will determine if your physiotherapist recommends regular follow-up visits or if you just come in for reassessments to determine progress over time.
How can golf physiotherapy help prevent injury?
Improved golf performance aside, one of the main benefits of a golf physiotherapy assessment is to help prevent injury.
When you have your golf evaluation your physiotherapist will identify your strengths, weaknesses and potential areas of dysfunction, this can help them determine injuries that you may be more prone to as a result of these dysfunctions.
Addressing these concerns through your treatment plan can help prevent injury, and in some cases your physiotherapist may recommend additional prevention methods such as bracing, KT taping, or regular manual therapy appointments.
While not all injuries are preventable, being more aware of particular areas that you may be more prone to injury can also help reduce the risk and make you more aware of an issue early on so you can get treatment before symptoms get worse or become chronic like with golfer’s elbow.
If you find yourself leaving the course with a new pain or injury more often than not it may be time to talk to a TPI certified physiotherapist or fitness professional about getting a golf evaluation.
Improve your game with personalized tips and recommendations
Your evaluation will identify your unique movement patterns and what you need to address to improve your performance and prevent injury.
For example you may need to address your posture, the movement of your arm, your foot movement or placement, etc.
You may also get general tips on small ways to adjust your swing to get better results, similar to what you would get from a coach, but with a focus on functional movement.
Importance of Exercises, Drills and Stretches
If you’ve ever been to physiotherapy, you know that exercises and stretches are a huge part of your treatment plan.
The same goes for golf physiotherapy.
Your physiotherapist will provide you with a personalized treatment plan that consists of recommended exercises, drills and stretches targeted at the specific areas where you show weakness in your game.Â
Exercises will focus on overall fitness, biomechanics and building up strength and mobility in areas that may be lacking.
Exercises can also help you with stamina and coordination so you can play longer, not just better.
Drills typically involve building on particular skills and movements by performing a drill repeatedly. These drills are done on a course, at a driving range or at home.
Drills may include things like putting practice to help with various ranges of putting or getting into proper putting posture, or drills to help you with proper alignment or to stop you from making common mistakes such as overextending.
What Training Does a Physiotherapist Need to Perform Golf Assessments?
If you’re looking for a physiotherapist that specializes in golf performance and assessment, you should be looking for a clinic or physiotherapist that is certified by TPI fitness.
TPI fitness provides golf-specific health and fitness education for physiotherapists and other health specialists.
Certified professionals undergo multiple levels of certification both online and in-person to gain understanding of performance, swing, and how overall body function impacts a golfer’s overall execution.
Conclusion
If you’re someone that loves golf but wants to avoid injury, you find yourself in pain after a long day on the green or you just want to boost your performance golf physiotherapy and a full golf assessment may be beneficial for you.
A TPI certified physiotherapist can help you come up with a plan to address any of your concerns or weaknesses and have you play the best and safest golf games of your life.
Hi, I’m Eleena Wills. Being a writer and blogger, I strive to provide informative and valuable articles to people. With quality, constructive, and well-researched articles, one can make informed choices. I cover a wide range of topics, from Health, Beauty and Fashion.