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510 Main Street East, North Bay, ON. Canada P1B 1B8 - Tel: 705-497-1975 - Fax: 705-497-8556

Services - Please Choose... "I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS YEARS AGO" As SYMETRICS' Physiotherapists & Chiropractors, this is a common statement from patients after experiencing the beneficial effects of the FITforeGOLFTM Program.		FITforeGOLFTM FITforeGOLF PROGRAMS and Golf Swing Analysis Available Sessions specific to your needs Golf specific stretching and strengthening Home Exercise programs Proper swing mechanics FITforeGOLFTM Articles The Crunch Factor ~ By David Lindsay Low back problems are the number one injury in golf. In fact professional golfers have the highest incidence of low back pain compared to all other professional athletes. Recreational players are also susceptible, especially males in the 30-39 age bracket. Upper limb injuries are slightly more common in women, although back problems are not far behind. The lower back is particularly susceptible to injury with any activity that requires quick rotation (twisting) in a bent over posture -- which to a large extent describes the golf swing! In the case of the spine, many of the forces produced during the golf swing motion are DOUBLE the amounts considered safe in industrial settings. Resent research out of Japan (and supported by some of my own research), has identified critical technique factors on the down-swing that contribute to increased stress on the lower back. The researchers refer to these technique factors as the “crunch factor”. The researchers studied Japanese touring professionals and found that the ones with low back pain tended to combine large side bending ranges of motion of the spine with high rotational speed just as the club makes contact with the ball. My own research at the University of Calgary showed that all professional golfers, irrespective of whether they have back pain, rotated their trunk at about the same speed but it was the side bending that was considerably higher (by almost 20%) in those with back pain. Other interesting findings were that golfers with back pain tended to bend forward much more when addressing the ball, and tended not to use their abdominal muscles as efficiently as players who didn’t suffer back pain. Decreasing back pain from golf may require a number of things such as lessons from a CPGA instructor (preferably one who understands about the causes of back pain in golf). It may also be necessary to undergo clinical treatment and an exercise program from a physical therapist. For more information contact John Davis (Level 4 FitforeGolf Physiotherapist) 497-1975 Click here to turn to the next page...