When was the last time you got your oil changed? Checked the tire pressure? Even if you are not completely sure about those answers, I am sure you can at least ballpark when you did it last. Now, when was the last time you got a physical from your primary care physician? Do you even have a primary care physician? Checked your blood pressure? Chances are, most of you reading this have no idea how to answer any of those questions. We need to change that. Why are we so willing to keep up with our car maintenance yet are lacking when it comes to our own bodies? After all, you cannot drive a car unless you are physically capable of doing so. I see too many patients who have no idea what their blood pressure or heart rate is and cannot tell me the last time they had it checked, let alone went for a purposeful walk. We must take care of our bodies if we want to live longer and happier lives.
Now that you are convinced you need to check your body as often as you check your car, where do you go from here? If you are mostly sedentary, where do you even begin in terms of exercise? Even if you are not in pain, the most appropriate and beneficial first step is to get a movement screen provided by a physical therapist. Being the movement experts in the medical field, your local physical therapist will be able to provide a movement analysis to help identify your basic needs and go over, step-by-step, how to address each limitation that may potentially lead to a future injury. As your physical therapist delves into your specific needs, they will be able to design an exercise program specifically designed for you. If you are in pain, a movement screen will be able to identify movements that are painful and movements that are dysfunctional that could be leading to your pain. Movement screens are extremely valuable tools that physical therapists use on a daily basis.
For golfers, it is important to have a movement screen that specifically looks at and addresses the needs for your sport. That is where the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) movement screen comes into play. The screen is designed specifically for golfers from amateurs to Tour players and will look at every possible joint or muscle that significantly effects your swing. The screen analyzes joints like your hips, shoulders, thoracic spine, ankles, as well as muscles like your gluteus maximus and abdominals. Those are just a few of the multiple areas the screen addresses. With this screen, an invaluable amount of information is given to me to improve your game.
TPI’s mission statement rings true when they state, “TPI does not believe in one way to swing a club, rather in an infinite number of swing styles. But, we do believe there is one efficient way for every player to swing and it is based on what they player can physically do.” As your personal golf physical therapist, I cannot stress enough how important it is for me to look at somebody’s golf movement screen before anything else. Of course, the golf swing, clubs, grip, etc. are important. However, your swing is going to be different than everyone else’s. Your golf swing is like your thumb print. Unique to you and only you. What the screen does is help sift through all the extraneous information and get down to what I know best: the human body. With this information, I can help design your own, personal treatment plan to get you out of pain and back to playing the game you love.
To schedule with your local TPI expert, go to mytpi.com and click on the Find an Expert option on the top menu. To look at my previous blog post on my treatment philosophy, follow the link https://www.thegolf-physio.com/blog.