Golf in Nelson Tasman can be a game of millimeters. Did you know that 75% of professional golfers receive regular chiropractic care to help them play at their peak potential? 1

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Why it Matters in Nelson Tasman

75% of professional golfers receive regular chiropractic care. Millimeters in golf can be the difference between winning and losing a competition.

Professional golfers will do everything they can to help them in their search for the perfect swing. A clubhead that’s angled a few millimeters off-center results in a drive hooking into the pond. Or a stance that’s a few millimeters too low which results in the divot flying further than the ball.

Chiropractors may not only help golfers to overcome injuries, 1 they may also help them with their swing. In fact there was a really interesting research study published in 2009 that showed that chiropractic care helped golfers to hit the ball further which could make a big difference to a golfer’s score at the end of the day.

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Brazilian Research Study

Researchers in Brazil performed a randomised controlled trial involving 43 golfers and looked at how far they could hit a ball over a four-week study period. They put the golfers into one of two groups. One was a control group who just did a basic stretching programme over the four weeks of the study.

The other group did the same stretching programme, but they also got adjusted by a chiropractor once a week for 4 weeks and the researchers looked at how far they could drive the ball before and after getting adjusted over the 4 weeks. The researchers collected a lot of data which, in general, showed the chiropractic group performed better than the control group throughout the study. But the most significant finding from the study was that at the last study session, the group that got adjusted could hit the ball 8 meters further after the adjustment, whereas the control group only improved by half a meter after the stretching session.

The group that got adjusted could hit the ball 8 meters further after the adjustment.

This study suggests that chiropractic care, in association with muscle stretching, seems to improve the ability of golfers to drive the ball when compared with muscle stretching alone. Although this was only a small study, that was a really interesting finding, and may mean that chiropractic care really can help golfers to improve their game. So, if you want to get the most out of your golf game, take after the pro’s and see a chiropractor, because it may help you with those millimeters that can make the difference between the perfect drive and fishing your ball out of the pond.

Read more about this topic here.

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References

1. Dynamic Chiropractic 2008;26(15).
2. Costa et al. Effect of spinal manipulative therapy with stretching compared with stretching alone on full-swing performance of golf players J Chiropr Med 2009;8(4):165-70.

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Acknowledgments

• Dr. Heidi Haavik – BSc(Physiol) BSc(Chiro) PhD
• Dr. Kelly Holt – BSc, BSc(Chiro), PGDipHSc, PhD
• Dr. Jenna Duehr – BChiro, BHSC (Nursing), MHSc