Instruction for Your Body - Apr. 2010

Physical therapists- What do we have to offer to golfers?

When friends mention they went to physical therapy or saw their physical therapist, the first thing that comes to mind is rehabilitation from injury.  But physical therapists are trained to analyze disorders of human movement to discover causes of pain, discomfort and reasons behind limited physical movement.  If you or someone you know has been taking lessons and just can't get that shoulder turn right, it's not because the teacher can't teach or the student can't learn, maybe the body just can't make that move.  That is where a physical therapist can identify the problem, work to fix the problem and communicate with the instructor to suggest a swing alternative.   Local Physical Therapist John Majerus expands on this idea here.

Physical therapists treat a wide variety of patients and conditions, including the areas of orthopedics, neurologic, cardiopulmonary and pediatrics patients, to name a few. Because of this the general public may be somewhat confused about what help the physical therapy profession has to offer them with a given problem, as opposed to when to seek the help of physicians, dentists, or chiropractors.

In short, physical therapists are specifically trained to analyze disorders of human movement, to assist in discovering their causes and to either improve the movement to normal or teach compensations for deficits.

For instance, it may not be as widely known that physical therapists treat golfers, as opposed to treating athletes in many other sports. 

At Majerus and Company Physical Therapy, part of our outpatient orthopedic practice focuses on the rehabilitation of golfers, to help return them to playing golf in a systematic, safe manner. We may also evaluate an uninjured individual's strength, flexibility and balance to see if there are physical limitations that prevent getting the body into the proper positions at different parts of the golf swing.

In addition to seeing patients whose injury stems directly from playing golf, many more individuals have problems that were not golf related but affect their ability to play at all, as well as they used to, or to play without pain. Examples are many, but commonly include neck or low back disc injuries or surgeries, shoulder and elbow problems, total joint replacement of the hip or knee, or foot and ankle issues.

A Full Swing golf simulator is available on site, so we can observe a patient's swing right in the clinic environment. This allows swinging a real club at a real ball with virtual golf ball flight projected on the screen and detailed data of the resulting shot that can't be obtained hitting into a net.

In the coming months we will present some common problems with flexibility, strength and alignment that may be limiting your enjoyment of the game or frustrating you and your golf instructor. While not a substitute for individual medical advice from your health provider, we will present some tips for returning to golf after some common medical problems or conditions.

You can contact us at the office at 360-253-4020, or visit our website at http://www.majerusPT.com