Golf is the greatest sport ever invented! A few aspects that I feel makes golfing great include:
Recharge the Batteries: It’s cheaper than a shrink!
Get some Fresh Air: You might sleep better!
People need People: You get to hang out with 3 of your best friends.
Healthy Competition: Feed your competitive drive to get better.
You aren’t Getting Any Younger, and that’s just fine: It’s a sport you can play well beyond retirement
Increase Your Life Expectancy: A Swedish study discovered that playing golf increases your life expectancy up to 5 years.[i]
“GOLF IS A GOOD WALK SPOILED” – MARK TWAIN
Those of us who golf can relate to this quote attributed to Mark Twain. Despite all of the health benefits and advantages of golf, it can be frustrating, especially when we are not performing at our best.
PERFORMING OPTIMALLY DEPENDS ON FEELING AND MOVING OUR BEST. IF YOU WANT TO REACH YOUR POTENTIAL IN ANY SPORT, YOU HAVE TO MOVE FREELY AND BE ABLE TO CONTROL THE MOVEMENT IN A PAIN-FREE WAY.
Move: As we get older, oftentimes, our joints and muscles do not allow the freedom we need to move fully. It may come as a surprise, but Trigger Point Dry Needling (often shortened to simply Dry Needling) is one of the most effective methods to regain motion in your hips and spine that you may have thought was not otherwise possible.
Control: What good is flexibility if you can’t coordinate it? Control and coordination depend on repetitively challenging the body through specific movements that induce muscle memory. (Physiotherapist call it “motor control”) Don’t worry; it’s just like riding a bike!
The combination of moving with more range of motion coupled with using that new range of motion in a coordinated way is what restores painful joints, muscles, and nerves.
So if you enjoy golf or would like to return to the sport, consider dry needling as an option to get you moving better and feeling better!
Trigger point dry needling has been recognized by prestigious organizations such as the Cochrane Collaboration. It is recommended as an option for the treatment of persons with chronic low back pain.
To learn more about dry needling, book a consultation today.
Enjoy Life,
Dr. Nate Kloosterman
[i] Publication: ‘Golf – a game of life and death. Reduced mortality in Swedish golf players’, B. Farahmand, G. Broman, U. De Faire, D. Vågerö & A. Ahlbom, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 30 May 200*
[ii] Dommerholt, J., O. Mayoral, and C. Gröbli, Trigger point dry needling. J Manual Manipulative Ther, 2006. 14(4): p. E70-E87
