Study Shows Chiropractic Helps Golfers With Full Swing Performance
A scientific study published in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine further documents the benefits of chiropractic care for athletes. The stated objective of this study noted that there has been an increased usage of chiropractic care for athletes who wish to increase their performance. This study specifically looks at golfers to see their improvement under chiropractic.
In this study golfers at 2 different clubs in So Paulo, Brazil, were studied. A total of 43 golfers were divided into 2 random groups for comparison in this study. One group received only a stretch program while the second group received the same stretch program in addition to chiropractic care.
All participants in this study were initially asked to perform three full swing maneuvers. Measurements of the average distance they were able to hit the ball for the 3 swings were made. Then the golfers were put through either just the stretching program, or the stretching plus chiropractic depending on which test group they were a part of. After either just stretching, or chiropractic plus stretching, the participants were asked to repeat the same three swing maneuvers and measurements were taken. This entire process was repeated for a period of four weeks over the course of the study.
To maintain consistency, the study noted that of the 43 golfers in this study, the average age, handicap, and initial swing were comparable among all golfers. The results showed that there was no improvement in what the study called the "full swing performance", (average distance the golfers were able to hit the ball), in the group that only did the stretching program prior to hitting the golf balls.
However, after the fourth session of stretching and chiropractic care, the golfers in this group showed a statistically significant improvement in their "full swing performance" translating into better distance when hitting golf balls. The authors of the study concluded, "Chiropractic in association with muscle stretching may be associated with an improvement of full-swing performance when compared with muscle stretching alone."