Lifestyle Physiotherapy

Cronulla Physiotherapist

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Is elbow pain throwing you off your game?

Heard the term “tennis elbow”? Did you know that there is a similar condition called “golfers elbow”?

 

It is so similar in fact that it is the same pathology as tennis elbow, however the pain sits on the inside/underside of your elbow opposed to the outside/top.

 

Why is it called golfers elbow? As we swing down to strike the ball, our wrist flexor muscles help to create club-head speed by adding extra whip before impact. These flexor muscles (which attach to the underside of our elbow) are working extremely hard to brace for impact as the club hits the ball (or turf!). This causes them to forcibly lengthen- an eccentric contraction.

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Golfing pain.

Shout-out to all the golfers out there. Chances are like most who play this game, you’re probably more often than not frustrated after your round rather than ecstatic about the flawless golf you just played (hence the 19th hole.

 

What we hate to see is frustration after a game not because of the shots you left out there, but because of pain. Lower back, shoulders, elbow and/or neck pain can all contribute to a miserable round!

 

There are many reasons that we may experience pain during swing, but often there is a common culprit… a stiff thoracic spine (upper back). A golf swing is a combination of our knees, hips, spine, shoulders and wrist working together to create a coordinated torque (or rotation) to swing the club, and a big portion of this is through rotation of our thoracic spine.

 

Let’s use the chain of a swing as an analogy- every link on a swing chain has a portion of movement required of it to globally move the swing. Imagine that we shrink-wrap or stiffen a big portion of the middle of the chain. The swing chair will still move when pushed, but the movement will become a lot jerkier, and the links of chain directly above and below the shrink-wrap will end up contributing a lot more hinge than originally required.

 

Imagine the shrink-wrapped chain is our stiff thoracic spine, and the links above are our neck and shoulders- we still generally achieve a full swing, but what will the quality of movement be like? And where is the extra movement coming from?

 

Most likely the excessive movement will come from our shoulders, neck and potentially our lumbar spine (low-back). So, for pain experienced in any of these areas during a golf swing, it is imperative that we first look at thoracic spine mobility. It’s incredible the difference we can make with a few simple stretches and mobility drills!

 

If you are experiencing pain during your round of golf give us a call on 8544 8484 to book in for an assessment, maybe you’ll even find a few more metres on your drive!

 

In the meantime, have a look at these simple thoracic mobility exercises you can give a go at home…

 

http://www.lifestylephysiocronulla.com.au/2019/06/magic-thoracic-spine/#more-1893

Magic thoracic spine?

Raise your arms overhead. Go on, try it. Now holding them up there, straighten your thoracic spine, exaggerate “good” posture. Look where your arms are now! Magic? No. Just proving a point.

Your thoracic spine contributes significantly to your trunk, shoulder and neck mobility.

Without a fully functioning thoracic spine, your range of motion will be limited. This limitation will often cause a “loading” of different structures and ultimately can lead to an injury or pain.

Muscles doing a job they weren’t designed for, aren’t happy muscles.

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Are we prepared to run? (Part 2)

Glute and trunk activation

Our lumbopelvic stabilisers (glute and trunk muscles) play an incredibly important role in running. From injury prevention to performance, there is a wide array of functions that these muscles contribute that we probably don’t even realise. However, it is an unbelievably common area of dysfunction that we see in the clinic day-in and day-out. We as humans do a lot of sitting (driving, office-work, lounging in the couch)- this results in our trunk and gluteal muscles becoming weak and lazy.

When we are preparing to run it is extremely critical that we “wake up” these important muscles as part of our preparation.

Here are a few ideas:

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Are we prepared to run? (Part 1)

Whether you are going for a run around the streets, training for something longer like a 10k, half or full marathon, or playing any kind of running-based team sport- we need to ensure that we are adequately preparing our body for the physical demands that are going to be required.

Whilst static stretching still has a role in our repertoire as an athlete, research is now suggesting it is potentially detrimental to performance if completed immediately pre-exercise. It is a fantastic tool post-exercise to kick-off recovery, as it dampens down neurological activity within our neuromuscular system and helps to restore range of motion.

So, if static stretching has potentially a detrimental performance effect how do we brush off the cob-webs, “loosen up” and work on achieving optimal range of motion pre-exercise?

We work on dynamic flexibility, muscle activation through full range of motion. We are able to achieve muscle lengthening whilst also exciting the neuromuscular system, “priming” the system for the high demands about to be placed upon it. Here a few exercises you can try out as part of your preparation:

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Phone: (02) 8544 8484
Email: lauren@lifestylephysiocronulla.com.au
Address: 14/17 Surf Road Cronulla, NSW 2230