Business Profile
Golf is a non-contact sport, but that doesn’t mean it’s a pain-free activity.
Diving in a pond for a stray ball can cause water in the ear. Hitting too hard out of a sand trap can spray sand in the eyes. And playing through a lightning storm can give golfers the shock of their life.
OK, so these kinds of injuries are rare. Golf is more likely to cause soreness in the back and shoulders. Pain in these two areas are fairly common in golfers, according to local physical therapist Nancy Chan.
But Chan said a golf-fitness program called Body Balance for Performance can help prevent such injuries and enhance a player’s game as well.
“If taking golf lessons and buying the best equipment doesn’t help your game, you may want to look at your body,” Chan said. “The body is the best piece of equipment you’ve got.”
Chan started customizing Body Balance programs for golfers last November at her two local clinics: Star Clinic in Los Altos and Back To Fitness in Palo Alto.
Body Balance employs therapeutic stretching techniques and exercises to strengthen, stabilize and condition a player’s body. By following the program, Chan said players can swing with more accuracy and consistency, hit longer drives and reduce fatigue and injuries.
Body Balance may be new to local golfers, but not to those on the PGA Tour. The program was developed in the mid-1980s by Paul Callaway, who was the tour’s director of physical therapy at the time. He introduced the concept to many of the tour’s top players, including Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman.
Callaway started teaching Body Balance to physical therapists like Chan a few years ago. Today, Star and Back to Fitness are among 35 clinics across the country licensed to offer the program, according to Chan’s marketing manager Bill Gleason.
Body Balance focuses on five physical factors that can affect a golfer’s health and performance: posture, balance, strength, flexibility and conditioning.
Player can see where they stand in these areas by going through a $250 evaluation at Chan’s Palo Alto office.
The hour-and-a-half evaluation starts with the player filling out an extensive golf performance questionnaire. This gives Chan an idea of how much the golfer plays and practices and what the person’s goals are.
Chan then looks at the golfer’s posture, taking photos to better illustrate problems like slumping shoulders and uneven hips.
Next, Chan checks the player’s balance – a critical element golfers sometimes overlook, she said.
Chan, who’s been a physical therapist for 18 years, then moves the golfer to her examination table. Here, she tests the person’s strength and flexibility. This includes a check of the arms, legs, hips, stomach, back, shoulders and neck.
After that, Chan has her subject take a few swings with a golf club. She videotapes the swings and then shows the results to the player, pointing out any concerns about posture, balance and flexibility.
The swing is further scrutinized in the final stage of the evaluation. Chan goes high-tech by using a computer simulation program called ProSwing. She has the golfer swing a special club that’s hooked up to a computer. The monitor displays how far the ball would have traveled and where it would have landed on an actual course.
With the evaluation complete, Chan sits down with the player and suggests what type of Body Balance program would work best. Follow-up sessions vary in length and cost, according to Chan.
“Even if you don’t do the program, you can still learn a lot about your body from the evaluation,” Chan said.
Chan estimates three to four golfers come in for evaluations each week. Clients range from local golf pros to recreational players.
While most are looking for an edge, others are concerned with reducing or preventing golf-related injuries.
“You may feel fine now, but what about 10 years from now?” Chan asked.
But Body Balance can’t prevent all injuries. Accidents involving water, sand and lightning are a different matter all together.
For more information on Body Balance, call 494-0991.
