One of the most popular sports played here in sunny Florida is golf and one of the two most common sports related sources of injury is, you guessed it, golf. Here are a few fun facts and tips related to this wonderful pastime.
If you choose to walk, rather than ride 18 holes, you will not only walk roughly four miles, but also burn 2,000 calories. To compare, golfers that ride carts burn about 1,300 calories.
To this day, golf is one of only two sports, along with the javelin throw, to have ever been played on the moon. Back on February 6, 1971, Apollo 14 member Alan Shepard hit a ball with a six-iron, swinging one-handed as a result of his pressure suit.
Every year, roughly 125,000 balls are hit into the water surrounding TPC Sawgrass’ world-renowned island green 17th hole.
The first ever golf balls were made of thin leather, stuffed with goose feathers. ‘Feather balls’ were used up until 1848, when they were replaced with the ‘guttie’ ball, named for the rubber-like sap of the Gutta tree, found in the tropics.
Each modern golf ball manufacturer creates different numbers of dimples on their golf balls but there are 336 dimples on a regulation, tournament golf ball.
When it comes to dimples, more is definitely better, as the dimples reduce wind resistance and allow the ball to fly higher. There is a trade-off, however, between possible height and possible distance: very dimple-dense balls will fly high but not go very far.
Golf balls travel much farther when the day is warm, so if you need a little extra umph to backup your swing, play on a hot day. The rubber components of a golf ball are more resilient when they are warm. Additionally, warm air is less dense than cold air and provides less resistance. So, if you’ve got a ball with the ideal number of dimples and it’s warm enough to make you sweat, you’re good to go.
53% of amateur golfers and 30% of professional golfers will play with an injured back this year. Golf injuries can result from a combination of poor posture, lack of muscle flexibility and coordination and incorrect equipment.
Most common golf injuries occur in the lower back, elbows, shoulders, hands and wrists, and are generally defined as either cumulative (overuse) or acute (traumatic) injuries. The impact and stress of the repetitive motion of the swing is sometimes hard on the muscles and joints, especially if you ignore the early warning signs of an injury such as; joint pain, tenderness, swelling, reduced range of motion, comparative weakness, and numbness and tingling.
Of the top ten injuries that can occur when playing golf, Acupuncture treats the first nine directly and very successfully. The tenth, fracture of the hamate bone, can be treated indirectly by decreasing both pain and healing time.
Acupuncture improves flexibility, circulation & coordination which will help keep you injury free and helps reduce down time after any injury.
Acupuncture is safe, effective and works quickly. Many of the Senior PGA players I have treated say that acupuncture also has the added benefit of helping to get them into that zone of mental clarity and relaxation that is so important to their game.
Whether you want to tune up your back or tune up your game or both, Acupuncture can help you arrive on the fairway pain free and on par.
Yours in good health,
Robert Kienitz, DTCM