Archived articles below!

Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

What Mobility Is Needed For The Downswing In Golfers?

We focused here mostly on what I find to be the biggest limiter in the downswing, the front side hip. Using hands on soft tissue technique, chiropractic technique, and precise movement therapy are the first steps to creating a hip that is optimal for the golf swing. After that, modified and specific exercises help to create more mobility and build back stability into that joint as we progress towards more dynamic and golf specific activities

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

What Mobility Is Needed For The Backswing In Golfers?

There are many components to the backswing that need be assessed and addressed. If one component is missing mobility or motor control, the body will need to compensate to make up the difference, leading to inconsistent and less than impressive swings. Further, we increase our chances of injury and lower our longevity in the game by forcing other joints to take up the slack.

Overall, we must fully address the back side hip for internal rotation, the back side shoulder for external rotation, and the trunk for rotation to the backside. Without these regions showing enough mobility, you and your swing coach will have a tough time making consistent changes in your swing.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

How Do The Glutes Effect The Golf Swing?

Outlined is a simple description of how we can take the findings of the bridge with leg extension test and start the process of improving on it. It is by no means comprehensive, but you can at least see the reasoning behind the different phases of addressing poor glute activity in the golf swing. Keep in mind, the glute muscles are vitally important at controlling the pelvis in extension and flexion as well as rotation and tilt. A comprehensive exam tells us much more about the golfer in front of us, but the bridge test does the best at looking directly at the pelvis and glutes. Check out other podcast episodes and articles on similar concepts around the pelvis and hips in the golf swing.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

Why Does My Shoulder Hurt When I Exercise?

Determining the true anatomical source of shoulder pain is important, but a clear understanding how everything else in the shoulder complex is moving and performing is equally important. We must be able to decipher where mobility is needed, where stability is needed, and how well the patient creates proper movement patterns with the entirety of the shoulder complex under load. With these understandings, we can build a plan to address the damaged tissue AND all the issues which were the root cause of the pain and dysfunction in the first place.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

Creating Power in the Golf Swing

This week we are discussing the phases of power training for golfers (and other rotational athletes for that matter) regardless of whether we are starting in rehab phases or directly from a performance perspective. Either way, the same system needs to be followed. First, we must address mobility and asymmetries. Even for the golfer in pain we always will address this, even if the site of the mobility loss is distant from the actual pain. It is often the case that these asymmetries and mobility issues are causal mechanisms in the generation of pain, while also being major performance limiters. Next steps include looking at motor control and stability throughout key regions and joints in the body, baseline strength, and then re-integrating movement quality and power training. Let’s take a closer look at these components to a powerful swing.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

What Is Limiting Your Mobility?

In this week’s article, we are talking about “stiffness” or “tightness”. When we feel like we can’t get into a position with ease, whether it be in the golf swing or a back squat, we can expect there to be a tissue extensibility issue, joint mobility issue, or weakness/ motor control issue. It is important on our exam and history we distinguish between these and find which is responsible for the missing range of motion and control. We use joint palpation and end play feel, single joint range of motion, global range of motion testing, and muscle palpation to help determine which issue is truly at hand.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

Training and Translating Thoracic Rotation to the Golf Swing

Golfers know it, swing coaches know it, rehab professionals know it, and performance and fitness experts know it. Thoracic rotation is important. TPI has done the measurements (refer to the previous article and podcast: The Seated Trunk Rotation Test), we need access to spine rotation to get into golf positions and we need to be able to do it easily enough to be dynamic and strong through it. So how do we go about improving measurements of thoracic spine rotation? And how do we translate that to the actual golf swing?

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

The Seated Trunk Rotation Test

This week, we are discussing TPI’s (Titleist Performance Institute) seated trunk rotation test. This is an essential test in understanding the golfer’s body and biomechanics capabilities for producing a repeatable, effective, and efficient golf swing. This test screens the trunk for rotation in both the back swing and the down swing. If asymmetry or deficiencies from ideal ranges are found, we know to take a closer look at thoracic spine rotation in the golfer.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

Integrating Rehab and Performance, Part 2: The Treatment

This week we will show some example progression through the three stages of care for a performance patient. His main goal was improving his snatch catching position. He notes from videos that his right heel elevates off of the ground when catching the snatch and doing other overhead movements. Let’s see how we progressed this patient base doff our day 1 findings and primary goal.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

Integrating Rehab and Performance, Part 1: The exam

This week we are going to give examples of Integrated Rehab And Performance Centers patient exam. More specifically, we are looking at an example of how we integrate lower body joints with the pelvis and spine. You will see why phases of care progress from working on mobility for various joints, into motor control for specific joints and then integrating that new mobility and motor control into big picture and broad movement patterns that the patient/ client needs for their sport, hobby, or goals. Today, we are looking at lower body exam for a CrossFitter looking to improve their snatch position and snatch performance.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

The Lower Quarter Rotation Test

This week we are discussing TPI’s lower quarter rotation test. This is an important test for screening the golfer’s ability to create adequate rotation from the pelvis down for the backswing and down-sing. If we pass this test during the TPI evaluation, then we likely won’t have to take a closer look at hip mobility. It is vital that the golfer has this motion available to them to create length in the swing, take advantage of stretch shortening reflexes, and follow the kinematic sequence (key for consistency and power).

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

Are You Hip Shifting While Squatting?

This week, we are talking about the side-to-side sway we sometimes see in a back squat, front squat, and even body weight squat. You should know, this hip shifting action is occurring in much more than just these movements. It can occur, asymmetrically, when we lunge, snatch, clean, run, and even walk. As you can tell, what is occurring here is happening all the time, it’s almost a state of being. So, what is it?

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

Explaining Shoulder Pain in Golf

Shoulder mobility is crucial to the performance and longevity of golfers. Golf specific testing is vital to understanding the root cause of pain and injury in golfers. At Integrated Rehab and Performance Center, we check all mobility, stability and global range of motion available to the golfer and work to improve on the most crucial missing markers.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

Can Low Back Pain Cause Hip Pain

As a sports medicine and rehab-based chiropractor, the concepts that tie the low back and the hip together are essential to understanding IRPC’s level of care. In this article, we will talk about regional interdependence, pain referral, and mobility Vs. stability.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

What is Sway in the Golf Swing?

Sway is the lateral or side-to-side motion of the hip in the backswing. This creates imbalances and changes in posture that the golfer has to address when returning in the down swing.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

Nutrition for Strength and Power

Nutrition plays a significant role in the success of strength and power athletes. To reach your full potential, focus on the right balance of macronutrients, stay hydrated, and consider supplements to support your goals. Remember that individual needs may vary, so listening to your body and adjusting your nutrition is essential.

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Nicholas Curtis Nicholas Curtis

Omega-3s: Performance and Recovery

Essential in this case means that the body cannot produce these fatty acids and we must consume omega-3 fatty acids in our diet. An important marker to look for is the omega3-omega 6 ratio. A simple blood sample will give us this data. Though both fatty acids are important, omega-6 fatty acids have an inflammatory role. Again, creating inflammation when needed is necessary for many bodily functions and is in fact essential for growing and recovering after training. Unfortunately, in the standard American diet, we get far too many omega-6’s, especially relative to omega 3’s. Examining the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio is important for understanding where our diet and health is regarding fatty acids and therefore heart and cardiovascular health.

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