Chiropractic in sport

Golf, Football, Rugby, Cricket, American football, Formula 1, Cycling & Olympic athletes all have something in common. Yep you’ve guessed it, they have a Chiropractor. A sports Chiropractor has now become of the latest ‘must haves’ for all sports teams and are becoming an essential component to any sports medical team. The reason why, is that Chiropractors are unique in that they have the ability to provide a working diagnosis and treatment plan through a precise orthopaedic and neurological assessment, as well as the ability to take and read x-rays.

Some great of examples of professional athletes using Chiropractic can be found in the media, some of the most famous being Tiger woods, Michael Jordan, Usain Bolt and Arnold Schwarzenegger. More recent examples particularly in the golfing world was the second youngest masters champion Jordan Spieth (who thanked his Chiropractor during his acceptance speech) and the recent 2015 Open champion Zach Johnson’s Chiropractor is also his Dad! Exercise Physiologist, Sean Atkins, PhD, estimates that in excess of  90% of the world’s top class athletes use Chiropractic on a regular basis to prevent injury and improve performance.

Murray bounces back to win after Chiro treatment 

For all you tennis fans out there, there was also a great moment highlighting the effect of adjustments (another word for spinal manipulation – main techniques used by Chiropractors) in 2015 Wimbledon championships where Andy Murray was struggling in the 3rd set of his third round match with a back problem which was affecting his shoulder, he lost six games in a row and lost a set. After receiving treatment on his back, he bounced back to win the next set and the match.

The spine is key to performance

Chiropractors have a great record of increasing recover rates and allowing the body to restore health and function not just to the spine but also to the rest of the body. This is extremely advantageous to athletes who need perform consistently at the highest level with limited recovery between games or competitions. The reason Chiropractors excel in this is area is because they focus on the spine. The spine is the key to any movement of the body, transmitting signals to every muscle to perform every action. By identifying and improving areas of impaired function throughout the body not just the spine, allowing the body to function as effectively as possible. Chiropractors are passionate about finding the root cause of the problem rather than treating symptoms, reducing the risk of reoccurrence or further injury.

Chiro is not just for professional athletes

I have had some experience early in my career with sports Chiropractic where I worked with a wide range of sports teams at different levels ranging from professional athletes at Glamorgan and Surrey Cricket Club, semi-professional athletes at Welsh netball and local amateur rugby teams in the Cardiff area. The next question you might be asking yourself might be, do I have to be a professional athlete in order to get this? The answer is no. All athletes from professional golfers to amateur runners, to simply people wanting to keep fit and healthy can benefit from Chiropractic care. If your goals are to improve your running time, want to exercise longer, improve strength or improve performance we can help you.