The Body Swing Connection
At Integrated Rehab and Performance Center, one of our key differentiators is the comprehensive exam we perform with every golfer. Our process goes beyond simply diagnosing an injury — it’s designed to uncover the underlying functional limitations that affect movement and performance throughout the entire body.
This detailed approach is a major reason why so many golfers who haven’t found success with traditional physical therapy, chiropractic care, or even surgery turn to us for results.
In this article, I’ll highlight a specific component of our 5-Step Golfer Evaluation — Part 5: The Body–Swing Connection — and explain why it’s such a critical piece in optimizing both rehab and performance outcomes.
What is the body-swing connection?
This is a critical part of the exam. After looking at global movement, golf specific movement, assessing each individual joint independently and completing a full orthopedic and special testing exam, we will then look at the golf swing. By having a deep understanding of your movement and motor control capability and how it relates to your pain, we will be able to analyze your swing with a critical Lense. The question we are trying to ask is how is your swing related to your pain? We can get answers from both sides of the equation here. How might your pain be a product of your swing mechanics? How might your swing mechanics be a product of your pain and limitation? This is an important, context creating step that needs to be taken with Nashville golfers.
Do we fix the golf swing at IRPC?
Not exactly, that’s not our job! We save that for the pros. My favorite way of putting it is like this… “we give the golfer and/ or golf instructor a blank canvas to work with.” This means from a performance perspective; we work on the bodies physical limitations and deficits that continue to restrict or pull the golfer into their unwanted or undesirable swing characteristics. By working on these same limitations, we can improve force production (power and swing speed), efficiency, and reduce tension and pain while healing injured and inflamed tissue.
What does the swing analysis look like?
Check out this video below to see an example of a few swing characteristics we identified with a golfer and how it related to his physical exam…
We look for 15 specific swing characteristics. Things like early extension, over-the-top, sliding, early pivot, reverse spine angle… Anything that can be related to physical restrictions and generate pain. Depending on what we are seeing from the physical evaluation, we can make connections to the swing evaluation and see which characteristics that have been giving you trouble are more related to the physical than the technical. We can also see which swing characteristics are present that may be directly related to your pain. For example, the swing characteristic of reverse spine angle is associated to instances of low back pain and loss of longevity in golf. This happens because the facet joints of the low back are forced away from each other and then rapidly closed and slammed together in the downswing when this characteristic is present. From here, we can prioritize motor control, mobility, and strength in key regions that will make it possible to limit this characteristic in the future while healing injured tissue.
Check out this article here for more information on the comprehensive evaluation…
-Nashville Golf and Athletic Club Case study part 1: The exam
Conclusion
The body-swing connection is where rehab and performance truly intersect. By understanding how your movement quality, joint function, and physical limitations influence your swing—and how your swing mechanics may, in turn, contribute to pain—we can create a plan that’s both precise and effective.
At Integrated Rehab and Performance Center, our goal isn’t to change your golf swing; it’s to give your body the capability and freedom to make those changes possible. By removing the physical barriers that hold you back, we help you and your coach build a more powerful, efficient, and pain-free swing that lasts.
This is what makes our approach different — we don’t just treat symptoms, we connect the links between your body and your swing to help you perform and feel your best on and off the course.
-Dr. Nick DC, MS, TPI, CSCS
If you would like to learn more about your body, pain, and performance, send Dr. Nick an email at contact@integratedrpc.com or call at (585)478-4379, or schedule a FREE discovery visit at Contact.
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