Golf or Baseball: Let’s Play Ball!
The basic principles behind the golf swing and the swing at home plate are not that much different. While the preferences may vary, when you break down the mechanics, there is similarity. Certainly there are differences between laying down a bunt and a 230-yard drive off the first tee. The same differences are in play when putting is contrasted to the swing driving a 385-foot home run out of the park. In the several scenarios, the swing should look like one smooth, continuous motion that culminates with you holding a nicely balanced finish as the ball sails through the air. Within that motion however, is a series of techniques that each must be executed properly in order to produce the desired outcome.
Concentrating on golf swing mechanics, there is the Takeaway, Back swing, Transition, Impact, and Follow through. Continuing to explore the swing mechanics, backward movement of the shoulders and arms is followed by backward rotation of the spine, cocking of the hips, cocking of the wrists, timing, rotation of the pelvis, forward rotation of the spine, pushing and pulling of the arms and shoulders, guiding action and follow through.
Even if the physics behind my explanation is not perfect, the point here is that any pain and altered motion caused by injury or arthritis will affect your game. If you haven’t been able to play since last fall, now is the time to head out to the gym to catch up on strength training and stretching, with emphasis on spinal and pelvic rotation. Then there are the golf simulators and indoor driving ranges in and around Chicago.
If you experience pain in your muscles and joints along with limited motion, recent legislative changes in Illinois allow you direct access to the physical therapist. If after several sessions with the physical therapist, you haven’t realized the improvement you seek, it is time for an evaluation by an orthopedic surgeon. She or he, perhaps I, will complete a medical history and physical examination and review X-ray and MRIs of the affected anatomy. The end result of that intake may be a prescription for further PT, a prescription of pharmacologic management or in my case, a Regenerative Medicine/ Stem Cell procedure; that is a needle and not a knife.
I have documented in several recent scientific publications that Regenerative Medicine using either Bone Marrow Concentrate or Microfragmented Adipose tissue recovered by Liposuction will allow you to play 18 holes of golf this upcoming season. At times, concentrated and then processed Platelets offer an opportunity for a patient afflicted with arthritis or limited by bodily injury to return to an active lifestyle and enjoy a full schedule of outdoor recreational pursuits. Please make note that my regenerative menu of services is based on your own cells and proteins that have been proven to work and meet FDA and FTC guidelines.
As the weather forecast is improving and the sun has been out this week, the opening of both the baseball and golf season is only about a week or so away. I say, “Play ball!”