Effect of spinal manipulative therapy with stretching compared with stretching alone on full-swing performance of golf players: a randomized pilot trial.
OBJECTIVE
There has been a steady growth of chiropractic treatment using spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) that aims to increase the performance of athletes in various sports. This study evaluates the effect of SMT by chiropractors on the performance of golf players.


METHODS
Golfers of 2 golf clubs in São Paulo, Brazil, participated in this study. They were randomized to 1 of 2 groups: Group I received a stretch program, and group II received a stretch program in addition to SMT. Participants in both groups performed the same standardized stretching program. Spinal manipulative therapy to dysfunctional spinal segments was performed on group II only. All golfers performed 3 full-swing maneuvers. Ball range was considered as the average distance for the 3 shots. Treatment was performed after the initial measurement, and the same maneuvers were performed afterward. Each participant repeated these procedures for a 4-week period. Student t test, Mann-Whitney nonparametric test, and 1-way analysis of variance for repeated measures with significance level of 5% were used to analyze the study.


RESULTS
Forty-three golfers completed the protocol. Twenty participants were allocated to group I and 23 to group II. Average age, handicap, and initial swing were comparable. No improvement of full-swing performance was observed during the 4 sessions on group I (stretch only). An improvement was observed at the fourth session of group II (P = .005); when comparing the posttreatment, group II had statistical significance at all phases (P = .003).


CONCLUSIONS
Chiropractic SMT in association with muscle stretching may be associated with an improvement of full-swing performance when compared with muscle stretching alone.
Costa
Soraya M V
SM
Chiropractor, Private Practice, Homecare, São Paulo, Brazil.
Chibana
Yumi E T
YE
Giavarotti
Leandro
L
Compagnoni
Débora S
DS
Shiono
Adriana H
AH
Satie
Janice
J
Bracher
Eduardo S B
ES