Would you like an extra 15 yards on your golf drive off the tee? How about feeling less sore and fatigued after playing a round of golf or into the third set of your league tennis match? Whether you’re Rory McIlroy battling for a green jacket, Rafael Nadal fighting for another grand slam win, or an amateur spending a lazy afternoon playing for a beer and bragging rights, subtle adjustments such as custom foot orthotics often make the difference between winners and losers.
In a recent study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 12 golfers wore custom foot orthotics daily for six weeks. The research found that custom, flexible foot orthotics increased the golfers’ club head speed by 3.5 mph. An extra 3.5 mph on your golf drive translates to approximately a 15-yard increase in distance! The golfers also reported that after nine holes of golf, they were less fatigued. Athletes train for months to fight fatigue and gain a competitive edge. Whether it’s golf, tennis, running, biking, swimming or any other strenuous sport, wearing custom foot orthotics is an easy way to gain that edge, as well as reduce fatigue, and prevent foot, knee, hip and back injuries.
Your feet affect the entire body due to simple kinesiology, the study of how your body moves. As you walk, foot pronation (the inward rolling of the foot) is the primary shock absorber for your body. Pronation is a normal function of your foot and it should roll in from heel-strike to toe-off in a controlled manner. As your foot pronates, your leg naturally rotates inward to further absorb the impact of walking or running. However, when pronation is excessive, over-pronation or hyper-pronation occurs. This excessive pronation is common in many people, resulting in a improper gait. When this happens, the muscles and ligaments that support the arch become stretched out and you lose the ability for the foot and leg to roll inward properly. Over-pronation can cause conditions as diverse as plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, shin splints, knee or hip pain, low back pain and early osteoarthritis.
Modern technology now makes it simple to be fit for custom orthotics. Amfit, a computerized casting device, precisely measures the contours of the bottom of your feet and your arches. Unlike foam casts, or “scanners” that give a two-dimensional picture, the Amfit digitizer creates a computerized 3-D exact replication of your arches, thus eliminating human error, creating one-of-a-kind custom foot orthotics specifically designed for YOUR feet.
Would you like 15 extra yards in your golf swing or a competitive edge on the tennis court or sports field? Fight early fatigue and eliminate aches and pains that many people associate with aging with custom foot orthotics. Dr. Brandon Nevel, a Jupiter sports chiropractor and tennis professional, is one of the only physicians in South Florida to offer custom Amfit computerized orthotics. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call Sport & Spinal Rehab at 561-406-6905 or visit www.TheJupiterChiropractor.com.
