The Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ reported a story about professional golfers using chiropractic on a regular basis. Dr. Tom La Fountain is a chiropractor who travels with the PGA tour and regularly provides chiropractic to the pros. Dr. La Fountain reports that up to 85 percent of the injuries on the PGA Tour and Senior Tour relate to the spine, and about 70 to 75 percent of those golfers receive regular chiropractic care.
The August 21, 2000 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune reported that senior pro golfer, Doug Tewell was delayed entering the Senior PGA tour due to spinal problems. Tewell injured his back while playing a round of golf with his son in Oklahoma. The injury kept him in bed for three days and required the use of a walker for two weeks. On the recomendation of fellow pro Bob Tway, Tewell decided to see a chiropractor. His comments in the Tribune article summed up his reactions, “the most incredible thing, just a few little jerks,” Tewell said. “I thought I had met Oral Roberts.”
Professional women golfers also utilize chiropractic. Dr. David E. Stude, a chiropractor and associate professor and faculty clinician at Northwestern Health Sciences University, lectures across the country with Lisa Masters, an LPGA golf pro, emphasizing the importance of chiropractic care for golfers. Dr. Stude states, “Normally, each vertebra in the spine moves independently a certain number of degrees when our whole body is involved in an activity. If that is not happening, for example, if two or more segments move as a whole unit, rather than moving independently, it can lead to one kind of vertebral mechanical dysfunction.”
