Sports Chiropractor Who Sponsors Alex Geisinger

[Doctor Disc Golf]

Hey guys, Dr. Jeremy Marty here. My brother Dr. Josh and I have been playing for about 4 years now and love the sport. We are chiropractors in Lakeville, MN who sponsor Alex Geisinger. We are wondering what the disc golf community would find useful as far as a sports performance or injury prevention guide. Injuries are pretty common in disc golf, with 80% of players reporting injuries and as many as 1 in 8 needing surgery. We're looking to shoot a couple of videos with Alex or put together some warmup routines/stretches etc. Let us know what you'd find useful whether it's videos, blog posts/articles, or something else entirely. You can check out a couple of things we do for disc golfers in this video on our Instagram page. I'll try to check this post as often as I can today but no promises on quick responses.

 

[notroman]

I've been having problems with my piriformis muscle flaring up some days. Could very well be something to do with how I throw those days, could be lack of stretching, could be both. That muscle is impossible to massage as far as I'm concerned and only way to get to it is through stretching. I try to stretch it for a few minutes before starting my first round now to help get it warmed up/loose. I only know of one stretch for it - where I sit down and bring my knee up to my chest while my foot crosses over to opposite side of the body. If there are more stretches that I could be doing that would be helpful to know. Also, I'm not sure what is causing the pain to begin with - could be me not pivoting properly during the weight transfer, could be something else. If you guys are familiar with that region it would be great to explain what that muscle does and how it can get overworked/injured.

 

[gabereif]

Tennis elbow!!

 

[Doctor Disc Golf]

Hey notroman,

Sounds like you've had that muscle checked out already but gotta put the disclaimer in here
***internet advice is no substitute for a proper examination with a medical professional***

The Piriformis is actually a very common disc golf injury! It's a lateral/external rotator of the hip (think how your foot/leg rotates outward during the follow through on a backhand throw) and many players injure it during the bracing or plant portion of the throw. My suspicion is that your timing and follow through is just a little bit off and its been causing extra wear and tear on that muscle throughout the many years you've been playing. You have any form videos that you've uploaded at all?

I assume you've been doing a modified pigeon pose to stretch it? A couple of other things you can do are make sure you don't keep your wallet in your back pocket and try sitting on a tennis/lacrosse/racquetball and rolling around on the tight muscle to work out some of the tension. It'll hurt while you're working it out but it'll be better in the long run. A deep tissue massage could also be really beneficial just to have someone really dig in and work out that muscle. Make sure to ask for a therapeutic massage though and not just a relaxation/feel good massage.

Fun fact about the Piriformis - in about 20% of people, the Sciatic nerve runs through the muscle instead of underneath it. Those people tend to get a lot of sciatica type pain from that muscle being tight and can fix their sciatica by working on that muscle too.

 

[roggenb3]

Just wanna say it was fun watching Alex crush the back back 9 at Token in the MCO final 9 (22). He was out-driving everyone else by 100' on some holes.

 

[slowplastic]

A video or article with pictures for your recommended pre-throwing stretches would be appreciated, and I know you said that's in the plans. I see so many people walk from the car to the first tee, then throw with bad form and all their effort...I'm not surprised there are lots of people with muscle strains and other pain.

 

[tbird888]

Since there are a lot of us without clean form, how about a video or some kind of visual media explaining the most common mistakes DGers make and the strain it puts on our body? If people knew what kind of damage they're doing to their bodies, the more likely they'll be to fix their form to ensure they can throw frisbees for the rest of their life.

 

[jeffmonty]

Tennis elbow!!

I will 2nd this. I was out 3 months with this last winter.

 

[Doctor Disc Golf]

Tennis elbow!!

***internet advice is no substitute for a proper examination with a medical professional***

Is it only when you're playing? What do you do for work? Repetitive job?

There's a couple pictures on our website that show the muscles involved and a test to diagnose yourself at home. The biggest thing with tennis elbow is giving it time to heal. Whatever repetitive action that's causing your pain is actually tearing away tiny pieces where the muscle/tendon attaches to the bone. Those tennis elbow bands you see people wear are actually EXTREMELY effective at helping tennis elbow. They're usually under $15 at Target, Walmart, or any sporting goods store. It gives the muscle an artificial insertion point and lets the bone/tendon/muscle junction heal up. Try wearing one of those for a couple weeks and ice your elbow a ton and you should see a big improvement. Just make sure to put the brace/strap on the actual muscle belly below where you're feeling the pain. You should be able to grab things and throw pretty much pain-free while wearing the brace. The last picture on our website kinda shows where the brace should go in comparison to where you're feeling the pain. Things like Graston or Ultrsound/Stim in office can help speed up the process too but you'll probably see a huge improvement just through home care.

 

[Doctor Disc Golf]

I will 2nd this. I was out 3 months with this last winter.

Hey Jeff,

See my reply to gabereif. We might just have to put together a video on Tennis Elbow if its in high demand!

 

[Doctor Disc Golf]

I've been having problems with my piriformis muscle flaring up some days. Could very well be something to do with how I throw those days, could be lack of stretching, could be both. That muscle is impossible to massage as far as I'm concerned and only way to get to it is through stretching. I try to stretch it for a few minutes before starting my first round now to help get it warmed up/loose. I only know of one stretch for it - where I sit down and bring my knee up to my chest while my foot crosses over to opposite side of the body. If there are more stretches that I could be doing that would be helpful to know. Also, I'm not sure what is causing the pain to begin with - could be me not pivoting properly during the weight transfer, could be something else. If you guys are familiar with that region it would be great to explain what that muscle does and how it can get overworked/injured.

Hey I replied to this down below but didn't quote it so I'm not sure you got a notification. Anyway, here's a post so you know I replied. :thmbup:

 

[Doctor Disc Golf]

Since there are a lot of us without clean form, how about a video or some kind of visual media explaining the most common mistakes DGers make and the strain it puts on our body? If people knew what kind of damage they're doing to their bodies, the more likely they'll be to fix their form to ensure they can throw frisbees for the rest of their life.

I'm playing pro/am mixed doubles league with my brother and Alex tonight. I'll try and get some slow-mo footage of Alex and some Ams (or me, who am I kidding) on our biomechanic-analysis app and whip something together in the next couple of weeks!

 

[Consult20]

Just wanna say it was fun watching Alex crush the back back 9 at Token in the MCO final 9 (22). He was out-driving everyone else by 100' on some holes.

First time I've seen Alex in person, he's a beast who can crush no question. He also seems like a great guy, I was standing next to him when he took a pic with my buddies two little girls, he had a huge smile. He signed their discs as well, made their day. So then I asked the girls if they wanted me to sign their discs too -- their reply, no! :\

 

[tbird888]

That would be great, thanks! I know that learning to throw BH has really punished my knees, shoulder, and elbow to a lesser extent. I'm almost afraid to see how much punishment my body's already endured.

 

[Doctor Disc Golf]

Just wanna say it was fun watching Alex crush the back back 9 at Token in the MCO final 9 (22). He was out-driving everyone else by 100' on some holes.

Yeah it's pretty insane but definitely fun to watch. There's a 650' hole (hole 7 Brockway) at the course we play for doubles and he has a look at 2 most weeks just by hanging a huge hyzer over the road.

 

[Doctor Disc Golf]

That would be great, thanks! I know that learning to throw BH has really punished my knees, shoulder, and elbow to a lesser extent. I'm almost afraid to see how much punishment my body's already endured.

Add low back/spine in there and you've hit all the most common disc golf injuries! We see a lot of injuries in any sport where it's repetitive rotation to one side, whether it's disc golf, golf, or throwing sports like baseball. Even people who work repetitive jobs like mail-carriers or warehouse workers have a lot of that one-sided rotation. The muscles on one side get really good at that action and it results in a muscle imbalance. One of the biggest problems to solve from a sports performance/injury prevention perspective is that the muscle imbalance is actually beneficial for performance but predisposes an athlete for injury. There's sort of a fine line balancing performance and health sometimes!

 

[jeffmonty]

Hey Jeff,

See my reply to gabereif. We might just have to put together a video on Tennis Elbow if its in high demand!

Thanks for the reply. My Doctor diagnosed my tendonitis and told me if I didn't completely quit throwing until I was pain-free it would never heal. So that's what I did. Along with lots of icing my elbow, stretching exercises, and some anti-inflammatories, I healed to the point of playing again. But...instead of 10-12 rounds per week, i'm now playing about 6-7. I take days off between rounds more now. I don't want to relapse. And I also have the Band-It elbow brace that seems to help alot.

I'll keep an eye out for you vids!

 

[Doctor Disc Golf]

First time I've seen Alex in person, he's a beast who can crush no question. He also seems like a great guy, I was standing next to him when he took a pic with my buddies two little girls, he had a huge smile. He signed their discs as well, made their day. So then I asked the girls if they wanted me to sign their discs too -- their reply, no! :\

Yeah, he's an awesome dude and a lot of fun to work with! I give him huge props for balancing work, travel, disc golf, and family. It takes a ton of time and effort from him and his fiancee to juggle that many things at once.

The girls just didn't want to decrease the discs' value on the Marketplace. Learning well from a young age! :clap:

 

[Doctor Disc Golf]

Thanks for the reply. My Doctor diagnosed my tendonitis and told me if I didn't completely quit throwing until I was pain-free it would never heal. So that's what I did. Along with lots of icing my elbow, stretching exercises, and some anti-inflammatories, I healed to the point of playing again. But...instead of 10-12 rounds per week, i'm now playing about 6-7. I take days off between rounds more now. I don't want to relapse. And I also have the Band-It elbow brace that seems to help alot.

I'll keep an eye out for you vids!

Wear that brace pretty much any time you're doing any repetitive motions with that arm. That means disc golfing, construction/power tool work, even typing can pull on those muscles. Fish oil/collagen supplements can help rebuild connective tissue as well. Something to think about if you don't eat a lot of fish or get many Omega-3s in your diet.

 

[Doctor Disc Golf]

A video or article with pictures for your recommended pre-throwing stretches would be appreciated, and I know you said that's in the plans. I see so many people walk from the car to the first tee, then throw with bad form and all their effort...I'm not surprised there are lots of people with muscle strains and other pain.

That's one thing that's in the works for sure. The interesting thing in sports performance research is that there are so many opinions right now about what you should or shouldn't do before activity. I ran track in college and they would tell us not to do any static stretches before running. If you think of your muscles as a rubber band, you actually want it to have some tension so it has more stored power (you can shoot the rubber band farther - run faster - throw discs farther etc.) If you do too much static stretching you lose that stored power and have a decrease in performance but you get the benefit of the rubber band being less likely to snap.


I think the key to any good warm-up routine is getting your muscles ready for action while practicing a sport specific skill that you'll be using during your event. I ran hurdles in track and we'd do hip mobility drills followed by actually running sets of hurdles. There wasn't ever really just sitting and stretching before a race, that always happened after practice or after a track meet as a cool-down.


Off the top of my head, a good warm-up could be something like:
Start with dynamic warm-up (arm circles, twists, etc. Not too much static stretch and hold at this point, static stretches are better after rounds)
Play catch with a buddy about 50 ft apart just to get the muscles moving. Unload your bag doing some 100-150ft approaches. Throw a variety of shots too; land some flat, throw some spike hyzers, a couple anhyzers, forehands, see what the wind is doing etc. Anything you might use during the round. Step up to 200ft approaches and do the same thing. Throw some 300ft drives. Throw some max distance drives. Then go practice putting after everything is loosened up and you'll probably be more consistent than if you started with putting practice when your muscles are cold.

This warms up all your throwing muscles, helps you range in your approach shots, gets your body ready for all the shots it's going to have to throw and hopefully builds a little confidence through the putting game too.