Update: I’ve edited this after mistakenly attributing Dr. Lafontaine’s statements to Michael Bamberger. Fixed.
File this under “Are you kidding me?”
Michael Bamberger has apparently caught on to the fact that the Modern Golf Swing is bad for one’s back. I’m shocked – shocked that there’s gambling going on in here…
I’m happy that someone is finally taking notice. I mean, it’s only been 7 years since I posted on the shocking discovery based on scientific analysis.
And I’ll tell you another thing for free – Golf Digest should be sued for negligence or malpractice (you decide) for posting videos like the one I highlighted in this posting.
But here it is from Golf Digest and Bamberger:
Justin Thomas’s back issues underscore cost of the modern golf swing
Justin Thomas didn’t make his first Tour start this year until early March, at Bay Hill. That’s because last November he underwent a microdiscectomy procedure to alleviate pain caused by damaged disk in his lower back. If you know this term of surgery, it might be because Tiger Woods has had four microdiscectomies since 2014.
Probably the last way on earth that I’d ever want to be compared to Tiger Woods… and it doesn’t even seem that they understand even now, because this following bit is a little confusing:
LaFountain points out Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, John Daly, Phil Mickelson all had incredibly long backswings with driver in hand, so much so that the driver head, when they were at the peak of their powers, was below the beltline on the top of their backswings.
Dr Lafontaine, Director of Chiropractic Services for the PGA Tour goes to to say that today’s players have shorter swings and are still able to generate power and speed, but nowhere in this article does he say why the Classic Golf Swing players were able to avoid injury.
And – this is embarrassing, or should be, if one is a director of chiropractic services for the PGA Tour – no, none of Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus nor Phil Mickelson had their club heads below their beltlines:
John Daly did:
“You can see a really fit, strong, slender player like Collin and think, ‘Oh, nothing’s going to happen to him,’ but you really can’t know,” LaFountain said in a recent interview. “You don’t know what the player’s lower-back strength is like. You don’t know what their strength and flexibility training is like. And you don’t know about their genetics, their family history for back issues. Did mom or dad have bad backs? Because that’s a major factor.
“Guys will see pictures of John Daly,” LaFountain continued. “He’s way overweight. Eats everything, has serious health issues, but his back is fine. And they say, ‘Why me and not him?’” Genetics is a huge component.
Genetics?
That’s his answer?
If I were a patient of this fellow, I’d find another chiropractor, because he evidently doesn’t know the difference between a Modern and a Classic golf swing model.
We know why the Classic players stayed healthy:
It wasn’t because their swings were longer – I don’t know what he’s even trying to imply here, but it’s obvious he hasn’t looked at golf swings in a while – it was because they pivoted with a full and free hip turn that didn’t leave them having to twist their lower backs like wet dishrags in order to generate said speed and power.
It is absolutely criminal for a chiropractor not to know this basic fact. But for one in charge of the PGA Tour’s chiropractic treatments to not know this?
I’ll ask you – does he really not know, or does he know full well but doesn’t want to interfere with his income stream treating golfers with bad backs?
I’m just asking, because it’s one or the other, and the answer is an indictment of either his expertise or his ethics.
To make it even worse, Bamberger goes on to seemingly justify swinging in a way that might leave you in a wheelchair because of *cha-ching*… money:
Incredible. Absolutely astounding.
WAX Golf 