This last year has been a very busy time for me.  In addition to my 30+ credit hours I carry every 10 weeks in Chiropractic school, I also work part-time at Pelican Bay Golf Course.  I live in Florida, 3 miles from the beach, yet I have not been to the beach as much as you would think.

 

This is just a little recap on what I have accomplished so far.

 

Earlier this year, I visited a Chiropractor down in Boca Raton, FL.  Dr. Christie is certified in Titleist Performance Institute (TPI), Active Release Technique (ART), Graston Technique (GT), Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).  These are all things I was interested in at the time, and now I am certified in all but the CSCS (which I will be completing next year).  He encouraged me to take as many certifications as I can while in school, which has made a big impact on where I am now.

 

Dr. Christie has an associate, Dr. Scott Hoar, who is a graduate of Palmer FL. Dr. Scott introduced me to Spruce Creek High School’s golf team, which I have worked with several times this year.  Lastly, Dr. Christie offered me an opportunity to do my preceptorship with him.  Preceptorship is a Chiropractic internship, where you work with a Doctor in the field and comes in the last 3 months before graduating.  I will be doing my preceptorship 10 months from now, and will be graduating a year from December.

 

So here’s a breakdown of what I’ve done so far:

 

• Started a golf performance business, “Chris Fit Golf Performance.” I have been working with golfers in the Daytona Beach area as well as Spruce Creek High school. See the section of my website titled “Golf Performance” for more information. I assess golfers using a golf specific movement screen, video analysis, and create golf workouts created specifically for the individual golfer.

 

• Graston Technique (GT). Graston Technique is an instrument assisted soft tissue technique used to diagnose and treat soft tissue and myofascial types of problems.   Graston can help treat problems anywhere from TMJ (Temporal Mandibular Joint), rotator cuff problems, to tennis elbow, carpal tunnel, sciatica and shin splints.

 

• Active Release Technique (ART) is a different technique used to treat soft tissue and fascial types of problems.  ART uses the hands, not instruments to treat, and is the favorite technique of many Olympic and Professional athletes.  What is special to ART is their technique requires extensive knowledge about the muscular and nervous system and palpation skills.  ART has also been known to treat nerve entrapments.

 

• Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) is an organized protocol used to determine dysfunctional movements in the body.  The SFMA gives the clinician an approach to determine where the patient is dysfunctional, and is often times different than the site of the patient’s pain. The SFMA has the capability of narrowing down deficiencies to a stability problem or a mobility problem. Stability problems require exercise to retrain the brain and mobility problems require assessment to determine a joint or soft tissue problem.

 

• Attended the 4^th biennial World Golf Fitness Summit in Orlando. This event is hosted by TPI, and consists of presentations from the best in the golf industry.  Some speakers included Sean Foley, Sean Cochran, Claude Harmon, Craig Davies (Chiropractor and trainer for Justin Rose and Hunter Mahan), and Andrew Fischer.  Attending this conference really solidified my interest in TPI and changed who and where I am now.
• Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) is for medical, fitness and teaching professionals.  TPI is the leader in golf fitness, from physical screening of golfers, to 3-D biomechanical analysis, golf injuries to training golfers in the gym.  TPI gives the professional an assessment tool to determine deficiencies in the golfers swing and body, and exercises to fix the golfer’s deficiencies.

 

• Part 1 Boards.  I took my first of four parts of boards in September.  The first part consists of all the sciences: anatomy, physiology, spinal anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology and pathology. I started studying in June, and estimated I put in 10-15 hours per week of extra studying time.  I also took a board review class, which took up nights and weekends some of July and all of August.  All the time I put in paid off, as I received my scores a couple weeks ago and scored very high.

 

 

Next year looks like it will be even busier.  In addition to starting outpatient clinic in January, here is a few things which I would like to do:

 

• 3 more electives at my school which include Sports, Flexion/Distraction, and Activator Technique.

 

• Level 2 and 3 of the TPI Medical Professional track.

 

• Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).

 

• Neurokinetic Therapy.

 

• ART upper and lower extremity. This past year I took the Spine course, it takes all 3 to be full body certified.

 

• More sports council events. Last year I worked at a women’s professional golf tournament, and would like to do more next year.