LUH therapy program fixes what ails your golf swing

Managing EditorLONGMONT ? Need to see a therapist about your slice? You’re in luck.

Longmont United Hospital is launching a therapy golf program that promises to strengthen the muscles, and improve the balance and flexibility needed to swing a golf club properly.

The burning question: Will health insurance cover this?

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Short answer: No.

But because 20 percent of the therapy clinic’s outpatients are golfers, Eileen Maddox, manager of physical medicine, says there is a market for the program, which can cost from about $350 to $1,000 or more, depending the number of sessions.

Physical Therapist Kelly Moniger will be the program’s instructor. She recently received golf therapy certification in a program developed by Paul Callaway, the PGA Tour’s first physical therapy director. Moniger learned the biomechanics of a proper golf swing and is certified in prescribing exercises to improve posture, balance, flexibility, strength, and trunk and shoulder stability, she said.

The program is geared for golfers who are not making ideal swings because of past injuries or muscle weaknesses. Old injuries can result in putting undo pressure on other joints or muscles.

Boulder Community Hospital’s Boulder Center for Sports Medicine offers a similar program, run by Sports Science Coordinator Neil Henderson and Tim Hilden, a physical therapist and certified athletic trainer.

Similar programs promise to shave three or four strokes from your score, and some have documented drives improving by as many as 35 yards, but Moniger stops short of promising a lower handicap. What the program will do is pinpoint problem areas and use physical therapy techniques to offset them, she said.

In Longmont, golfers receive a free 30-minute consultation, which is followed by a two-hour, $200 evaluation that will manually test muscles, joints, range of motion and include a video swing analysis.

Subsequent sessions run $150 each and work on trouble points identified by Moniger. The problems could range from recovering from a torn muscle, suffering from a pinched nerve or simply improving flexibility, she said. ?The success golfers enjoy will be directly related to how much time they are willing to put into the prescribed exercises.? Moniger said the number of sessions is determined by the golfer.

Patients can wind up the program with a $125 post-therapy video swing analysis.

Maddox said program start-up costs were minimal. ?We bought a video camera and television to play the tapes on. And the cost to send Kelly to the certification class is the only other expense.?

Moniger will maintain her regular duties as a therapist while she runs the program.

Becky Herman, director of clinical support services at LUH, said the hospital was looking to expand its role promoting health and preventing injuries. ?It was an easy sell to the administration because of the low start-up cost and the program’s potential. There are lots of golf courses everywhere, and more are always being built,? she said. ?It’s a way for the hospital to reach a certain group of customers who can benefit from the program.?

The program has yet to sign up its first client, but Maddox hopes to treat about 15 clients in the first year. Program revenue is projected at about $15,000.

?We’re going to take it slow,? Maddox said. The only public exposure the program has had so far is the dissemination of brochures at the Twin Peaks Mall in Longmont. ?We also want to hook up with club pros in the area, and see if we can work together,? she said. ?We’ll depend a lot on word-of-mouth.?

The program won’t compete with services offered by golf club pros, Moniger said. ?We’re concentrating on helping golfers repair and prevent injuries. We leave the technical parts of the swing to the pros.?

Barry Jennings, club pro at Fox Hill Country Club in Longmont, said the hospital’s efforts are welcome. ?Golf is hard on the body,? he said. ?We have members who have low-back pain and tendonitis in the elbow, a sore foot, ankle or knee. We’d like to work hand-in-hand with the hospital. Anything it can do to help people enjoy the game better would be great.?Contact Doug Storum at (303) 440-4950 or e-mail dstorum@bcbr.com.