This week I’m keeping the outdoor theme going. While I am a huge proponent of letting kids play outside unstructured there are benefits to being involved in team sports. This time of year soccer is a big one that lots of kids will be participating in so I found an article that looked at how Chiropractic care help improve performance in professional players. Keep in mind the principles in the article apply to anything you are asking your body to do. Check it out!

Soccer, while not hugely popular in the United States, is the most popular team sport throughout the world. The players are some of the most highly trained athletes around. All athletes are always looking for any advantage they get when playing to increase their performance. Of course they need to train, eat properly and stay mentally focused, but what role can Chiropractic care play? If you think it can only help them if they are in pain to recover you are wrong.

Sure Chiropractic care has shown to be very effective in reducing neck and low back pain but that isn’t what Chiropractic care is about. Chiropractic care is about making sure your nervous system, the master control of all functions in your body, is functioning at its peak. This study on elite soccer players shows how.

The players recruited for this study did not have any pain. They were evaluated solely for subluxations, or misalignment, of the bones of their spine in the lower back and pelvis. Subluxations will reduce the motion of individual joints of the spine, decreasing nervous system flow. Then each player in the study would have their subluxations adjusted and see if the adjustment had any effect on their kicking speed. Here’s how it worked.

Each of the soccer players in the study was evaluated for subluxations in their low back or pelvis then put into one of four groups based on the findings. The four groups were; subluxations in the low back, subluxations in the pelvis, subluxations in both areas or no subluxations found. They each then had specific adjustments to that area of their spine and were re-evaluated to see if the subluxations were cleared and normal range of motion was restored.

All of the players were instructed to do a brief warm up then perform 3 instep kicks of a soccer ball at their maximum power with their dominant foot. The speed of the ball was measured then they were adjusted as described above based on the group they were in. After the adjustment they preformed 3 more kicks the same way as the first 3 and the speed of the ball was once again measured. They were also asked if they felt any difference in their kicking ability.

All three of the groups that were adjusted saw increases in kicking speed. The group that was adjusted in the lower back and pelvis saw the greatest increase in speed followed by the players in the group that just had their lower back adjusted then the group that just had their pelvis adjusted. There was no change in the group not adjusted. Also nearly all of players in the 3 groups that were adjusted felt they were able to kick better.

This is a great study showing that you don’t need to be in pain to see a Chiropractor and you don’t need to be an elite athlete. You just need to have the desire to perform at your best no matter the task.