Looking for Ghosts – Screening for Postural Dysfunction

A good athletic profile or screening will serve a guide for
what you need to do next. I do not think an athletic profile, especially done
by a coach should go searching for dysfunctions or malfunctions. Remember each
sport has adaptive postural response. The longer an athlete participates in a
particular sport, especially if it is one side dominant, the more evident the
response will be. (An example is the hypertrophy in the forearm of a
professional tennis player) It is much like when we were kids and sitting
around telling ghost stories at a sleepover. As soon as the lights went out and
everyone got quiet, there were noises and light flashes that everyone was sure
were ghosts. The moral of the story is the same with postural dysfunction. Go
to a conference on screening and dysfunction and then come back on Monday and
you will see many more dysfunctions that you ever knew existed. We have to remember
that the body is asymmetrical, we are not balanced and that the body is highly
adaptive and self organizing. I use a variation of the Athletic Profile http://www.movementdynamics.com/index.html developed by kelvin Giles, it is practical, easy to use and translated immediately into exercise progressions that are part of my training program.I am a firm believer that a sound well rounded
training program that emphasizes training the whole kinetic chain using
coordinated movements will allow the body to find it’s optimum performance
level in the climate of repetitive stress. Too many people have gone the route
of “corrective exercise” to the exclusion of actual training. If you are doing
this, you are doing the athlete a disservice. This is quite prevalent in the
NBA. The solution is to include remedial components in the strength training and
movement programs that address the common problems that occur. It should be
transparent. Understand the demands of the sport, the position and what the individual
athlete brings to the table and design a program that addresses all those
demands. Get out there and coach and train them, keep the ghosts in the closet.