I had the opportunity yesterday to perform a functional movement screen on a few youngsters that are a part of the Youth Golf Programme that is conducted at the Laguna National Golf & Country Club. They all scored very well as one would expect from group of youngsters, but what could others benefit from performing such a movement screening?
The Functional Movement Screen
There are 7 separate movements that are tested with this screen that I prefer to test in the following order.
- Deep Squat
- Shoulder Mobility
- In-Line Lunge
- Rotary Stability
- Trunk Stability Push-Up
- Active Straight Leg raise
- Hurdle step
Each test is then scored from 3 down to 0 if the test provokes pain. 21 is then the maximal score that one can obtain and if one scores either a 1 or a 0 on any of the tests then further evaluation is warranted. What is interesting that this test has been used in professional athletes in US and NFL players that scored 14 or below ended up on the surgery table within two seasons due to injury. The test is then believed to be able to predict future problems arising.
If we have poor movement patterns in our body, we don’t move efficiently and strain muscles and joints unnecessarily. Over time this strain begins to give us pain and can eventually cause and injury.
As a chiropractor I find the test valuable when you wish to evaluate the function and movement capability of clients and its extremely valuable tool in screening athletes to prevent them from having common problems like, lower back pain, shoulder or hip pains.
Get yourself tested and find out if you are in danger of developing problems in the near future. You can contact us at 6737 0515 for a consultation and screening.