Learn about MAT Program for a Better Golf Game
- Carla Linder-Mayer
- Jul 16, 2014
- 3 min read
In Naperville, no matter the season, the discussion on how to improve your golf game can be heard almost everywhere. Families, friends, co-workers and neighbors of any age or sex seem to be able to find great conversation and common ground when discussing their recent golf game strategy and performance. The amount of money golfers are willing to spend on the latest and greatest gadget aimed at improving their overall performance on the golf course can be shocking. However, the best money spent might have nothing to do with “gadgets” at all! The most cost-effective and results-oriented process might be a series of muscle-testing techniques that allows the practitioner to identify muscle imbalances and weakness, which might be preventing you from having your greatest success both on and off the golf course. According to Ron Greenberg, who is a muscle activation techniques (MAT) specialist, one of the most effective ways to improve your overall physical health — which then translates into improving your golf game — is to improve muscle function. You might argue that “I go to the gym every day and my muscle function and strength is great!” However, it could be that, in your attempt to become stronger, you have created an imbalance in your body that not only affects your golf game but could result in an increased susceptibility to pain, injury or degenerative issues. As a personal trainer, Greenberg began noticing that with some of his clients, the types of exercises he was doing with them were actually creating imbalances within the body. As he began researching how to best serve his clients with a more effective exercise protocol, he found information about a program under development by Greg Roskopf that was in alignment with his own client observations. Roskopf believed that, depending on the physical capabilities of a client, exercise-based training programs might actually be contributing to their injuries, rather than preventing them. He theorized that by ignoring the individual mechanics of each person’s body, practitioners might be inhibiting the injured tissue from properly mending. Greenberg began the rigorous certification process and has been a MAT specialist for the past 10 years. Greenberg explains that MAT is like a tune-up for your body. Most of our daily activities create imbalance. Whether we sit at a desk all day, have a physically challenging job, wear high heels or flip flops, have a high stress job or are on our feet all day, we are creating compensation patterns that are the result of our imbalances. Those compensation patterns make strong muscles stronger and weak muscles weaker. MAT identifies those patterns so that, with our personal trainer, a program can be developed that will strengthen our weak muscles and create asymmetry from one side of the body to the other. One of the things that Greenberg finds most satisfying is helping a client who comes in with pain identify the true source of it and step off the table pain free. Most plans require a series of treatments while the new muscle patterns are established in the body. A client might come in frustrated because they have been trying to resolve their neck pain by trying to strengthen the neck muscles. The neck pain might actually originate somewhere in the foot. When the source of pain is identified, an effective program can be developed. Greenberg will host a seminar at 7 p.m. July 28 at Reality Fitness in downtown Naperville. He will talk about identifying common weaknesses of golfers and give insight on how to improve your golf game. Call 630-357-7087 to reserve a spot.
