More on Athletes and SourcePoint Therapy

After the discussion last week, I received this input from a Rolfer in Japan who also works in the Sports Medicine Field and has been integrating SourcePoint Therapy into his work:

Bob,

I read your blog and I want to share my experience working with athletes. Because of my Athletic Training background, I work with athletes quite a bit. I feel pretty much the same as you said about working with athletes using SPT, but here are some things I have been noticing.

SPT definitely helps a lot to work with athletes from my experience so far. As a rolfer, one of the biggest benefits of SPT is that we can do great Rolfing sessions without following the recipe (sometimes following the recipe does not cover the place where the athlete needs work at that time). I do understand the effect of the Rolfing 10 series, but athletes most of time do not have time to wait for 10 sessions (the season might get over!!). Doing 10 series sometimes throws off athlete’s balance, but SPT session does not do that much. I mean athletes can finish the session with a more integrated state, and I can get more result in one session. Most athletes can feel the benefit of the session immediately.

The Diamond Points help to align body structure and the energy charge associated with the navel point seems very helpful for athletes who are tired due to long hours of practice.

Rectangle points help the healing process and also are helpful to see which diagonal line the athlete is having problem with. Improved ROM and effect of intervention seems to last longer with points.It also works great with swollen extremities!

The energetic line of the stick figure seems to get cut with fractures. Re-connecting the stick figure has helped athletes to regain sensation, movement, and whole body integration. I have used the scan/stick figure and indirect technique to immediately fix a sprained finger or mild injury so many times, so I believe it is helpful to have that sense of energetic touch to work on athletes. Once I get used to having an intention and where to see in the limited time, I can even work on acute injury gently on the field.

Seeing the athlete’s movement/structural balance with the geometric pattern shown in SourcePoint also seems helpful and I have been trying to work more with it. It helps the Rolfer’s eye as well.

My list can goes on and on,,,
But the bottom line is that with the combination of right intention, touch, and source points, athletes can benefit a lot.

Thanks!

Hiro