Unilateral Sports and the Effect on Asymmetries

This is something I see so often in people who participate in unilateral sports — think tennis, golf, baseball, etc.  SO many people doing these activities are constantly using one side of their body; they virtually have no chance of remaining completely symmetrical from a musculoskeletal perspective.  That is, unless they take the necessary steps to train the appropriate systems in a manner that will preserve their anatomy.  If one is constantly overusing one side of their body, it is likely to eventually take effect.  I remember for myself, in regard to kickboxing, which I luckily started after PT school, I would always perform a combination in traditional stance (my dominant, right side), and then follow it with the same combination in south paw (my non-dominant, left side). 

There are not always ways of doing things ambidextrously, especially if a sport is a major part of your life that you’ve committed to — I only did kickboxing just for fun, so I had the luxury of practicing on both sides.  However, if I was getting ready to fight in a match, I probably wouldn’t waste my precious training time on practicing my non-dominant side in such a way.  This is where having a physical therapist in your training regimen is crucial.  If you are doing 18 holes on the golf course, spending hours upon hours, rotating your hips, spine, shoulders, and neck to the left, you’re going to need someone to show you how to prevent future injury by keeping you in peak physical shape. 

I’ll never forget this one patient I had, and older gentleman who had a significant side bend in his neck, of at least 20 degrees, that was extremely stiffly contracted in that position from years of dysfunctional posture.  I asked him one day, “did you have long hair when you were younger?”  He responded, “as a matter of fact I did, I was a bit of a hippie, and I had long hair for years!  Why do you ask?”  I told him, I could just tell, from the way he held his head and neck.  It was as if he had phantom hair, just waiting to be flipped out of his eyes and face.  He was surprised that his long hair could have been contributing to the neck pain he had now, as an 80-something year old man!  I’ve said it time and time again, people really ought to have bi-annual checkups with a family physical therapist, the same way they do with their primary care physician or their dentist, to catch things earlier on and prevent future injury from happening.  Pre-hab is a crucial piece of the long-term health puzzle.  Later in life, things are more difficult to treat, and more expensive as well. 

Overuse can occur with any sport or activity of course, but with unilateral activity, I can’t help but believe that the nature of the activity is likely to exacerbate the system, and lead to compensation and other bad habits down the line at an accelerated rate. 

My best advice, if you are doing one of these sports, definitely seek guidance from a physical therapist! It could save you a lot of pain, inconvenience, time, and money. 

-Dr. Mona Shakibai, DPT