Center For Endurance Sport

Want to see what technology can do for your running?

Check out what Running Times has to say in their video series as we evaluate and then follow-up on the progress of a runner who sought out our services.
Click here to read the full Running Times article.

• Part 1: The Evaluation
• Part 2: The Comeback
• Part 2: The Reckoning

It's GOLF Time

Hitting a golf ball is really simple right? All you have to do is find the most effective way to generate force through your body to the ball. So why are you still reading?

Yes- it's a bit more complex isn't it……

You see the research shows that successful golfers swing the club different than one another. There are some subtle, and some major differences, between players' swing. However, every successful player has a certain sequence their body uses to generate power form the ground up. Here at the Center for Endurance Sport, we utilize the latest technology to measure just this. 12 infra-red cameras take pictures of your swing 500 times a second to make sure we don't miss any aspect of your swing. As you swing, force plates measure your weight shift to reveal how your transfer energy to the club.

Getting an accurate view of how you swing a club is important. It provides us information to see how you use your body, in a very quantatitive manner. This gives us a very specific direction to see where the weak links are in the transfer of enegy from the ground to the ball. You can't "see" this with a slow motion video camera - its data we are able to reconstruct in the 3D world.

3D analysis is one very important component of our services, but we don't stop here. Your swing is like your signature. Different, and unique to you. Its OK to sign your name different than everyone else. Guess what -your swing is the same way. Attempting to replicate the swing of your favorite Tour player is a great way to fight your body. Tha't why we perform a complete musculoskeletal evaluation. If you don't identify why you move the way you do, you'll never be able to clean up the weak links in your swing. You might have some flexibility limits. You might have a lack of control of certain joints of the body. Maybe you've got some stability issues. Whatever the source, they all show up in your signature - your swing. Identifying and clearing up your biomechanical issues is the best way to performing at your potential. Come see what we can do for you!

Today's Focus: The SPEED Clinic

Approximately one year ago, our Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Virginia developed a unique SPEED Clinic (Strength, Power, Endurance, Education, and Development).  Located conveniently in the Fontaine Research Park, Charlottesville, VA, the SPEED Clinic is rapidly evolving and current services offered include:

• Biomechanical Evaluation
• Physiologic Testing
• Technique Training
• Performance Improvement

Our goal is to develop the SPEED Clinic to be the leading athletics performance research center for gait and motion analysis worldwide.  In an academic setting, our objective, research driven services will transform the efficiency and training of today's endurance athletes.  It is our belief that by finding and correcting biomechanical inadequacies, we can make a significant difference to the health, safety, and peak performance of both elite and recreational athletes.