Mark Warren interview about IASTM.

As therapist I’d combine these movement assessments with orthopaedic, neurological testing along side palpation and IAT assessments. In conjuncture these build a picture of the golfers’ bodies physical qualities and abilities.

Of course, let’s not forget the importance of working within a team environment. Part of my assessment is correlating my information with that gathered from a golf coach using trackman data, or golf fitness professionals using TPI power screening. Both of which can be key in creating an appropriate plan for the client.

Tom: How do you incorporate IAT into helping serious golfers improve their games?

Mark: The assessment gives a good idea if any IASTM is suitable for that golfer. There is a lot of information and techniques that can be used, so the next step is to select the most appropriate ones by categorising the results I want to obtain. If the client isn’t in pain or currently injured, but simply has large muscle groups that are tight and need “loosening up”, this directs me to soft tissue mobilisation techniques that are fundamental part of IASTM.

If the golfer is in pain or recuperating from one of the common golf injuries, such as a shoulder strain, then this opens the door to a range of instrument assisted therapy techniques that continue to grow alongside our evolving knowledge of human body.  Or if they have range of movement problems that are inhibiting their swing, due to restricted fascial chains, instrument assisted movement techniques that come from our advancing understanding of fascia and the role the nervous system plays on it can be used.

By taking the time to select the most relevant IAT techniques, they can then be incorporated alongside your other treatment modalities to create a more effective overall therapy plan.

Tom: How quickly can you improve the ROM of dysfunctional shoulder or hip with IAT?

Mark:  In a word, extremely. We owe a lot to the researchers that have spent the last decade studying fascia and its role in movement in the human body. From their work we have been able to create instruments and techniques to “hack” the system, creating dramatic changes in range of movement. People that haven’t been able to touch their toes or get their arm and shoulder into the perfect backswing position now can. What used to take hours of massage and stretching can now be achieved in minutes.

Tom: For the practitioners wanting to learn IASTM for the first time, or those that want to update their knowledge and techniques, what is your advice?

Mark: My first bit of advice is a warning. The world of IASTM has grown and evolved hugely over the last 5 years, and that’s been great for us, but there is a lot of misinformation currently out there specific to seminars and courses. There has been a growing trend of companies giving 3 hour or 1 day seminars that will teach you “everything” about IASTM. With the range and volume of information relating to this field growing every year this simply isn’t possible. They can give you valuable information and a fundamental grounding in the field, but “everything”, not a chance.

The key to selecting the right seminar for you as an individual practitioner is to take a minute to ask yourself what type of clients you see and what are your goals for using IASTM. Will you just mobilise soft tissue? Do you want to use it to treat pain and injury? Or perhaps as a tool to address complex movement pattern dysfunction? The answer to these questions are the key to going on the right seminar for you.

My advice is to initially visit www.IASTM.com, this resource has great information and a free ebook on what factors you need to be concerned about to select the right seminar for you.Obviously we believe our seminars are unique and best address the needs of therapists, offering great content specifically categorised for your treatment goals and great value for money. That’s why we created the Ki Health Concepts challenge. Come to our IAT seminar, which we think best teaches new comers to IASTM, and those that think they know it all already, we give a 100% money back guarantee. We will teach you techniques that you don’t currently have in your treatment arsenal and show you how to incorporate them into your current style of practice.