Monday, October 09, 2006 RP to use secret ‘weapon’ in Asian Games By Mike Limpag Sun.Star Staff Reporter
TEAM Philippines will use “a secret weapon” as it hopes for a better finish in this year’s Asian Games in Doha.
The said “weapon”, though, isn’t any star athlete or a renowned trainer but a team of chiropractors.
The move to tap the chiropractors for the Asian Games came after members of the national swimming team made a strong finish during the 2005 Southeast Asian Games held in the country.
During the Sea Games, Intercare’s Serry A. Pizarro II was included in the team that oversaw the Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention Program of RP’s Aquatic Delegation.
It was Philippine Amateur Swimming Association president Mark Joseph who hired the services of the 41-year-old Pizarro, a six-time LA marathon campaigner who’s also into triathlon, in last year’s Seag.
“Three weeks before the competition, we went to observe their (athletes’) strokes and push offs,” Pizarro, who would see the members of the national swimming team before and after their performances in the Seag, said in an interview at the Intercare office recently.
“For the swimmers, they have shoulder problems, while the divers had wrist problems because of the head stand,” he said.
The tie-up worked wonders as the Philippine aquatic team hauled a total of 10 gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals in the biennial meet, where the country was the only team that employed the services of chiropractors for its swimming bets.
“All the other countries wanted our services (during the Seag), but we were committed to the Philippines,” said Pizarro.
With the positive outcome with regards to the performance of the RP national team swimmers, the services of Pizarro will now be employed to all members of Team Philippines for the Asian Games.
Pizarro, who is currently seeing a few members of the national team, though, won’t be able to accompany the team in their Doha stint as he has to tend their clinics in the country.
Instead, it will be Intercare’s Martin G. Camara, who will go with the team.
“Right now, we are now seeing athletes in bowling, martial arts and gymnastics,” said Pizarro, who added that aside from dealing with athletes, he also sees regular patients, mostly the weekend warriors.
“Most common complaints are lower back pains for the golfers,” he said.
They are also trying to develop a specific program for golfers but admitted its effectiveness also hinges on the patient.
“It’s all about re-training, like for people who crack knuckles. If you are a knuckle-cracker, I can show you the correct way to do it,” he said.
