The Holistic Coach

"One of the hottest topics in sports has nothing to do with multilayer golf balls but be warned, if you hear someone talking about deep-tissue massage, don't confuse it with that gentle rubdown you had at the spa last summer or the massage that most therapists provide."

"You want a deep-tissue massage to be right on the threshold of pleasure and pain," says Whitney Lowe, director of an orthopedic massage school in Bend, Ore., and author of the book Functional Assessment in Massage Therapy. "You can bruise someone by doing this."

Just ask PGA Tour player Hal Sutton, who sported a few black-and-blue marks after receiving a lower-back massage he desperately needed to finish a tournament last year. But Sutton will be the first to tell you... "it hurts so good, and it's worth it because it works"

The concept is simple: A therapist applies appropriate pressure to the specific muscle or tendon group where pain or soreness is prevalent. Working the specific area vigorously brings relief from soreness faster than a general all-over massage can, although it's a lot less pleasurable. It takes about an hour to complete.

Deep Tissue Massage has proven to be a very effective massage technique, which focuses on the deeper layers of individual muscle tissue & fibers. It aims to release the chronic patterns of tension in the body through slow strokes and deep finger pressure on the contracted areas, either following or going across the fibers of the muscles, tendons and fascia.