If you want to get into the “swing” of things by making golfers part of your practice, here are four tips for working with this unique and lucrative niche market.
Tip 1: Learn the Game
Unless you’ve actually played golf you may not have a full understanding of the physical, mental, or emotional demands that golfers face. To better understand how to work with golfers, hit a bucket of balls to feel the swing movement in your body, watch tournaments on TV, and read golf magazines and books. Study the body, mind, and spirit aspects of the game, because all are crucial to performance. In particular, pay close attention to golfers’ biomechanics, from back-twisting swings to prolonged bending over putts, and be especially prepared to work with golfers most common injuries, which are in the low back, hips, knees, shoulders, elbows, and wrists.
Tip 2: Niche Yourself
Millions of people of different ages play golf, and each golfer client will have unique needs and goals. Your job is to do a thorough intake and then choose the right massage or bodywork modalities to best meet their specific goals and expectations. A 45-year-old female executive who plays golf for business and tightens up under stress will have very different needs and require different help than a 19-year-old male college player who injured his rotator cuff.
Depending on your skills and interests, you can specialize in different market demographics such as gender, age, skill level, or club membership. Or, you can focus on specific needs such as stress management, pain relief, injury rehabilitation, flexibility, mobility, coordination, relaxation, or spa body treatments. By “niching” yourself, you can develop a reputation that will have golfers talking about you, letting word-of-mouth referrals build your practice with players who will need and can afford regular sessions to help them play well and stay well.
Tip 3: Expand Your Services
For many golfers, massage modalities such as Swedish or basic sports massage to improve circulation, flush metabolic wastes, reduce muscle spasm, free adhesions, increase range of motion, and improve general relaxation, will be sufficient for their needs. To meet a wider range of needs or develop a niche specialty, take advanced classes in sports massage or stress management, or learn new skills such as spa treatments to attract golfers who frequently mix massage and spa services.
Tip 4: Use the Right Product for your Clients’ Needs
Golfers often experience Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), and an analgesic product such as BIOTONE’s Polar Lotion can rapidly reduce muscle soreness and inflammation. Whether you are using sports massage, deep tissue, or just need to reduce localized pain before you work an area, Polar Lotion’s extracts of menthol and wintergreen can make your work easier, less painful, and more effective.
Finally, apply these tips to building any niche practice, and watch your business grow!
About the Author
Monica Roseberry, a bestselling massage author and international speak (and golf fanatic), has practiced massage in the San Francisco Bay Area for 22 years. She recently earned her Master’s degree in Kinesiology to further study working with athletes, especially golfers, and her book, Marketing Massage: From First Job to Dream Practice, just had its second edition released by Delmar Learning. In addition, Monica is a Master Trainer for BIOTONE for the Spa Body Treatments Workshop. She can be reached at www.MonicaRoseberry.com.