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A B M P m e m b e r s ea r n F R E E C E h o u r s by rea d i n g t h i s i s s u e ! 47 posteriorly. The role of the psoas in supporting the spine in athletic movement is under-studied. Athletes with incipient low-back complaints should draw your attention to the psoas—are the two balanced? Are they sufficiently strong? With some practice, you can distinguish and treat each of the "fingers" of the psoas separately to free and stabilize each of the lumbar vertebrae. APPLYING THE CONCEPT TO GAIT Watch your client walk, outside if possible, where they can get up the speed necessary to get to their brisk walk, rather than the amble you often get in the treatment room or in a museum. As you watch, what gets included in their movement? Watching what body part seems to move "too much" can often lead you to what is held, more still, or less aware. First, look at the movement of the shoulders relative to the hips—does one move farther forward or does the other require more arm movement? Try evening out the superficial layers of pectoralis and the abdominals in front and the latissimus and low-back fascia in the back. Second, look at the trunk alignment in gait when they walk straight toward you. To which side, onto which leg, do the ribs/head/eyes move? This will tell you which Spiral Line is more fixed and stable, as opposed to adaptable. Third, look at the lumbar spine movement specifically. Walk closely behind your client as they walk, looking down their spine. Are they twisting at the waist or rigid? Does the spine display a tendency to twist or lean more to the right or left? In that case, the psoas and deep muscles of the back are likely involved. APPLYING THE CONCEPT FOR ATHLETES For athletes who throw, or for those with injured shoulders, watch them throw with both their dominant and their nondominant hands. Even if the injury is on the dominant side, the movement on the nondominant side is often instructive. Often these injuries come from centering the motion in the shoulder or elbow rather than in the spine. Teach your clients to move with all three systems, centering their movement in the spinal core, the Deep Front Line, rather than more peripherally in the limbs. The middle system is the most complex to treat because, in any complex sports movement, the Spiral Line crosses so many joints. Do your client's three major weights—head, chest, and pelvis—stay in line through the movement or twist in sequence when rotated? This extends to hip-knee-ankle connection as well. Visible differences in scapular position on the ribs can reside at this Spiral Line level. Again, watching the movement from both sides—dominant and reverse—will reveal the "still" places the fastest. While the core movement is the hardest to see directly, it can be inferred by tuning into the sacrum/lumbar spinous processes/lower ribs waist area—again looking down from behind is the best position to see preferences and reluctances from side to side—and treat accordingly. In a process familiar to golfers, getting these three rotational systems to work together requires a lot of "tinkering." Work in one of these layers will reveal the restrictions at another layer—feel free to work back and forth among the systems, with smooth and even movement as the goal. If you can see into and work among these three rotational systems, you will be ahead of the curve in solving not only your golfers' swings, but all your clients' rotational issues— and all of us humans depend on rotation. Thomas Myers is the author of Anatomy Trains, 4th ed. (Edinburgh: Elsevier, 2020) and co-author of Fascial Release for Structural Balance (Berkeley: North Atlantic, 2017). Myers studied with Ida Rolf and has practiced integrative bodywork for nearly 50 years. He directs Anatomy Trains, which offers professional certification and continuing education seminars worldwide and online. For treatment options based on these principles, check out our 'Deeper Ground' course online and look for our new app coming soon. For all the information on upcoming trainings, visit anatomytrains.com. Even though this insight came from golf, apply it to all your athletes and weekend warriors—right down to anyone who walks.