Just yesterday, I had a conversation with a fellow sporting clays shooter about the trials and tribulations of performing while dealing with pain associated with various and sundry medical conditions. This seems to be more common as we age.
Mental skills are all about learning how to stay focused allowing peak performance, but focus can be hard to achieve when one is struggling through pain, or anxious that certain movements could result in pain. When the conscious brain is concerned about how to alter movements to avoid pain, the sub-conscious execution of the movement is derailed causing less-than optimal results. It is frustrating to be suffering from something such as a sore shoulder, tendonitis, even a headache. The frustration is double when performance is lacking as a result!
As with most amateur athletes, I have suffered my share of maladies along the way including a frozen shoulder (capsulitis), elbow tendonitis, migraines, and most recently, Achilles tendon pain. As a disclaimer, I am not in any way attempting to dispense medical advice. If you are experiencing any sort of medical condition, please speak with your health care provider regarding playing through your condition!
In the case of my Achilles tendon issues, I applied the commonly prescribed advice following the RICE acronym – Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. I curtailed my daily walking and bike riding to allow healing to occur, iced my ankles several times / day, wore compression bands and periodically elevated my legs. The progress was slow…
Then, one day about six months ago, I heard a radio spot from a company that guaranteed pain relief, including Achilles tendon pain through use of their shoes. At the first opportunity, I pulled over and emailed myself a reminder message to check them out when I got home. The company name was Gravity Defyer. Here is their website:
https://www.gravitydefyer.com/
Their patented “Versa ShocK” technology was proven to reduce pain (knee, back, ankle, and foot) significantly in a double-blind study conducted by the Olive View UCLA Medical Center in 2017.
I was willing to try just about anything at this point, so I ordered a pair of their “Mighty Walker” shoes. They were a little pricier than what I was used to paying for walking shoes, but if they truly did what they claimed, I would not complain about the price. At the time, they also offered a coupon code that knocked $30 off the price (RADIO).
The shoes arrived in a few days along with a free pair of orthotics and an insert to adjust the fit. I opted for my own Dr. Scholl’s custom fit orthotics that I have used for years in lieu of the ones provided with the shoes. Here is their website:
I started wearing the shoes daily, a few hours at a time. What happened next was truly amazing… within days, my pain was greatly reduced. Within a couple of weeks, the pain was completely gone! Now, it is entirely possible that the RICE intervention had paved the way for the improvement to occur, but I was sold on the shoes! I ordered a second pair so that I could alternate days giving each pair a day of rest between wear.
Now, I am back up to walking 7-8 miles / day, without need of compression straps (I was once asked if I was under house arrest due to the straps on both ankles) and am able to participate in sporting clays without consideration of Achilles pain.
Your experience may vary, but when I find something that improves the ability to focus on sport activities, and improves quality of life, I like to share it!
What products have you found that have worked for you to maintain focus?