Golf Massage in the Algarve, Almancil to Vilamoura
Golf massage for the rotation you have lost and the back, shoulder or elbow that is paying for it. The clinic is in Almancil, between Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo, and Alex Cabrita is one of very few full-body ART® certified therapists in Portugal. Clinic sessions from €37, or €140 an hour at your villa.
4.9 · 33 Google reviewsWhat a golf massage is actually looking for
A golf swing is a rotation. Your hips turn, your thoracic spine turns on top of them, and the club follows. When either of those stops turning properly the movement does not disappear. Your lower back makes up the difference, because it is the one part of the chain that will bend when asked, and it was never built to be the main source of rotation. That is why the lower back is usually where golfers feel it and almost never where the problem started.
So the first thing I do is test the rotation rather than go straight to the part that hurts. If your lead hip has noticeably less internal rotation than the other one, treating the lumbar muscles buys you two comfortable days and then the same pain, because nothing about the swing has changed. Free up the hip and the back stops being asked to do a job it was never going to do well.
The holiday pattern makes all of it worse. Four rounds in five days, on courses you walk, after a winter of playing once a fortnight. There is no build-up and no recovery day in the middle, and tissue that was coping at home stops coping by the third morning.
Alex has a Sports Science degree from Universidade da Beira Interior and a Diploma of Remedial Massage from the NSW School of Massage in Sydney, where he finished top of his class. He spent years working alongside physiotherapists and sports doctors before coming back to Almancil, and he races triathlon, so the assessment comes from someone who trains and gets injured too.
- Full-body ART® certified: spine 2015, lower limbs 2016, upper limbs 2017
- Rotation assessed before any treatment starts
- 4.9 on Google from 33 reviews
- Clinic in Almancil, or your villa across the Algarve
- Treats in English and Portuguese
What golfers come in with
Some of it is one bad round. Most of it is a restriction that has been there for years and has finally found a week of golf big enough to expose it.
- Lower back pain and stiffness after a round, or by the back nine
- Lost rotation, where the backswing has quietly got shorter
- Golfer’s elbow, the pain on the inside of the elbow, treated at the forearm flexors rather than the sore point
- Tennis elbow, on the outside of the elbow, which golfers get as often as the inside
- Shoulder pain and impingement at the top of the backswing
- A restricted lead hip, usually the thing the back is compensating for
- Neck and upper back tension, often worse after the flight out
- Wrist and forearm pain from turf strikes and heavy practice
- Plantar fasciitis and foot pain after walking four rounds in a week
What a golf session involves
Rotation assessed first
Roughly the first ten minutes, and no oil involved. I look at hip internal rotation on both sides, thoracic rotation seated, and shoulder range in the top of the backswing position. That is usually where the explanation is, and it tells me what to treat rather than where you are pointing.
Treatment aimed at the restriction
Remedial massage, trigger point work, deep tissue and ART® combined for whatever the assessment found. ART® suits golf particularly well because the tissue is treated while it moves through range, which is closer to what a swing asks of it than pressing on a still muscle.
What to do before your next round
What to do, what to stop doing, and whether to play at all. If you tee off in the morning I will keep the deep work light and tell you why, because heavy work the night before a round is a good way to play badly. If your golf week is finished, we can do considerably more.
Prices
Clinic in Almancil, or mobile to your villa anywhere in the central Algarve.
A first golf session is usually worth the 45 minutes or the hour, because the assessment takes up part of it and 30 minutes leaves little room to treat what it finds. The mobile rate includes travel within Almancil, Quinta do Lago, Vale do Lobo, Vilamoura and Loulé, with no call-out fee on top. Further out, ask when you book and I will tell you straight away whether I can get there.
Book on WhatsAppCommon questions about golf massage
Should I get a massage before or after golf?
After, if you want deep work. Before a round keep it short and light, twenty to thirty minutes of movement and range work rather than heavy tissue work, because deep work leaves muscle slightly slow to fire for a day or so and you will feel that on the first tee. The best slot in a golf week is the evening of a round you are not repeating the next morning.
Does massage help golfer’s elbow?
Yes, when it is treated in the right place. Golfer’s elbow is pain on the inside of the elbow where the forearm flexor tendons attach, and that tendon is the victim rather than the cause. The useful work runs along the forearm flexors and into the grip, releasing the tissue pulling on the attachment, which is exactly what ART® is for. Pressing on the sore spot at the elbow tends to make it angrier.
Is golfer’s elbow the same as tennis elbow?
Same mechanism, opposite side. Golfer’s elbow is on the inside of the elbow and involves the forearm flexors. Tennis elbow is on the outside and involves the extensors. Golfers get both, and the outside one is more common than the name suggests. Which side it is changes which muscles get treated, so it is worth being clear about where it hurts.
How often should a golfer get a massage?
If you are fixing something specific, a block of weekly sessions while it settles, then a check-in when you need one. If you play regularly and nothing is wrong, every three or four weeks keeps the rotation from quietly disappearing again. On a golf holiday most people book once mid-week and that is enough.
Will a golf massage improve my swing?
It can give you back range you have lost, which is a different claim from making you better at golf. If your lead hip and thoracic spine turn further, your swing has more room to work in and your lower back has less to absorb. What you do with that range is between you and your coach, and anyone promising you strokes off a handicap from a massage table is guessing.
Can you come to my villa at Quinta do Lago or Vale do Lobo?
Yes, and that is how most golf bookings happen. €140 an hour with the table, towels and oil brought to you, and no call-out fee within Almancil, Quinta do Lago, Vale do Lobo, Vilamoura and Loulé. On the gated estates I need the gate and the villa reference when you book, because several of the roads need an access arrangement.
Other treatments and areas
Book a golf massage in the Algarve
Tell me what hurts, which courses you are playing and when you tee off next. If the timing is wrong for deep work I will say so.