摘要：Background: Massage is a fundamental element of corrective treatment for shortened muscles and fascia (Kendall et al., 2007). According to Travell and Simons (2004) the golf ball technique is a good selfmassage for the superficial sole muscles. Objective: To value if a sole self-massage using the golf ball technique for 5 minutes increases the extensibility of the back muscle chain using the Sit and Reach (SR) and Toe Touch (TT) tests as a way of evaluation in a healthy sports subject sample (triathletes). Material: A box for the SR Test, box for the TT Test, 8 golf balls and 4 stools. Participants: 9 healthy triathlete volunteers (7 men and 2 women) with an average age of 18,44±3,13, an average body weight of 67,50±3,44 kg and an average height of 1,73±0,05 m) took part in this study. The subjets agreed with the study. Design: Clinical trial or experimental study without control group. The subjects participated in an evaluation of their back muscle chain range of movement with SR and TT (pre-tests). Later they sat down on a stool and did the sole massage exercise for 5 min. Finally, the subjects repeated the evaluation with the SR and TT tests (post-tests). A Wilcoxon´s test was used to compare the values obtained in pre and post tests for the SR and TT tests. Results: There were significant differences (p<0.05) in the scores for the TT evaluation (an increase of 1,39±1,32cm) and for the SR (an increase of 1,28±1,46cm).
关键词：Sole massage; golf ball technique; triathlon; back muscle chain
