Dr. Nave evaluates sport-specific movement patterns, identifies mechanical breakdowns, and builds structured plans — not generic stretches and advice to rest.
Most athletes are told to rest and wait it out. But if the mechanical issue driving the injury hasn't been addressed, it comes back. We find the source — then correct it. Select a sport to see what we're looking for.
Most Common Pattern
Running injuries rarely originate at the structure that hurts. IT band syndrome, plantar fasciitis, shin splints, runner's knee, and low back pain from running are almost always downstream symptoms of a biomechanical loading problem upstream — usually at the hip, pelvis, or ankle.
The problem is rarely the structure that hurts — it's almost always a biomechanical loading problem upstream. Treating only the IT band or the plantar fascia misses the cause. We trace the load pattern back to its origin and correct it there.
Conditions We Evaluate
What We're Actually Looking For
Hip abductor weakness, contralateral pelvic drop, overpronation at the foot, and restricted ankle dorsiflexion are the four most common mechanical drivers we find in runners. Any one of them can create the overload pattern that produces the symptoms you're feeling.
If you've been treated for the painful structure and it keeps coming back, the mechanical source hasn't been identified yet. That's where we start.
Rotational Sport
Low back pain is the most common golf injury — and it's almost always a hip and thoracic mobility problem, not a spine problem. When the hips can't rotate adequately and the thoracic spine can't extend and rotate through the backswing, the lumbar spine has to compensate. Over thousands of swings, that compensation becomes painful.
Rotational power in a golf swing starts at the hips and moves through the thoracic spine — when either is restricted, the lumbar spine compensates. We restore mobility where it's restricted so the lumbar spine stops absorbing forces it was never designed to handle.
Common Golf Presentations
Why the Low Back Gets Blamed
Most golfers with low back pain are told they have a disc problem or a muscle problem. Sometimes they do. But more often, the disc or muscle is symptomatic because restricted hip rotation and thoracic mobility are forcing the lumbar spine into a range it wasn't designed for 80 times a round.
We evaluate hip internal and external rotation, thoracic extension and rotation, and lumbar mechanics. That evaluation tells us where the real problem is.
Overhead Throwing Sport
Baseball is a sport of extreme asymmetric loading — overhead throwing, rotational batting, and lateral fielding mechanics all place high demand on specific structures in predictable patterns. Shoulder and rotator cuff injuries from overhead throwing, elbow stress from pitching mechanics, and hip mechanics affecting both pitching and batting are the most common presentations we evaluate.
Dr. Nave plays baseball himself — the mechanics of throwing, batting, and fielding aren't abstract for him. He understands what a proper throwing motion looks like, where it breaks down, and how that breakdown loads the shoulder and elbow over a season.
Common Baseball Presentations
The Shoulder-Elbow-Hip Connection
Arm injuries in baseball are rarely isolated arm problems. When hip rotation is restricted, the body compensates by recruiting more arm and shoulder to generate velocity. That arm-dependent pattern is what loads the UCL and rotator cuff beyond their capacity over a long season.
We evaluate the full kinetic chain — not just the painful structure. If the hip is the source, treating only the elbow is incomplete.
Repetitive Asymmetric Sport
Tennis loads the same structures in the same asymmetric pattern every time — serves, forehands, and backhands repeated thousands of times a season. Lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), shoulder impingement from overhead serving, wrist strain from grip mechanics, and knee and ankle stress from court movement are the most common patterns we see.
Dr. Nave is a competitive tennis player himself. When a patient describes their serve mechanics or forehand grip, he's not working from a textbook. He has a dedicated page for tennis-specific care with more detail on every condition and treatment approach.
We Have a Full Tennis-Specific Page
The /tennis page covers every major tennis injury in detail — including lateral epicondylitis mechanics, shoulder impingement from serve mechanics, wrist and grip pathology, and the knee-ankle pronation chain that develops from stop-start court movement.
We also offer professional racquet stringing with an arm-health focus — because your string tension directly affects your elbow stress.
The structure that hurts is rarely the structure that's causing the problem. Our evaluation process is built around finding the mechanical breakdown — then building a structured plan to correct it.
IT band syndrome isn't a knee problem — it's usually a hip problem. Tennis elbow isn't just a tendon problem — it's usually a mechanics problem. Low back pain in golfers isn't usually a disc problem — it's usually a hip and thoracic mobility problem. We identify what's actually causing the problem before we start treating.
Human Movement Specialist protocols assess the full kinetic chain from ankle to shoulder. The evaluation looks at how each segment moves and loads the next — identifying where the breakdown originates, not just where it presents. For athletes, this is the difference between treating symptoms and solving the problem.
FAKTR treats soft tissue while the body is moving and loaded — mimicking the actual mechanics of your sport. This matters because a tendon treated at rest responds differently than a tendon treated under functional load. Athletes return to play faster with active rehabilitation than with passive rest-based approaches.
Every plan includes objective criteria for returning to training, competing, and full intensity. You know what the graduation point looks like before you start — not just "rest and see how it feels." For competitive athletes, clear timelines matter. We build plans around your season, not around a general recovery timeline.
Each sport has a dedicated page with more detail on the specific injuries, mechanics, and treatment approaches we use. Start with yours.
IT band syndrome, plantar fasciitis, shin splints, runner's knee, low back pain from running. Full kinetic chain evaluation for distance runners and weekend warriors alike.
View Running Page →Low back pain, shoulder impingement, wrist and forearm strain, hip mobility restrictions. Focused on the rotational mechanics that drive most golf-related injuries.
View Golf Page →Shoulder and rotator cuff, elbow stress, hip mechanics in pitching and batting. Dr. Nave plays baseball — the mechanics aren't abstract to him.
View Baseball Page →Growing athletes have different injury patterns than adults. Apophyseal injuries, growth plate stress, and overuse in young multi-sport athletes require age-specific evaluation.
View Youth Sports Page →Tennis elbow, shoulder impingement, wrist strain, knee and ankle mechanics. Plus professional racquet stringing with an arm-health focus.
View Tennis Page →Elbow, wrist, shoulder, knee, and ankle injuries that don't fit neatly into a single sport category. Full extremity evaluation and treatment.
View Extremity Care →From the Doctor
I'm a competitive tennis player and baseball player in Overland Park. I've been treating athletes since starting my practice in 2014, and the experience of playing competitive sports changes how I evaluate sport-specific injuries. When a baseball pitcher describes what happens to their shoulder at max external rotation, or a golfer explains where they feel restriction at the top of their backswing, I'm working from actual mechanical understanding — not a general anatomy reference.
The evaluation framework I use is built around sport-specific movement patterns. I'm not looking for the painful structure — I'm looking for the mechanical breakdown that's loading it. Those are different questions, and they lead to different treatment plans.
If you're dealing with a sports injury and want a clear plan, the next step is a proper evaluation. At Quality Life Chiropractic in Overland Park, we focus on identifying the root issue and building a structured plan to fix it.
Book a Sports Injury Eval →Dr. Samuel Nave, DC
HMS · FAKTR · Sports Chiro
OP practice since 2014
Most athletes are told to rest and take anti-inflammatories. Sometimes that's appropriate. But if the mechanical issue driving the injury hasn't been identified and corrected, the injury comes back — often worse, and often at a worse time in the season.
Book a 60-minute structural evaluation. We'll identify the mechanical source of your injury and give you a clear plan — not just advice to rest.