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Student helps improve golf swings

7 September 2005

A Monash postgraduate student aims to improve the golf swing of thousands of Americans after winning a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh.

Ms Andrea Fradkin (pictured), from the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Monash, left for the US this week to run the Golf Fitness Laboratory at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, where the 2005 US Open Golf Championship was held.

As part of her fellowship, Ms Fradkin will also help rehabilitate members of the US special forces and the NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, using biomechanics to help soldiers and gridiron players overcome injuries more quickly and reduce injury risks.

The Golf Fitness Laboratory is a multi-million dollar centre, which was completed in August this year. It is a collaboration between the Pinehurst Resort and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre.

The laboratory aims to provide fitness and testing programs for college and elite-level golfers and to facilitate research to improve their injury rehabilitation and performance.

Ms Fradkin completed a degree in human movement at Deakin University and began to focus on golf research while completing her honours thesis.

She said it was a great area in which to undertake research, as few researchers worked in the area and because golfers were easy to work with.

"There are a lot of golfers out there, and most want to improve their performance on the course so they take advice easily."

Ms Fradkin expects to complete her postgraduate studies at Monash this year and will spend two years in the US.