The blood, sweat and tears.
The sweet taste of victors. The step onto the podium. The medal being placed around the neck. The roar of the crowd — all delayed.
“I can’t speak for them, but just think about all the practice, the physical and mental preparation… imagine that you’ve done everything right, and then something comes along that’s completely and totally out of your control,” Dr. Wolford says from her home in Moorhead, Minnesota. “That’s tough. Real tough.”
Tough or not, the feeling of disappointment and grief was inevitable last summer when the Games of the XXXII Olympiad were postponed due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The decision meant that professional athletes would need to spend another year focusing on their performance and health, and pushing their bodies and minds for longer periods of time in order to realize their dream of participating in an Olympic Games event. As the world awaits the 2020 Summer Games to be held in 2021, we speak with Palmer College of Chiropractic graduates about what it takes to care for some of the world’s most elite athletes.
Dr. Wolford has been delivering gold-medal care to athletes her entire career. A mix of hard work, grit, and perseverance—both during college and afterward—landed her opportunities to care for athletes playing with the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP), the United States’ premier professional beach volleyball league. Soon after graduation, she began traveling the country with beach volleyball teams, gaining hands-on experience and building a reputation in the field.
I quickly became connected to the health professionals and athletes I was working alongside,” she says. “I loved it—I put my heart and soul into it. I guess you could say that wearing flip-flops most days wasn’t so bad either.”
Soon, USA Beach Volleyball was calling, asking her to join their international tour. With passport in hand, Dr. Wolford was on her way to Shanghai, China, for her first adventure.“I was fresh—most of my colleagues had been practicing for at least five years. I had never been to Asia before,” she recalls. “It was surreal because I was working with athletes I had seen on television.”
And while they may have been famous to the world, Dr. Wolford quickly came to recognize that the athletes were just humans deeply dedicated to their sport, and incredibly grateful for everything that she and the other health-care providers were doing for them. “What we had in common was a deep love for what we do, and a desire to lead a life of optimum health and wellness.”
Common Languages
That common language—a love of the sport and a desire to be the best—is something that Ben Buck, D.C. (Main, ’15) and Amber Buck, D.C. (Main, ’15) can relate to as they reflect on their time in China working with the Chinese Olympic Committee in 2018. “When I think back on the day we headed to the airport to fly to China, I’m not sure we really knew what we were about to experience,” Dr. Amber says as she looks at her husband. “What a ride it was.”
For the couple, the first few days weren’t just an adjustment because of the culture shock they were experiencing in a new land. “The way the Chinese thought about chiropractic care was fundamentally different from the way we do as practitioners in the United States. They look at chiropractic as a way to address pain, while we look at chiropractic as a way to live—or compete—in optimal health,” Dr. Ben says.“The techniques, however—learned and perfected at Palmer College—rooted us throughout our experience overseas.”
Though newly married and on the trip of a lifetime together, the Bucks would soon say goodbye to one another as they traveled the country separately for their respective assignments: Dr. Ben to Olympic Artistic Gymnastics and Dr. Amber to Archery.
“I was really excited to work with the gymnasts,” Dr. Ben says, leaning forward in his seat. “I don’t speak Chinese. And the athletes spoke little to no English. Our language had to be the care we were providing.”
For the gymnastics team, Dr. Ben was providing rehabilitative care for pain relief and corrective exercise programs to improve performance and prevent injury. There was one athlete, he says, who had chronic ankle pain. “I was working with her for about a month—she was clearly in quite a lot of pain,” he recalls. “But we worked and worked and worked to alleviate that pain. The care I provided succeeded.”
“How did I know?” he asks rhetorically.
“I got a big thumbs up and grin from the head coach of the team. That never happened with him! The universal thumbs up spoke volumes.”
“Most of the athletes we worked with in China had never heard about chiropractic,” adds Dr. Amber, who in addition to holding a Doctor of Chiropractic Degree from Palmer is also certified in applied kinesiology. “I think I was assigned to archery because it’s a sport of precision—and applied kinesiology techniques require that same sort of specific, minute precision.
“The archers were always so astounded when the work I did with them made them feel better,” she says. “The look of surprise when their elbow pain went away was priceless.”
Pushing What’s Possible
Professional athletes—Olympians or otherwise—are always pushing themselves toward greatness. While Dr. Ben and Dr. Amber were overseas, back at home Kyle Buck, D.C. (Main, ’15)—yes, a third buck (he’s Dr. Ben’s younger brother)—was working with elite athletes, too.
After graduating from Palmer, Dr. Kyle headed west to Seattle where he worked with athletes in rugby, swimming and track. There, he learned that another Palmer graduate—John Ball, D.C. (Main,’03)—was providing integrated care for players in Major League Baseball and the National Football League, Olympic athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and more.
“He was providing the type of care that I wanted to, so I called him up and he was willing to bring me on as an associate.”
“The very same dedication that Olympic athletes put into their sport is required of chiropractors to put into their practice. We’re always learning—and not just because the profession requires it.” – Ben Buck, D.C. (Main, ’15)
In Arizona, Dr. Kyle became a sponge—observing and learning—as Dr. Ball worked with some of the world’s greatest athletes. “I’m kind of a reserved person,” Dr. Kyle admits. “People were flying in from all over the world to be cared for. Throughout my time there, I shut up, I listened, and I learned all that I could.”
He pauses for a moment. “I saw that to work with elite athletes, you need to be an elite chiropractor,” he says. “Just as athletes put everything they can into their pursuit of excellence, so too did I, working sixty- and seventy-hour weeks to gain the knowledge and experience that has allowed all of us to do what we’re doing today.”
“I mean, that’s what it takes to work with the best,” Dr.Ben chimes in. “The very same dedication that Olympic athletes put into their sport is required of chiropractors to put into their practice. We’re always learning—and not just because the profession requires it.”
The two brothers are now getting excited to dive deeper into their experiences. “These are high-pressure situations that require active listening, an ability to think critically, and solid hands-on technique,” Dr. Kyle says. “We learned all of that at Palmer. We learned it in the early years of our careers. And frankly, we’re still learning it today.”
The Business of Sport
Dr. Wolford, and all three Dr. Bucks, have turned the experiences they’ve had working with elite athletes across the globe into new businesses that provide gold-medal care to athletes at all levels, as well as everyday citizens who simply seek optimal health and maximum human potential.
Dr. Wolford had plans to travel to the Summer Olympics Tokyo in 2020 to serve as a chiropractor for USA Beach Volleyball—the culmination of a life’s dream. However, the world had other plans for her; she became pregnant with her first child who would be due around the time of the Games (having a baby at the Olympics might have made the news, but wasn’t exactly in the best interest of anyone). “To get the call—to be invited to be part of the team in Tokyo meant the world to me,” she says. “I had to say no.” Being a mom, she adds, is also a dream come true.
As founder of EHP Performance in Moorhead, Minnesota, Dr. Wolford focuses on performance and health rather than pain and illness. In addition to chiropractic, the practice offers acupuncture, rehabilitation, and more. Just next door, she started a CrossFit gym that offers athletic training programs for kids and teens, and yoga classes for adults. “Not every person I work with today may be an elite athlete, but I do hope that they desire to live their life in the best possible way.”
Out west, the Bucks converged in Colorado in March 2020 to open New Leaf Chiropractic, “timed perfectly to coincide with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dr. Ben says sarcastically.
The trio of Palmer College graduates brings their unique experiences from across the globe together to give patients the tools their bodies need. They’ve quickly developed a reputation of their own for the hands-on care they offer to high school, collegiate, and professional athletes who call Colorado home.“Through our travels and experiences around the country and world, we’ve learned to adapt quickly to circumstances and environment. In our first year of business, that’s perhaps been truer than ever before,” Dr. Kyle says.
“Palmer prepared us to do what it takes to do what we love,” Dr. Ben adds.“Whether in China, in Arizona, or now in our new clinic—that’s what we’ll always do to be the best.”
Palmer Proud is published by Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Advancement & Alumni Office and is inspired by the daring work of our alumni, students, faculty, staff, and the broader profession. Read more from Palmer Proud magazine or visit Palmer’s website to learn more about our Advancement & Alumni Office.
