Dynamic Tape changing the lives of athletes, fitness buffs
August 7, 2013
Athletes across the world are taping up — a movement that exploded during the 2012 London Olympics and video of international stars like Serena Williams and David Beckham wearing various forms of tape. Tens of thousands of people worldwide are trained in various forms of taping including Ryan Kendrick, founder of Dynamic Tape and a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist IMS Practitioner whose mission is to reduce the load of the tendons during athletic performance.
“We are focused on managing the load and using elastic recoil to absorb the load,” Kendrick said, “We use it mechanically and use it like a bungee cord. The elastic energy in the tape for deceleration and to absorb the local load which in turn takes the work off of the muscles. Your energy improves biomechanics to improve.”
Kendrick says he developed the tape after years of research that allows the wearer to move through full range of motion without limitation but with strong biomechanical assistance (as opposed to a primary neurophysiological approach). According to their website, Dynamic Tape can strongly assist or resist movement, facilitate or inhibit and offload tissue through full range of motion. This is only possible due to the highly elastic nature (no endpoint like kinesiotapes) and four way stretch necessary when taping multi joint muscles or movements and performing complex, three-dimensional skills.
“We determine what is going on with the athletes and address what is going on and teach them how to develop techniques with biomechanics and treatment approaches,” Kendrick said, “ We develop techniques to address that. The more you load the more pain you have and more it drives that pain through the tendons. Being able to modify the load can reduce pain early on.”