Famous clients

For professional athletes, the load on the spine and joints is very high, so it is also the best test of the efficacy of our treatment and prevention programmes. Only a healthy spine can withstand the loads that occur in athletics, sailing, gymnastics, handball, basketball, etc. Besides professional sports, everyday life also brings a lot of irregular movements and positions, which causes problems such as lumbago, lumbosciatica, headache, dizziness, pain and tingling in the arms, deformities and many others. We are proud that among many satisfied clients who visited our polyclinic there are a few well-known names of Croatian and world sports.

The cooperation between Blanka and the Tranfić Polyclinic started nine years ago because Blanka injured her lower back. Inadequate training conditions have taken their toll, and the fall was such that Blanka, who was then already a junior world champion, could not even walk. I remembered everything that I had learned during the two years of intensive work with the doctors from Ukraine and I used all knowledge that I acquired in my education and years of experience. Blanka was extraordinarily persistent. For more than four hours I did procedures and used techniques with which I returned the bulging part of the connective cartilage tissue of the intervertebral disc to its place. At the same time I prepared the stabilizer muscles of the spine for the continuation of training. These are the principles of the spine treatment programme with the preparation of the surrounding segments that I continuously improve and apply. By observing the body as a biomechanical unit that is brought to the optimal condition through training, I have noticed the necessity for passive treatment of the spine, which is the most sensitive part, in order to make it as prepared as possible.

After the recovery, my work on the elasticity of Blanka’s spine became constant. I successfully apply my methods working with numerous professional athletes, and by opening the big centre in Split- the Tranfić Polyclinic, I have made them available to everyone! Although manual medicine (chiropractic) was regarded with scepticism in Croatia, it is the cooperation with a top athlete such as Blanka that confirmed the world knowledge and experience. Mechanical injuries of the spine (lumbago, lumbosciatica, protrusion, hernia, neck pain, cervicobrachial syndrome) can be treated and prevented – only by mechanical means! It is precisely manual medicine, as the most invasive technique applied by the physiotherapist that is the peak of physical medicine! It enables (and this was confirmed by the latest MRI scan of Blanka’s spine) a complete adaptation to stress in professional sport and everyday life. With regular maintenance we achieve that not even a hard mat (2002 European Indoor Athletics Championship) can cause more than a minor injury which was removed in two days through training.

As a result of many years of cooperation an original product was created – an interactive DVD “Exercises for the back” in which Blanka and I demonstrate exercises that can be performed individually – for prevention and therapeutic reasons. Blanka was the first to test the award-winning Tranfić Polyclinic’s back belt (bronze medal – the International Exhibition of Invention in Geneva 2005, the Genius Award 2006, special award Arka). We enriched her running shoes by the individually crafted insoles of the Tranfić Polyclinic. Blanka’s body proportions and the physical strain that she is exposed to during trainings, competitions, and journeys do not allow even the slightest mistake in the treatment and preparations of her spine. Our results guarantee the general population that problems with the spine are solvable! At the end of 2009, after Blanka jumped 208 cm, Blanka and Joško Vlašić wanted to replace my weekly maintenance treatments of Blanka’s spine with exercises in that direction. In that case my work would be reduced to therapy when necessary. This is how, by reducing the intensity, the elasticity crucial for the shock absorption of the load is lost, but also the ability to maximally bend during the flight over the bar. The speed and strength of the activation of deep back muscles responsible for bending depend on the specific elasticity of cartilage between the vertebras. These characteristics are most fully achieved by regular prevention treatments of manual medicine. The importance of the speed of bending over the bar is particularly emphasized in the high jump theory. Since I did not agree with the proposition, I left the coaching team after nine years.

– Gold medal at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka

– Gold medal at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin

– Silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing

– Gold medal at the 2008 World Indoor Championships in Valencia

– Gold medal at the 2010 World Indoor Championships in Doha

– Gold medal at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona

– Gold medal at the 2006 World Indoor Championships in Moscow

– Bronze medal at the 2004 World Indoor Championship in Budapest

– Gold medal at the 2003 European Athletics U23 Championships in Bydgoszcz

– Gold medal at the 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Santiago de Chile

– Gold medal at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Kingston

– European Athlete of the Year Trophy in 2007

– The second result in the all-time high jump rankings at the 2009 Zagreb Grand-Prix

– The winner of the 2010 IAAF Diamond League

– European Athlete of the Year Trophy in 2010

The cooperation between Ivano and me began in 2001 while he was playing in Metković. As a physiotherapist I tried to support him in the segments that are most affected in handball – feet, calves, and the spine. Taking into account that our polyclinic is in Split, Ivano was very disciplined and he did as much as possible in carrying out my ideas about the injury prevention. It is obvious that my work was intertwined with the work of the club’s therapist in Metković and the Croatia Men’s National Handball Team’s therapist during the gatherings of the national handball team. Ivano’s departure for the distant San Antonio significantly decreased the possibility of cooperation so it was reduced to recuperation from injuries during the break. Fortunately, after 2006 there was no need for such procedures on my behalf. Ivano’s seriousness in training and prevention processes contributed to that, as well as the quality of the work done by the experts who worked with him during the season.

– Gold medal at the 2003 World Men’s Handball Championship

– Gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens

– IHF World Player of the Year in 2003 and 2006

– Best Male Handball Player Ever in 2010