Last night we had our first real snowfall of the winter season. Most golf courses closed after the third week of October. Being in Canada our golf season can be short depending on where you live. Looking back at the past golf season I know I did not reach all of the goals I had set aside. Did you? Now looking forward to next season I am beginning to set the goals I want to achieve.
Recently visited Mike Petersen’s blog and he has posted a video about warming up prior to teeing off. For most golfers they do not spend enough time, if any, to properly warming up their body. People often do not consider golf a physical activity so they neglect warming up. I have watched Jason Zuback, a three time World Long Drive Champion, practice and he would spend a minimum of 30 minutes warming up. Mike Petersen has also written a free ebook called Fit to a Tee and has also created DVD’s dedicated to golf fitness. So take a couple of minutes and look at Mike’s video.
We all know that every kind of exercise helps your golf game. When you play golf, you use every part of your body, and an overall fitness routine that works everything will help improve your game. In addition to a regular exercise routine, there are some great golf specific exercises you can do to work those muscles you need to make a great swing.
Long thought of as a “cushy†pastime, golf actually causes an alarmingly high number of injuries. During the golf swing, our muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints are stressed to near full capacity as we accelerate the golf club head to nearly one hundred miles per hour in less than half a second. In fact, the injury rate for recreational golfers is an astounding sixty percent—and even higher for golfers over age fifty.
Contrary to popular belief, golf is not a cushy pastime. Until I began to play golf myself several years ago, I never really appreciated how hard golf can be on a person’s body. Watching professionals play so well with so little visible effort on television is misleading: The true rigors of the game are not apparent.
Golf is a unique sport in that it is actually more appealing to us as players as we get older. You don’t see too many rugby leagues for folks in their Golden Years, but older golfers do represent one of the fastest growing segments of the golfing population. There are about six million U.S. golfers over age fifty. Furthermore, while older golfers account for about one-quarter of all golfers, they play about half of the total annual rounds in the United States.
Have you ever overheard someone in the clubhouse locker room say “I don’t work out because if I bulk up too much I’ll lose my flexibility and my golf swing will suffer� Or, how about “I play golf so often I don’t need extra conditioning� Personally, I was never clever enough to come up with excuses like those not to exercise—I’m just plain lazy.
Females account for about one-quarter of the 25 million-plus recreational golfers in the United States.
Osteoporosis is an important health issue facing all older golfers—particularly females. As a bone doctor, I want you to be aware of this silent but potentially devastating disease.
As my own hairline goes the way of the buffalo and my beltline gradually expands, I take comfort in knowing that as I approach my fifties I have plenty of company—particularly on the golf course. Studies show that there are about six million U.S. golfers over the age of fifty.
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