Golf And Physical Fitness

Online, March 21, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Golf may not seem like a sport that requires a lot of fitness but this is an incorrect assumption. Many believe that it's all about skill. It is very true that golf takes an incredible amount of skill but physical fitness cannot be ignored.

It's not about having big rippling muscles but it's important to strengthen the muscles used in the swing for instance.

Wayne L. Westcott writing in the Patriot Ledger states:

"Every spring, I write a special column for golfers, especially overzealous and underfit golfers. My usual emphasis is on how the abrupt and explosive nature of a powerful golf swing places considerable stress on the neck, shoulders, back and hips. I typically encourage golfers to perform some preparatory conditioning, including strength exercises, for the major muscle groups involved in the sport.

These are sound and sensible suggestions that should make the golf season a safer and more successful experience. However, there is even better news based on our research on golf performance power.
Before our golf conditioning study, we assessed each participant for bodyweight, percent fat, fat weight, lean (muscle) weight, muscular strength, blood pressure, shoulder flexibility, hip flexibility and club head speed.

Although I believe all of these factors are relevant to golf performance, clearly the most important performance component is club head speed. It is estimated that every mile per hour of club head speed produces 2.35 yards of driving distance. Therefore a faster club head speed should produce longer drives.

With this mind, we developed a basic conditioning program that we felt would improve both personal fitness and golf performance. The training included about 30 minutes of strength exercise and 10 minutes of stretching exercise. The strengthening was geared for overall conditioning of muscles in the front thighs, rear thighs, hips, chest, upper back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, lower back, abdominals and neck.

The flexibility training involved a variety of stretches for all major joint structures. Each stretch was done very slowly with an extended pause in the fully stretched position.
The golf conditioning program was three days per week for eight weeks. At the conclusion of the program, the participants were reassessed to determine any physical changes.

On average, the exercisers lost 3.5 pounds of fat, added 5 pounds of muscle, increased their leg strength by 70 percent, enhanced their flexibility by 25 percent and increased their club head speed by 6 percent. The program participants also reduced their resting blood pressure 8 mmHg systolic and 6 mmHg diastolic.

Actually, the increased club head speed should not be too surprising. With more muscle strength and greater joint flexibility, the driving power should increase considerably. Power, after all, is defined as force times distance divided by time".

Read more: http://www.patriotledger.com

Golf may not be a sport that you play at a fast pace but it does not diminish the need for a well conditioned athlete. No one is suggesting that you have to become fanatical about your fitness but you need to be fit to enhance your performanace. Good conditioning will also help you to minimize the risk of injuries and also improve your body's recuperative abilities.