Does Golf Help You To Keep Fit
Monday, 13 August 2012
To Keep Fit?
Well, how many golfers have you seen who look like they have been grinding it out in the gym or on an uphill jog to keep fit? Probably not many. Golfers don’t look like the most physically fit people out there. You will see plenty of pro golfers who would appear “heavy set” compared to a tennis player or soccer player. John Daly for example. Saying that, you will see plenty of “big boned” professional rugby players who can move on a rugby pitch!
Saying that, a round of golf lasts a few hours, and you are constantly on the move. You obviously have to walk from hole to hole. If you did nothing else and drank and smoked when you weren’t playing golf, then yeah, you’re going to run into some problems. You will see a lot more professional golfers these days in great shape. They would work out in the off season, and it helps their swing, their overall game and their mental game. If you think about it logically, a stronger and fitter person should be able to hit the ball better than someone who had 7 pints of Guinness the night before the golf tournament.
WALK. DON’T DRIVE
One thing you can do is walk your round of golf instead of taking a golf buggy. That way, you get a good few hours walk in, as well as a round of golf. Win win. You’ll burn more calories. If you are carrying your bag, better again, but most people use golf carts these days. Using a cart for nine holes will have you burn around 718 calories as you walk about 2.5 miles. A buggy ride will burn only around 150 calories for nine holes.
HIT THE GYM
This is kind of obvious, but the stronger you are, the better it will help your shots from the rough, from bunkers, from the tee and from the fairway. The fitter you are, the more flexible you’ll be too, so this will help reduce the possibility of injuries. You’re going to need a pretty flexible back, shoulders and hips if you want to maintain a good golf swing. So, doing the same kinds of stretches you would do for other sports would help your game of gold. Yoga would be good too.
Of course, golf won’t help you burn off lots of calories. You don’t run, you just walk all the time so you won’t be getting your heart rate going to burn off the gut by just playing golf. Combining it with other sports will help you a great deal though.
Author: Teach de Broc