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Got Game? Yoga, Pilates, Not Brewskis and Stogies, Are Key to Improving Play

Posted on: Monday, 13 February 2006, 09:00 CST

By Candace Murphy, STAFF WRITER

GOLF AND

fitness. Fitness and golf.

For some, the combining of the two words seems an oxymoron. While there's no doubt that walking a three- to five-mile course is somewhat physical, golf still has a reputation as a sport whose athletes seem to celebrate vice.

Professional Darren Clarke of Ireland puffs Cohiba cigars before and after rounds. John Daly sucks down M&Ms and cigarettes. Roger Maltbie, back in the day, had his golf bag sponsored by Michelob. And the average duffer on the public muni? Let's just say there's a reason they stock cold cans of beer at the turn.

But little by little, these are the exceptions rather than the rule.

Fueled by the example of Tiger Woods -- who changed the physique of the game when he metamorphosed from an awkward 155-pound 21-year- old to a chiseled 180-or-so-pound 30-year-old after incorporating strength and cardiovascular training into his regimen -- golfers of every level are more toned, more fit, and healthier than ever.

Call it the yin-yang theory of golf. Not only are athletes realizing that golf is good exercise, they're realizing that exercise is good for golf.

"In all honesty, I don't know what took so long for the sport to get to this point," says Trish Hinze, head golf pro at Berkeley's Tilden Park Golf Course. "In golf, you could always get away with playing and not being in shape. Today,though, you have to keep up with the Joneses. It's like when metal drivers came out and a lot of pros still loved their woods, but they realized the metal drivers were far superior. Basically, if they wanted to win, they had to use the best equipment. Now they're realizing it's the same for their bodies."

While Hinze and her colleagues make a point of recommending a core conditioning program for anyone serious about golf, they add that simply playing the game is a decent workout in and of itself, especially if players walk the course and carry their clubs.

While that's about as intuitive as recent studies that show that people who own dogs walk more than those who don't, the average golfer can probably log more miles than those canine lovers. Golfers average about three to five miles over 18 holes -- and if it's at Tilden Park, those are a hilly bunch of miles. They burn calories at a rate only slightly lower than if they were playing tennis.

In an hour, most estimates say, a 140-pound person burns more than 300 calories walking a course and carrying a golf bag full of clubs. Tennis clocks in at 400 calories, but it's doubtful most people can last as long on the tennis court as they can on the golf course, where the workout is slower, steadier and longer.

"If you want golf to be a form of exercise rather than just leisure and enjoyment, it can be a great workout," Hinze says. "Carrying a bag is better than a pull cart, but a pull cart is still better than a golf cart. And for people who can't do that, say, elderly golfers, walking is still a great form of exercise."

Talk to any golfer, though, and just getting a bit of exercise isn't the name of their game. Usually they're obsessed with improving it. And with an eye on Tiger, they're not just hitting the driving range to do so, they're also incorporating fitness programs for body and mind.

Of course, replicating Tiger Woods' workout, muscle group for muscle group, is difficult. A couple of years ago Golf Digest published a big expose on the famous Tiger workout -- it's normally top secret -- and revealed that the phenom spends three to four hours a day, five days a week, in the gym when he's not competing.

His workout starts with a cardiovascular warmup, then stretching, then another round of cardiovascular work on a treadmill, stair- stepping machine, or climbing machine to work his upper body. Then it's on to the weight machines and core training that improve the muscles needed to twist the body during a golf swing. He warms down with another bout of stretching.

Though Hinze recommends circuit training and strength training, and says that women in particular should work on strengthening their hand and forearm muscles to improve their swing, she warns golfers to go easy in the weight room.

"You don't want to bulk up," Hinze says. "I've seen some guys get really buff, and that hurts their swing. They have no flexibility or range of motion."

That's where yoga and Pilates come in. For everyday golfers, like Will McCulloch of San Francisco, the flexibility gained from a steady practice of yoga and Pilates has big payoffs.

"Yoga and Pilates help you with your posture, which is a huge part of swinging a golf club," McCulloch says. "A lot of people have realized yoga and Pilates is the way to go. I have. I've done Pilates, and I was playing my best golf when I did it regularly."

It makes sense. Legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus once said that to hit the ball farther, golfers need to keep their back to the target as long possible. Woe to the golfer who tries that who isn't flexible.

"That can be really painful if you're out of shape," McCulloch says. "If our muscles aren't relaxed and you're not able to turn, you end up doing things with your hands and small muscles that you shouldn't be doing. It lets you use the physics of golf more."

Of course, the real key may be for golfers to focus less on their brawn and more on their game. So says sports psychology consultant and author Karlene Sugarman, who wrote "Winning the Mental Way."

Golf is possibly the ultimate mental game -- and if that's not officially documented anywhere, just visit a golf course someday and witness the mental meltdown of the average player who puts a little extra juice on his driver and hits a big slice out of bounds. It's not a pretty sight.

"More athletes are talking about the mental side of sports, and they stand to gain a lot from focusing on it," Sugarman says. "It runs the gamut -- managing pressure, focusing better, setting goals - - anything that's going to affect their performance on the course."

Sugarman, who has a private practice and is an instructor at John F. Kennedy University, emphasizes imagery, whether it's visualizing success or visualizing learning a different skill, and circle breathing, breathing in deeply from the diaphragm in through the nose and out through the mouth, to relieve stress. It all helps golfers focus, says Sugarman, which will dramatically improve their game.

"It's always been important, it's just more publicized now for both professionals and amateurs," Sugarman says. "These are the tools for success."

You can e-mail Candace Murphy at cmurphy@angnewspapers.com or call (925) 416-4814.

Source: Oakland Tribune

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