Tiger's injury puts even more emphasis on fitness
By Bruce Berlet, Special to PGATOUR.com
CROMWELL, Conn. -- Tiger Woods hasn't only dominated golf the past decade, but he has got more players into working out and into the PGA TOUR fitness trailers to try to keep up.
The PGA TOUR and Travelers Championship developed a partnership to support Men's Health Month, a national initiative in June. And this week is Men's Health Week on the PGA TOUR, with the motto, "Live Well. Play Well." The goals are to heighten awareness of preventable health problems and the benefits of health and fitness and encouraging the importance of early detection in men and boys by having PGA TOUR pros serve as role models.
Despite a cloudburst that caused a delay and relocations of the discussion Wednesday at TPC River Highlands, about 100 people attended a Men's Health Forum, presented by GlaxoSmithKline. The panel included PGA TOUR players Fred Funk, Nick Flanagan and Jason Gore; Funk's wife, Sharon; former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann; Jeffrey Fronk, the personal trainer for Vijay Singh; and Ron Kaspriske, fitness editor of Golf Digest.
"When they called and asked me to participate, I said, 'Are you sure you've got the right number?' the 240-pound Gore quipped. "I guess I'm the 'before.' "
But while Gore isn't one of the many visitors to the fitness trailers, he is into martial arts. Fred Funk has used the trailers since he joined the TOUR in 1989 and admits he wouldn't be on the Champions Tour if he hadn't taken advantage of the facilities.
"The mentality out here is to stay more fit," said Fred Funk, who had knee surgery five weeks ago. "Gary Player always talked about it in the 1960s, but most guys finished their round and went to the bar and socialized. But Tiger took fitness to a new level. With golf being more of a power game today, it's much more important to get physically fitness and get as strong and as flexible as you can."
Experts have determined the average PGA TOUR player walks 635 miles a year, adding to the importance of fitness. Steve Marino will wear a pedometer during the Travelers Championship to track his miles, and fans can purchse them to determine the amount of exercise they are getting while walking the course.
Woods won't be walking for quite some time after announcing Wednesday that he was going to have season-ending surgery on the ACL in his left knee.
"The outside of your left knee is where your golf swing is most affected," Kaspriske said. "It's so crucial to the swing, but it wasn't designed to handle the load. The knee of the average guy can handle it, but a guy like Tiger is swinging about 125-130 miles per hour with his driver and 150 times a day, so after a while, it's going to give. The only thing you can do to alleviate some of the pressure on the ACL is have better hip flexibility and strength because the hip will have to take some of the load.
"Some people speculate that because Tiger likes to run distances, his hip wasn't flexible as it needed to be to handle the load he's putting on it."
Woods tore his ACL jogging after the 2007 British Open then he tweaked it while rehabilitating after arthroscopic surgery April 15, two days after he finished second in the Masters. Somehow, Woods won the U.S. Open Monday, beating Rocco Mediate on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff at Torrey Pines Golf Club in La Jolla, Calif.
Now, Woods also has a double stress fracture of his left tibia.
"He wanted that Open bad," Kaspriske said. "But now he could have months of rehab."
Theismann said the stress on the specific knee joint is greater in golf than football.
"The other thing is football players don't walk 5-6 miles a day," Theismann said. "So I don't see Tiger being ready until the Masters, especially since he focuses so much on majors."
The panel also discussed static stretching versus active versus. Static stretching includes long-hold stretches that most players do when they hold and elongate muscles, which will improve range of motion. But active or dynamic stretching should be done for 10 minutes before teeing off. Players should swing a club back and through to test muscles and teach them to do what they're suppose to do in a swing.
But Kaspriske says the key to a swing is flexible hips and gluts.
"That's what you need more than anything else to play golf," Kaspriske said. "So whenever you go to the gym, ask the trainer for exercise for hips and gluts."
Get the best deals on the best equipment all at the SHOP.PGATOUR.COM.
WATCH LIVE!
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network