Your Golf Swing and Your Health?
I read a very interesting article recently in the Wall Street Journal about your golf swing and your overall health. It quoted several sources that the quality of your golf swing and your yardage off the tee may provide some telling insights into your overall health picture. What will they think of next?
No seriously there were some big names in these statistics. Golf Digest, The American Dietetic Association, and Golf Health. Here are some interesting statistics from Golf Digest: Eighty percent of golfers suffer from pain injury or illness, twenty seven percent have back pain, sixty six percent are overweight, and thirty percent have played with a hangover.
Here are some of the potential conclusions that your swing might lead to:
--If your drives off of the tee are short, it may indicate a flexibility problem. Lack of flexibility often indicates a sedentary lifestyle which can lead to health problems.
--If you have a persistent fade or draw, it could be indicative of posture problems. Posture issues can indicate the possibility of arthritis or other joint problems as you get older.
--If your golf swing is really erratic and you can't get consistency, this could possibly indicate that you lack strength in your "core" muscles.
--If your golf game falls apart after a bad shot, this might indicate that you internalize stress a lot. Doing this in all walks of your daily life can possibly lead to heart disease and other problems down the road.
So after I read this, I am thinking, "What are they really trying to say?". Are they saying that most golfers are out of shape and at risk for their health? Are they saying that if you aren't a single digit handicap you better get to the doctor? My guess is no on all counts.
I really think that the article was focusing on two basic points: 1. Your golf swing may be able to tell you some things about your health and 2. Odds are that you will play better golf if you are in better shape (which I agree with by the way).
So now that warm weather is here, and all the golf courses should be in prime shape, let's get in shape so we can play more than 18 holes at at time!
A couple of thoughts--
1)I think you can make of statistics whatever you want. What I see is that golf, unlike many other sports, is an equal opportunity sport; i.e. you don't have to be a jock to play it. Also, you can play it well into your senior years. These two factors address the statistics about injury-- when you're not well-conditioned and/or elderly, you will be likely to be bearing injuries. But most of the injuries I have encounterd on a golf course were not FROM golf-- generally they were from playing contact sports early in life-- which is why golf became their preferred sport in later life!!
Another story, on a personal note. About 5 years ago, I had my annual physical and when I complained about a little back stiffness, the doc took some tests and told me I had arthritis. When I asked what I should do, he basically said "not much!" I was a little bit down upon arriving home but I went to a web site for the Arthritis Foundation and, after a little research on lower lumbar arthritis, I read the following (paraphrased): "If you have this form of arthritis, one of the best things you can do is PLAY GOLF!" Apparently the old adage of 'use it or lose it' was true here. At any rate, I screamed out "There is a God!" and never looked back!
There will always be pain-- it's part of the process-- but golf still offers more people an opportunity for continued activity than most other sports-- and that makes me very happy!
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