Tiger played in his first professional tournament in 1992, at age 16.
Safety
In golf, there is no physical equipment that can protect us from injuries. Many people have insurance, which will cover them if they happen to hit another person with a golf ball or club, of if they injure themselves. Golfers can not wear equipment to protect themselves as if would restrain movement which would lead to the golfer not being able to swing properly.
The most common safety rule about golf is known as “fore”. This is a word used when a person hits a golf ball in the wrong direction, or even too hard to warn other players that a golf ball is near them. This then enables the other players to protect themselves or move away if necessary.
Rules
There are hundreds of rules in golf, for which many people have rulebooks to carry around with them.
Some examples of rules are:
- There should be no more then fourteen clubs in a golfer’s bag
- Bad weather, e.g. lightening, where players are called in.
- No more than four players in a group
- Score card must be signed by both the player and the marker
- Any shot taken once the ball has left the tee box until the ball has been putted out counts on the score
- In stroke play, the ball must be putted out.
- Players must play off the correct handicap.
- Players must not play in front of the tee markers.
The penalty for breaking one of the rules in golf is either in stroke play it is a two stroke penalty, and in match play the loss of the hole.
If a ball is lost off the tee, a new ball should be played which then is counted as “three off the tee”, so a penalty is given and the new ball is the third shot.
If a ball is lost on the fairway or rough a new ball is dropped in the exact same place and the player receives a stroke penalty.
Course Etiquette
Players are expected to have course etiquette, some examples of these are:
- Wearing the correct clothing
- Arriving on time for tee off times
- Slow play
- Being quiet whilst another player is playing their shot.
Stroke Play
This is where a player counts all the shots they have taken throughout the course, and writes them on a scorecard. At the end the scores are added up and the total score is known as the “gross” score. This is the score in which the player has shot.
Then the handicap of the player is taken away from the gross score, this is known as the “Nett” score, and this is taken to be entered into the competition.
Match Play
This is where two or four people go head to head, playing against each other. The player that has the lowest score on a hole wins the hole. That person then goes one up, and so on. A person does not need to play a ball on each hole, if they have lost their ball. This type of game can finish on a hole before reaching the eighteenth. If player A wins many holes and is for example five up, and they are on the hole fifteen, player B can not win as there is not enough holes left. So player A wins 5&4.
This type of play is used in knockout competitions, and if by the end of the match there is no clear winner, then the match carries on down the first hole.
The Golfers Training Programme
When a person becomes fit it is hard to maintain that level of fitness, so they should concentrate on keeping up that level of fitness. Good ways to keep this fitness are:
Always try to do some sprints, this will help to strengthen your muscles, and to keep you warm.
Tedium
If these are too “boring”, then try exercising with some one else to keep it interesting.
Progression and Overload
Weights are good for building up the muscles, and this would be perfect for a golfer. You must start off with small weights, and build up either the amount of repetitions or the weight itself. Try to use weights that strengthen the abdomen muscles, this is essential for a solid golf swing.
Reversibility
Throughout the winter you must keep up training so that your level of fitness does not decrease. If it does, it will take a lot longer to regain that it did to lose.
A Golfers Ideal Diet
What to Eat
- Any vegetable of fruit that is orange in colour- carrots, sweet potato, and cantaloupe.
- Most green vegetables and fruits
- Turkey
- Whole grains
- Baked/boiled fish
- Baked/grilled chicken
- Skim milk
- Egg whites
- Rice
- Fruit juices.
What not To Eat
- Pizza
- Ice cream
- Cheese cake
- Roast beef
- Fried chicken
- Fried fish
- Gravy
- Potato chips
- Ham
- Soft drinks
Any greasy foods should be avoided, drink plenty of water, especially in hot conditions. Always have a good supply of nutrition bars on hand for instant energy.
Fitness
Warm up
Before exercising every person needs to ‘warm up’, this is so that you do not pull any muscles, and so that you can perform to your best ability. If you pull a muscle, this could lead to serious damage, which could leave you out of sport for weeks, even months.
Lower Back: From standing position, bend and touch your toes, hold this position for around 20 seconds, repeat three times.
Hips: Lie on your back with your legs extended; lock your hands under your knee and pull your legs towards you chest while the other leg stays extended. Hold for 20 seconds, and repeat with the other leg.
Chest: While standing, lock your hands behind your back and lift them while fully expanding your chest. Hold for 20 seconds.
Hamstrings: Sit with your legs apart, and with both hands and try to reach one foot, while keeping your legs extended. Hold for 20 seconds. Repeat three times.
Hands and fingers: Shake your hands for a few minutes, this will help you develop soft, warm hands.
Strength Exercises
Your upper body is the most important area of the body for a golfer. You have to keep it exercised for your maximum performance.
Here are the exercises to strengthen your upper back, shoulders, chest, arms, and abdominals.
Week 1
Pulldowns: This is for the upper back. Repeat for 3 times
Rows: In a seated position (a rowing motion), repeat for 30 seconds.
Wrist curls: Either vertically, or horizontally, for the forearms. Repeat for 30 seconds on each arm.
Stomach crunch and knee lifts: Crunch your abdominal muscles ten times, and lift your knees to your chest ten times.
Week 2
Pulldowns: Repeat 3 times
Rows: Repeat for 40 seconds
Wrist curls: Repeat for 40 seconds
Stomach crunch and knee lifts: increase both to 20 times
Week 3
Pulldowns: Repeat 4 times
Rows: Repeat for 50 seconds
Wrist curls: Repeat for 50 seconds
Stomach crunch and knee lifts: increase both to 30 times
Week 4
Pulldowns: Repeat 5 times
Rows: Repeat for 60 seconds
Wrist curls: Repeat for 60 seconds
Stomach crunch and knee lifts: increase both to 40 times
Week 5
Pulldowns: Repeat 6 times
Rows: Repeat for 70 seconds
Wrist curls: Repeat for 70 seconds
Stomach crunch and knee lifts: increase both to 50 times
Week 6
Pulldowns: Repeat 7 times
Rows: Repeat for 80 seconds
Wrist curls: Repeat for 80 seconds
Stomach crunch and knee lifts: increase both to 60 times
Weight training
It is essential for a player to maximise their power and control; weight training can do it.
The muscles to train:
- Triceps
- Biceps
- Quadriceps
- Pectorals
- Abdominal
Start off by lifting once a week, then build up over a few weeks. Also use different amounts of weight for different parts of the body, as they are different strengths.
Week 1:
- Start off by doing 10 reps for the biceps and triceps, for each arm. Do this by lifting the weight up towards the shoulder. Always remember to keep the shoulder firm, and never put too much pressure on the hand.
- Do 10 reps for the quadriceps, abdominals, and pectorals.
Week 2:
- Increase the amount of repetitions to 15. Still only do this once a week. Keep the weight the same for each different muscle.
Week 3:
- Complete this training twice a week, keeping the weight, and amount of repetitions the same.
Week 4:
- Complete this training twice a week, with increased repetitions to 20.
Week 5:
- Increase the amount of repetitions to 25 for each muscle. Keep the weight the same, and complete twice a week.
Week 6:
- Keep the same amount of repetitions, but complete three times a week. Remember to keep the same weight.
Specific Training (Specificity)
Flexibility of the muscles:
Use a weighted club, without a ball to stretch the upper body muscles, but remember you must swing slowly. This also may increase your swing speed if done correctly.
To play shots with long irons:
You need to build up strength in your wrists and forearms. You can do this by doing press-ups.
Increase the amount of press-ups slightly over a period of 6 weeks.
E.g.
Week 1: 10
Week 2: 15
Week 3: 20
Week 4: 25
And so on.
Complete these around three to four times a week so that you build up those forearm and wrist muscles.
By doing this training programme, you will build up the muscles in the body, and will increase the strength of the muscles. This will benefit the golf game as it will increase the power in the golf swing, and also will enable you to have more control over the ball.
The cool down
After training you must cool down, this is because you need to gradually reduce the amount of blood flowing around your body, and to slowly reduce you heart rate. This will also cool your muscles down to prevent them from being tight the next day.
To cool down, do one minute of jogging, either on the spot, or moving around. This will gently cool you down, without becoming tired.
After Each Session
Before and after each single session you must record your heart rate, then you can compare it each week to see whether or not you have become fitter.
You will take this by recording your pulse rate for fifteen seconds, and then multiplying it by four to get your heart rate.
Recording you heart rate:
All your heart rates go here.
Self Evaluation
Week 1:
Warm up:
Good warm up, useful.
Training programme hard found it very difficult to complete the pull downs needed to reduce the amount of them to start off with. Only managed to complete one proper pull down. All the other things were fine. Noticed that my legs and arms began to ache at the start of the programme.
Cool down: Found it difficult to run after completing the training programme.
Heart rate:
Week 2:
Found warm up really easy, still found it hard to do pull downs as I can not reach the target of three, can still only do one. All the other parts were fine, but tiring. Still found it hard to do the cool down as by that time, my body was aching. Felt as though I could complete more rows and wrist curls. I did not do more than the set amount as I need to follow the training programme.
Heart Rate:
Week 3:
This week I played a lot of golf, I did two sessions of yoga and completed more for the training programme. I felt that the training programme was a lot easier as the weeks go on. I reached the week 2 target of three pull downs, but I couldn’t manage the target for this week. I noticed that as I do more of the other exercises, as the amounts increased to about 60, I felt that my body couldn’t do more than around 70, even if I trained over so many weeks.
Heart Rate:
Week 4:
I was ill this week, and couldn’t do one of the training sessions
