Modern professional golf looks very different from the game it was 20 years ago. Today’s players travel constantly, train like elite athletes and rely heavily on support teams to stay healthy and competitive throughout a relentless season. At the heart of that support system on the HotelPlanner Tour are Therapy Lead Poora Singh and Strength and Conditioning Lead William Wayland. Between them, they help players manage everything from recovery and rehabilitation to training, sleep and workload management — all while navigating the unique pressures of life on tour.

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What does a typical tournament week look like for you both?

Poora Singh: During a typical week on the DP World Tour and HotelPlanner Tour, we’ll usually arrive on the Monday and recce the venue. We’ll find out where the treatment unit is, where access to emergency services is, where the gym and recovery areas are and all those kinds of things. Then we’ll start on Tuesday morning. On the HotelPlanner Tour, players book 30-minute treatment sessions through our booking system, and we’ll usually work from around 10am until 6pm.

Once the tournament starts, the days become much longer. Wednesday is a pro-am day, so we’ll start at 7am and work through until 6pm. That then continues through Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with Sunday usually finishing around lunchtime. On average, we’ll each see around 18 players a day, so it can be very intense.

On the DP World Tour, there are more physios and no booking system because there are usually three physios on at all times. The working day runs from an hour and a half before the first tee time until an hour and a half after the final group comes in. At events like The Open, where tee times can start at 6am, you’re arriving at 4am or 4:30am. The hours are demanding, but that comes with the territory.

William Wayland: I generally arrive on the Monday as well and assess what facilities we have available. Sometimes we’ll have a gym truck on site, but that’s not always the case on the HotelPlanner Tour, so we often have to find local gyms or training facilities nearby and organise access for players during the week.

Typically, I’m there from early Tuesday morning until around 6pm, then the same again on Wednesday.

Most of the work is one-to-one coaching with players. That can include physical testing, training sessions, programming adjustments or rehab support where players have been referred over by the physios.

There are also players who work with us regularly throughout the season, while others might only come in occasionally for assessments or specific help.

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How physically demanding is modern professional golf compared to what people might expect?

WW: The sport has become increasingly physically demanding and you can see that in the players themselves. They’re taller, heavier, more muscular, more explosive and generally much stronger than golfers were 20 years ago. That tells you something fundamental has changed in the nature of the game.

In the past, there wasn’t a huge physical gap between golfers and athletes in other sports. Now, the physicality of elite golfers has changed dramatically, particularly over the last two decades, and that’s reflected in the style of golf they play.

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What are the most common injuries or issues you deal with?

PS: If we’re talking purely about areas of the body, lower back issues are the most common, followed closely by hips, necks, shoulders, wrists and knees.

A lot of what we see are fatigue-based injuries. Players might have been on the road for six or seven weeks straight, not recovering properly, not sleeping well enough or not maintaining good nutrition and training habits.

You have to remember they could be hitting 200 to 300 balls a day, then playing tournament rounds, finishing late in the evening, trying to recover and eat properly, then waking up at 5am for another early tee time. It’s incredibly demanding physically. If those recovery habits aren’t in place, eventually the body struggles to keep up.

Then there are also the more unpredictable injuries. A player can hit a hidden root or a heavy divot and hurt their wrist, elbow or shoulder. We’ve had players tear calf muscles or Achilles tendons after slipping on hills. But generally, I’d say the biggest risk comes from repetition and volume rather than the sport itself.

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Is the growing emphasis on speed in golf contributing to those injuries?

PS: Absolutely. Everybody wants to hit the ball further now, but to create speed you also need the ability to control and decelerate that speed safely. That only comes from proper conditioning, training and understanding how the body works.

WW: To tolerate those forces, you need a certain level of physical robustness. If players don’t have that — or if they’re constantly chasing more speed — eventually tissue tolerance breaks down somewhere and that’s usually when injuries happen.

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So a large part of your work is injury prevention rather than simply treatment?

PS: Definitely. A huge part of what we do is education. We try to teach players good habits and help them understand that while manual therapy and treatment have their place, you can’t beat good athletic habits, sensible training and proper nutrition.

Those things are what keep players healthy and available to compete week after week.

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What recovery methods are players relying on most during tournaments?

WW: The biggest thing for us is what we call performance lifestyle planning. At the top of that is sleep. Everything is downstream from sleep. If players aren’t sleeping properly, injury risk goes up, illness risk goes up, fatigue increases and performance suffers. We spend a lot of time talking about sleep hygiene — keeping rooms cool and dark, avoiding screens and stimulants before bed and creating a proper environment for recovery.

Nutrition is another huge factor. One thing we often see during the season is players unintentionally losing weight because they underestimate how many calories they’re burning. If they lose muscle mass and strength across the season, injury risk increases and performance can drop.

Then there’s training itself. We want players following well-rounded strength and conditioning programmes that support what they’re trying to achieve physically.

One thing we always say is to avoid making dramatic changes during the season. Introducing too much novelty mid-season can create problems.

There’s also the mental side of tour life. It can be lonely and mentally draining, so having strong relationships with friends, coaches and family is incredibly important.

Finally, we encourage players to monitor how much golf they’re actually playing. Golfers often manage their own workloads and sometimes they’re not very good at recognising when they’re doing too much.

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Poora, you’ve been around the game for nearly two decades. How have you seen golfers change during that time?

PS: Massively. When I first came into golf, player support was incredibly basic. You’d have a treatment table in the locker room and maybe a few resistance bands.

I came from a high-performance athletics background where sports science and conditioning were already standard, so when I joined golf I was shocked by how little of that existed. A lot of it was cultural. Golf had this old-school mentality where people believed weights would make golfers slower and that players only needed to practise golf itself.

Over time, through the work of the European Tour Performance Institute and the support systems on the HotelPlanner Tour and DP World Tour, we’ve helped re-educate players and coaches about the athletic side of performance.

Now, players understand that if they want to compete consistently across six or seven events in a row, they need to treat themselves like elite athletes. I’m genuinely very proud of how far things have come.

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What separates the players who stay healthy all year from those who struggle physically?

PS: The players who stay healthy are usually the ones with the best habits and routines. Some younger players still come from environments where they’ve been told to just play golf and everything else will take care of itself. But once they experience life on tour, they realise very quickly that isn’t enough.

The standard on the HotelPlanner Tour and DP World Tour is incredibly high. If you can win on the HotelPlanner Tour, you’re good enough to compete at the very highest level. The players who succeed long-term are the ones who look at what elite players are doing and adopt those same professional habits around training, nutrition and recovery.

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You also seem to create a relaxed and supportive environment for players. How important is that?

PS: It’s a very conscious part of what we do because tour life can be lonely. We want players to feel comfortable coming into our space, whether that’s for treatment, recovery or simply to switch off mentally for a while. Sometimes a player just wants to sit in recovery boots, listen to music and relax. Sometimes they need somewhere quiet to sleep for an hour. It’s about creating an environment where players feel safe and supported.

WW: It becomes a kind of third space for players. They spend all day around competitors, either on the course or in the clubhouse, so having somewhere they can properly relax and let their guard down makes a huge difference.

Some players don’t even come in to train — they just want to sit down and talk. That in itself can be really valuable during a long season.

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Is it difficult stopping players from overtraining?

WW: It depends on the individual because golfers tend to be very process-driven people. A lot of them want to optimise everything — sleep, diet, routines, recovery — and because golf is such a technical and psychological sport, players can become very analytical about performance. We encourage them to take a balanced, holistic approach rather than becoming obsessed with any one method. But generally, if players overdo anything, it’s usually golf itself.

One of the biggest injury mechanisms in golf is simply too much golf. We rarely see injuries caused by sensible strength and conditioning work. It’s usually the repetitive volume of golf practice and competition that creates problems.

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How important is it for the two of you to work closely together?

WW: We work as part of a multi-disciplinary team, so we’re constantly referring players between each other. A player might come to Poora with an issue and then be referred to me because there are underlying strength or movement deficiencies that need addressing.

Likewise, if I feel something is more medical or rehab-focused and outside my expertise, I’ll refer the player back to Poora. It’s a very collaborative relationship.

PS: The medical team is involved as well. If we feel a player needs scans or medical assessment, we’ll bring the doctor in and make decisions together. The players are always looked after collectively.

WW: It also helps that me and Poora genuinely like each other. That makes the whole environment work better because there’s trust within the team.

PS: I trust Will completely and I know the players are in world-class hands with him.

That’s a huge part of building a successful multi-disciplinary team — making sure everyone is highly skilled, experienced and working together towards the same goal.

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Main Image: Harry Grimshaw

The post Behind the ropes with European Tour Performance Institute appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The Dubai resident has navigated his way through the choppy waters of the professional world over the past 10 years.

In 2015, aged just 17, he burst onto the scene by becoming the youngest winner on the then Challenge Tour, thanks to an invite into the event. Despite the fast start to his career, the youngster never kicked on fully to the DP World Tour. But still, German-born Foos describes his current golfing situation as “a lot”—but in the best possible way.

“I’ve been working really hard lately. I always have, but it’s been a lot of work,” shares Foos on the driving range at The Els Club Dubai, his home course. The now 27 year old had just returned from a ten-day trip to the US to see his coach, but despite his busy schedule, remains upbeat in what lays ahead. “I love working hard, so I’m having a lot of fun.”

Having called Dubai and The Els Club his home for over 10 years, even in the past decade, the city was a very different place from how Dominic remembers. “None of the houses were built then,” he recalls. “This really feels like home. I’m very grateful to them (The Els Club Dubai) for helping me and supporting me over the years, as well as for giving me an amazing course to play and practice on.”

Like many professional athletes, Foos has faced challenges over the last few years, especially with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic serving as a stumbling block for his career development. “Everyone I talk to says the Covid years just flew by. It’s definitely been challenging.

“I certainly haven’t played as well as I wanted to, but I feel like I’m on a really good track now and working on the right things.

“I’ve just got my Asian Tour card, which is great. I’ve only played one event so far, but there are some good ones coming up, so I’m really looking forward to getting started there and posting some good results.”

Foos’ mindset shift is also reflected in his approach to fitness—not just for golf, but for his life in general. “I think it plays a very big and important role, for sure. It’s kind of evolved for me a little bit as well.

“You’ve got to be very mobile, and you’ve got to have the speed, strength, and endurance, especially with all the travelling we do.”

So much so, Foos has undergone a new fitness and lifestyle regimen including the 75-Day Hard Challenge, in a bid to open up his mind to a different approach to golf fitness. “It was super spontaneous,” Foos admits. “I didn’t plan on doing it at all. It includes two workouts a day, a strict diet—no sugar, no alcohol—and a commitment to reading ten pages of a nonfiction book every day.

“This is day 31 today, and I’m kind of over the sugar part, so it’s all good there. But forcing myself to read every day, especially after a long practice, when I’m not really in the mood to read, I’m still forcing myself to do it. But I’m really loving it now.”

“For me, it’s like 90% mental,” he says. “When I work out, I automatically want to eat better, I sleep better, and I just feel more structured in everything I do, including my golf.” His emphasis on mental health is clear, and he’s continually seeing the difference fitness can make on his overall well-being.

“If I’m structured in my workouts, I’m much more structured in my golf game and practice,” he explains, stressing the link between physical and mental health.

“Tiger started it with the whole fitness thing, and if you look at the guys on tour, they’re all fit-looking guys. The same with the ladies—they’re all super athletic. You can really see a big shift towards fitness now, even on the DP World Tour. They do a great job of giving players the logistics and infrastructure to have a gym there every single week, and players use it, so it’s super important.”

As his season progresses, Dominic is not just playing golf—he’s redefining his approach to his career, fitness, and mindset. Whether it’s on tour, in the gym, or competing in the Lion’s Den at The Els Club Dubai, Foos is determined to keep evolving.

As he himself puts it, “Golf doesn’t change, right? The ball is the same. The clubs are the same. But I just feel like I’m in a really good place now.” And with the way he’s preparing for 2025, he’s set to do just that.

This article was featured in the March 2025 issue of Golf Digest Middle East. Click here for a digital issue of the full magazine

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The symptoms: poor contact with the ball even when you’re consciously trying to hit it solid; struggling to swing the club through the impact zone without straightening up; and routinely pulling shots left of your target or slicing them right of it—or both.

If any of these describe the state of your game, stand with your back to a wall and take these three physical screening tests to see if you lack the muscle function necessary to hit great shots.

TEST NO. 1

Stand with your upper body against a wall and your feet angled about 12 inches from it. Make sure your pelvis is tucked under your torso. Extend one arm so it’s perpendicular to the wall, and raise it over your head without bending it. The goal is to touch the wall while maintaining the body’s other contact points. Repeat the test with the other arm.

IF YOU FAILED: The inverted triangular-shaped muscle of your upper back, known as the latissimus dorsi or “lat,” is too tight. This causes your swing to be short and narrow, resulting in thin and fat shots and/or slices. To improve mobility, lie on your side, leaning back slightly on a foam roller. Roll from hips to armpits for three minutes a few times a week. Also, stretch your upper-back muscles before you play.

TEST NO. 2

Stand against the wall just like you did in Test No. 1 and extend both arms at the same time, pressing the palms together. Raise both arms over your head. The goal is to touch the wall with your two thumbs without arching your lower back or losing any of the contact points created when you began the test.

IF YOU FAILED: The muscles around the thoracic spine (mid-back) aren’t functioning properly. This causes a loss of posture and limits your ability to rotate when you swing. Lie on a foam roller, and move it up and down your back. Stop in the middle and let your shoulders gently sink toward the floor while keeping your butt on the ground. Also, strengthen your oblique muscles with exercises like side planks and seated torso rotations.

TEST NO. 3

Stand with the majority of your body—from heels to head—against the wall. Bend one arm 90 degrees, and place the upper portion of the arm against the wall at shoulder height. Now raise the lower portion of the arm, maintaining the 90-degree angle. Your goal is to touch the wall with the back of your hand while keeping the bottom part of your back from arching or pressing into the wall.

IF YOU FAILED: Shoulder mobility is an issue for you, and this likely causes you to hit shots fat, thin or your path into the ball is noticeably out-to-in (slices/pulls). Work on stretching the pectoral muscles (chest) and exercises that improve the external rotation of the shoulder joint. Even repeating this test can improve mobility.

Main image: Mike Ehrmann

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https://twitter.com/HullCharley/status/627582051940700161

Over the years, viral LPGA star has tried to cut out sweets, to no avail, as evidenced by the following. “Resisting myself from eating chocolate for 4 months lol.” “So tempted to eat some chocolate. But nope I can’t ” “Proper chocolate myself out today. Time to ban it for another 3 months lol.” It goes like this every so often, and it’s just another example of the pros sometimes being exactly like us.

MORE: Charley Hull comes up with harshest of penalties for ‘ridiculous’ slow players

Anyway, young Charley Hull would be quite proud of her grown-up self as she went on a “chocolate binge trip” to Belgium over her offseason break, as reported by Carly Cummins of The Sporting News. “I went to Bruges and ate a lot of chocolate,” Hull announced during her PIF Saudi Ladies International pre-tournament press conference. “Enough to put on a lot of weight! But then I ran a lot so as not to put the weight on.” She posted a good deal from Bruges, including a photo of waffles and strawberries coated with chocolate sauce. Not too shabby. “Dzien dobry!” Hull added. “Waffling around Brugge & feeling very Eastern European (I got it from my mama).”

We all need to cut loose every so often and we appreciate Hull’s obsession. She went to the right place for chocolate too, as Bruges is a chocolate nirvana featuring Katelijnestraat, a street renowned for its chocolate shops. Travel guru Rick Steves “warns that the Tonka variety is such strong chocolate that it’s banned in the US.” Sounds like the perfect place for a chocolate specialist like Hull.

Now that the December break is in her rearview and the 2025 season is raring to go, Hull (unfortunately) will have to take a step back from the chocolate binge and get back to the gym, by her own admission.

https://twitter.com/HullCharley34/status/1889150804927381762

She’s been posting through it—don’t we all?—and has even added a bit of strength training to her usual cardio and runs. With that said, don’t expect her to do much golf training.

“People are asking why I run so much and why I don’t do golf specific training,” she wrote on Instagram. “1. golf training is boring I have no interest in that at all but the training & weights I do help my golf. 2. I love running as a hobby and for my fitness and my mind. The more fitter you are the less jet lag you get and the more stamina you have.”

Main image: Sarah Stier

RELATED: Charley Hull shares gruelling Christmas workout, puts all of us to shame

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The pasting the Americans tasted two years ago at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome at the hands of Luke Donald’s Europeans will still be rankling their rivals over the water and history has not exactly been kind to visiting teams on US soil over the decades.

It’s been 13 long years since Europe last triumphed in the States, one of only four away victories it has tasted since 1979.

On and off the course, everything will need to be working like clockwork in the Europeans’ favour for Donald’s men at Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale and the unassuming but fiercely competitive and detailed Englishman is leaving no stone unturned as he seeks a rare repeat win in golf’s greatest and most historic team test.

Donald has accordingly assembled a formidable arsenal of experienced Ryder Cup know-how with his vice-captains, Eduardo Molinari and Thomas Bjorn, and a backroom team of equally impressive expertise.

Dr/Prof Andrew Murray, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, DP World Tour, and Sport and Exercise, University of Edinburgh

Dr Andrew Murray, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for the DP World Tour, who also leads health and performance for the R&A, the Open Championship, also boasts a resumé that covers Olympics, Paralympics and World Athletics Championships among other top sporting events, is another vital cog in that smooth-running engine and could yet make a significant difference without, of course, hitting a ball.

It’s his job to keep Team Europe fit, mentally and physically, and focused on the mighty job in hand and the recent Team Cup, pitching many of the likely players in the biennial clash between GB & Ireland and Continental Europe at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort was a Ryder Cup dress rehearsal for both the pros and Dr Murray.

Don’t get us wrong, the Team Cup is a very serious sporting clash that carries important bragging rights within the European pro community on Tour for the next two years but naturally much of the focus was still firmly on New York and the Ryder Cup showdown from September 25-28 when the teams locked horns in the first week of January.

Ryder Cup New York 2025 – Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley – Andrew Redington

Dr Murray suggested in an exclusive interview with Golf Digest Middle East that the Europeans under Donald’s meticulous planning that reaped such rewards in 2023 in Italy, were already shaping up impressively with a close-knit team spirit clearly in evidence at the Team Cup.

“Luke Donald is a fantastic captain, extremely evident from the work that he did at Marco Simone. But I think what a good captain does is bring on board the right professionals that have got expertise in specific areas and help inform and make sure that everything that we can do to support optimal performance for our players is done,” he said.

“Culturally, Team Europe has always looked to work together and build on whatever advantage they’ve got, and you can really see that at what happened at Marco Simone, in particular looking forward to New York as well.

“Luke’s very collaborative, he’s got a great group of vice captains there and a great group of staff who are looking to support the players and make sure that we can help with performance and in my role, help with illness and any injury or other concerns that they have got.”

Just as is the case with all sports, the top professionals are susceptible to injury and illness and Dr Murray and his team are certainly doing all they can to ensure all the cream of European golf pitch up in the States, fully fit and ready to rumble come September.

Certainly, they won’t be short of backroom expertise and amazing facilities to keep them firing on all cylinders. Dr Murray describes a week-in-week-out fitness and wellness travelling provision for the DP World Tour players that would put many leading gyms – and specialist medical centres – to shame.

“We know that our golfers are always looking to see how they can hit the ball further and closer to the hole and week in week out on the DP World Tour, and there’s a number of services that we provide to them,” said the genial Scot with admirable understatement, before listing all on offer.

“There’s a well-equipped gym to help with strength, and power, flexibility. There is a strength and conditioning coach to help support with that, physiotherapists.

“We’ve got performance nutritionists and player-focused dining in the players’ lounges, we’ve got mental fitness, we have got medical professionals, we’ve got the ability to scan using diagnostic ultra-sound on site, we have skin screening, heart health assessments; basically, all the things that we have spoken to the players about and introduced based on player feedback.”

Rory McIlroy – Ryder Cup – Richard Heathcote

For the Team Cup and Ryder Cup, the standards don’t drop a millimetre, he says. “In the team environment, we are very much guided again by the captain and by the vice-captains and by the players themselves. We know the science of it but we’re really keen just to make sure that what we put in is appropriate for golf.”

But it’s not just the incredible facilities that are ensuring the players stay on the fairways, albeit that four-fifths of them will encounter some kind of injury and illness that will keep them sidelined for at least part of an average season which, let’s face it, lasts pretty much all the calendar year these days.

“Golf is a sport that has got a huge range of health benefits; we know that golf is good for length of life, it’s good for mental health, and it’s good for physical health,” said Dr Murray, a very accomplished ultra runner in his own right and government advisor on health.

“But injuries and illness do occur and if you look at injuries in particular, we do a regular survey of all our players and publish that, and hand and wrist and lower back are the two areas that we see professionals injure most frequently.

“And it’s a relatively lower risk compared to some other sports but 80% of golfers will get injured in any particular year because they play so much in terms of practice and competition.

“In terms of illnesses, again they are human beings so you get the same illnesses that you might expect from people that travel a lot. So, spending a lot of time in grass, we see a lot of hay fever, we see a lot of people with asthma, general illnesses, influenzas, that you might get around this time of year, gut ache, and things like that.

“Actually, a lot of that can be prevented so the modern-day pro and those of have played a few Ryder Cups and have been on the DP World Tour for a while tend to sleep really well, they’ve got good strategies, they manage jet lag and travel fatigue, they tend to take care of their nutrition, so plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, anything that’s colourful except for Skittles (!) tends to work.

“Again, you’ve got people being fastidious in terms of their hand hygiene, making sure that if they’ve got any illness that they report that early.”

Ryder Cup 2018 – David Cannon

Dr Murray and his team will also be focusing on the team’s mental preparations – it will not be easy walking on to that first tee come September with thousands of Americans urging you to carve it out of bounds. Again, according to Dr Murray, Donald will have left nothing to chance that he has any control over.

“An away Ryder Cup is very different to a home Ryder Cup. That might be due to travel considerations, it might be due to the amount of support that you have got. You’re likely to have largely a crowd that is cheering for Team US in New York so that’s different and there’s also the type of course and set-up that’s there,” he said.

“So, each of those elements will be being planned for by Luke. You’ve got people like Eduardo Molinari, who’s unbelievable at knowing our players really well and that statistics of what may be helpful for the Ryder Cup, and it’s like anything really.

“If you’re up against a specific challenge or you’ve got an opportunity of taking on a challenge, it’s working out what that challenge is and how you can best prepare for it as well. So, there’s no doubt that an away Ryder Cup is a really big opportunity and requires a different type of preparation from a home Ryder Cup.”

The Team Cup, Dr Murray believes, will have given many of the Europeans at least a taster of the kind of pressure cooker atmosphere they’ll be facing in nine months’ time.

“The players already know each other pretty well and are really looking forward to the change in the team environment, they’re really embracing that, they’re really embracing the information that they’ll get from this.

“They’re looking forward to the opportunity to get out there and test some partnerships and work together so there’s a great buzz about the Team Cup. The players love being in this region, they love being in the Middle East, and that’s not just for the weather, not just for the golf courses, not just for the fantastic support that they get, it’s for events like this. It’s something different.

“It’s like the Team Cup, it’s like the Hero Dubai Desert Classic next week so this week has been meticulous preparation by each of the captains, Francesco (Molinari), and Justin (Rose), and by Luke Donald, just to try to get the best result possible this week for GB & Ireland and Continental Europe but also to look ahead to future events as well.”

Main Image: Richard Heathcote

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Low-back pain and golf are intrinsically linked, and that’s because the wrong part of the body is often recruited to swing the club.

The rotational requirements needed to effectively and powerfully swing a club should come from the hips and the mid-back, says trainer Dan Shipman. Unfortunately, many golfers rely too heavily on the lumbar region of their spine to get the club around.

As Shipman explains: “For many recreational golfers, the issue is the reversal of the roles of the hips and the lumbar spine. An ideal golf swing requires a golfer to rotate their hips while keeping their spine in a neutral position. The hips often don’t rotate because they have tightened to help create stability that the lower body is lacking down the chain.”

He continues: “Tight hips can cause the body to look for rotational ability from other places. Our bodies will look above and below the problem joint first. Below the hips are the knees and above the hips is the lumbar spine. Those joints can’t rotate a whole lot. And when they do, it can cause a lot of wear and tear.”

Turn your hips, not your spine

According to Shirley Sahrmann, professor of physical therapy at University Washington in St Louis, the lower lumbar spine can only handle 13 degrees of rotation while the upper thoracic spine can handle up to 47 degrees.

“When we think of golf, how much rotation are we trying to get — a lot more than 13 degrees,” Shipman says. “So that back pain you are experiencing might not stem from walking 18 holes or your posture, it might just be from rotating the wrong part of your body in your swing.”

The good news, Shipman says, is that increasing hip mobility can help to reduce back pain. By improving the range of motion in the hips, golfers can achieve a more efficient and effective swing while also reducing the risk of injury. Your body will rotate more using your helps, start relying less on the lumbar spine for the rotation and will be able to properly use the hips.

4 moves to help…

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Muscle tweaks and more serious bone injuries can ruin a golf season. And if you’re getting injured over and over again, you’re probably beyond frustrated. There are a lot of things that can cause muscle and bone injuries. But the PGA Tour’s performance dietitian, Ryan Harmon, says that many athletes she sees getting frequently injured have something in common: low Vitamin D.

What does Vitamin D do?

“It’s involved in so many different things,” Harmon said. “Building bone, the immune system, muscle function, and really interestingly, inflammatory regulation.”
Harmon, who was the head golf dietitian at IMG Academy and has worked with athletes in the MLB, NFL, NBA, ATP/WTA, as well as Olympians, also noticed Vitamin D affects sleep.

If you don’t get enough Vitamin D, you’ll see a variety of symptoms

“Symptoms could be from broken bones to fractures, muscle weakness, muscle injury, a decrease in strength, power, endurance,” Harmon said. “The athletes that are always injured typically have the lowest Vitamin D. It’s fascinating.”
Though there isn’t a lot of literature on Vitamin D and how it affects sleep, Harmon has seen enough from experience to believe there’s a correlation.
“I’ve seen poor sleep with low Vitamin D levels,” Harmon said. “It could affect your golf game because we know if you’re getting poor sleep, you are not going to be bringing your A game on the golf course. That’s going to affect focus, that’s going to affect fine motor control, your ability to read the greens.”

Vitamin D deficiency is common among women

Both men and women can have low Vitamin D. Every person is different, and the work Harmon does is individualised, but from years of doing blood work, Harmon says she’s seen Vitamin D deficiencies are especially common in women.

How to get more Vitamin D

“We get our Vitamin D from UVB radiation from the sun, but we’re all slapping on sunscreen,” Harmon said. So even though golfers are outdoors a lot, all of the things we do to protect ourselves from sunburn — like wearing sunscreen and hats — limits the amount of Vitamin D we get.
Though we primarily get Vitamin D from the sun, there are some foods you can add to your diet to help boost your Vitamin D levels.
“There are some fortified dairy products, that’s a great option,” Harmon said. “If you like eggs, the egg yolk is going to have Vitamin D, especially if it’s a pasture-raised egg. The hens have to have been outside with access to the sun. Mushrooms are another great option, although there’s not a high amount of Vitamin D, they still have some Vitamin D.”

Getting enough Vitamin D through your diet can be difficult, so Harmon says often they end up using supplements to get deficient athletes’ Vitamin D levels up. The only way to know that you have a Vitamin D deficiency is to get a blood test. And if you’re constantly suffering from injuries, along with the other symptoms Harmon laid out, it might be worth asking your doctor if you should get tested.

The post Avoid injuries with this simple, vital vitamin trick appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“It’s a marathon, so … get ready for a marathon,” says Shifflett, a spinal surgeon who has a 5.2 Handicap Index, playing out of Shady Canyon Golf Club in Irvine, California “Getting ready for the trip is half the battle.”

For those of you with a modicum of prudence, we sought out experts in health and fitness, experts who actually know the game and, in some cases, go on buddies trips themselves. We asked their advice for how to get ready for the journey. The target audience is the 35 to 65 crowd, but their recommendations apply for just about anyone.

GIVE YOUR ENGINES A TUNE-UP

Billy Horschel spends part of nearly every day working with his physio to get his body ready to play. Twitter

It’s always a good idea to get some form of evaluation from a professional before the trip, if only to have peace of mind that everything seems to be in working order before you ask your body to endure more punishment than it’s probably used to, says golf-fitness trainer Andrew Dulak.
“Get some form of body work done before the trip — see a massage therapist, a physical therapist, chiropractor, acupuncturist, etc. The point is to get your body moving the best before the trip,” says Dulak.
Adds Shifflett, “Eating right, being well hydrated, doing a physical-therapy program. You want to get loosened up and dialled in for the trip.”

FOCUS ON THE LOWER BODY

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Exercise before a golf trip should put an emphasis on the legs, hips and glutes, experts say. Those are the muscles that are key to avoiding injuries, making repetitively good swings and having the stamina to get through the sluggish rounds on the back end of the trip.
“Walking when you play before the vacation, walking on hilly ground, walking on the treadmill on a steep incline, get your legs ready for all those extra miles,” says trainer Mindi Boysen.
Better hip function also is crucial, says trainer Cory Ginther. “The hips in this age group are often tight. This includes decreased hip-joint mobility and decreased flexibility of the surrounding soft tissue. For golfers, I want to make sure the hips are moving to decrease risk of hip impingement/labral issues.”
Ginther suggests hip mobility exercises with a focus on internal and external rotation in the months/weeks before the trip.
Other areas of the lower body to reactivate are the glutes and hamstrings, adds Paul Gozbekian, another trainer. “Most middle-aged golfers have compression of the posterior hip compartment, which I call ‘Burrito Butt.’ This can cause an individual to utilize strategies of orientation with their pelvis and spine. Being out of golf shape and sitting on flights for long hours further amplifies these orientation strategies, resulting in golfers over-utilizing lower-back muscles and under-utilizing muscles like the glutes and hamstrings for their setup as well as the swing.”

EAT LIKE A CHAMPION

Claudia Totir

At the least, shedding a few pounds before you play will help reduce the increased load you’re asking of your joints and lower back, says trainer Jennifer Fleischer. Also consider a diet rich in lean protein to enhance your pre-trip training, Boysen adds.
“Help your foundation for muscle growth and endurance by eating things such as fish, lean beef, nuts, beans, quinoa, etc,” she says.

PACK LIKE YOU’RE GOING OFF THE GRID

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Be prepared for dealing with aches, pains, blisters, spasms, sunburn and dehydration. All of that should be taken into consideration before venturing out.
“Pack the right things,” Dulak says. A massage gun, pain medication, ice packs, tape, bandages, electrolyte packs, all of that type of stuff can help you make it through 36 holes on multiple days.”
Another thing to consider is your immune system, and its potential for weakening as a result of lengthy airline flights, etc. Boysen says travel with immune boosters such as vitamins and supplements.
Trainer Mike Hansen says the No. 1 priority before and during the trip is hydration. And not just drinking more water, although that’s a big step in the right direction. “You’d be surprised how much just the plane trip can dehydrate you, especially if you’re having a few drinks in the air.”
And if you’re a person who has had back issues in the past, and they tend to flare up as a result of too much golf, it’s probably not a bad idea to ask your doctor about travelling with a steroid pack, Shifflett says. The worst thing is to be on your back in the hotel room while your buddies are out enjoying the trip.

ON THE TRIP, GET THE LITTLE THINGS RIGHT

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Perhaps the biggest thing to remember, says fitness trainer Matthew Rosman, is that your caretaking doesn’t end the minute you step on the first tee of your trip. You might be tempted to turn into a junior on Spring Break at Daytona Beach, but remember, you’re not 21 or even 31 anymore.
Some of his thoughts:
1. Use golf carts or walking push carts to avoid fatigue and loss of stamina.
2. Play some form of team golf v rattle-bottom stroke play.
3. Play from a manageable course length. No need to tip it out.
4. Pay attention to hydration and snacks.
5. Go early for the first round and late for the second. Playing back-to-back with a short break is much tougher.
6. Short sessions of stretching, mobility exercises, foam rolling, etc, in between rounds is best.
7. Naps are great. And plenty of sleep between days could be the difference between a great trip and a disaster.

LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES

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Let’s say someone on your trip got a little too carried away on the first day: Drinking, no sleep, walking and carrying from the back tees, hasn’t see a water bottle since the flight. That guy? Well, our experts say it would be wise if he maybe took a round off and hit the reset button the next morning. Or even skipped the first nine and traded it for some extra rest and a healthy breakfast.
“You can still right your wrongs mid-trip,” Fleischer says. “When you’re sleep deprived and hungover, it’s tempting to reach for high carbohydrate foods like pastries and bagels for breakfast. Instead, eat a breakfast that’s high in protein and fiber, such as eggs and spinach or grass-fed beef jerky and a piece of fruit if you’re on the go.
“The protein and fibre will help balance your blood sugar and keep you satiated longer than high carbohydrate foods, helping to improve your endurance throughout the day.”

The post Want to survive a buddies golf trip? Our experts share their tips appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Your heart is in the right place. You want to be stronger, healthier and play better golf. But if you’re anything like the typical gym goers that Golf Digest chief fitness advisor Ben Shear sees, you might be going about it the wrong way.

Several popular exercises that many think are helping you can put you on the fast track to injuries and make it hard to swing a golf club properly. Shear has trained several players on the PGA Tour including major champions Jason Day and Webb Simpson and Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald. Here he has identified five exercises that you should stop doing right now and offers a better replacement for each.

1. Instead of seated lat pulldowns, do elbows-high rows

One of the most popular exercises in the gym can ruin your posture. When your pelvis is locked down during a lat pulldown, the back muscles being trained rotate and round your spine, which can lead to a steeper, armsy golf swing. If you switch from pulldowns to using a cable rowing machine (or bands), pull the cable into your chest with your elbows at shoulder height and your torso upright. This works several muscles groups in your back for better posture and golf-club control.

2. Instead of med-ball rotations, do T-spine twists

Rotational core exercises are great for golf — if done properly. Unfortunately, a heavy medicine ball promotes bad form by putting the spine in flexion (rounded forward) while making it hard to rotate the torso from the mid-back like you should. Also, it’s easy to cheat and simply move your arms and not your torso. If you switch to T-spine twists, you can focus on rotating from side to side with your mid-back (thoracic-spine region). Place a club across your chest, bend your knees, and tighten your abs as you rotate.

3. Instead of crunches, do push-back planks

If you think about the typical rounded, unathletic posture of an elderly golfer, and then look at a person doing crunches, you should see some similarities. Golfers need to protect their spines from rounding, but crunches promote it. Sooner or later, the combination of crunches and golf will cause some back issues. Instead, doing push-back planks, with your feet in slings on sliders or on a physio ball, keeps the spine in a neutral position while really working the key core muscles needed for power in the golf swing.

4. Instead of upright rows, do bottoms-up kettlebell presses

When you pull up to complete an upright row, the muscles and tendons of the rotator cuffs smash into the top of your shoulder blades, potentially causing tears and dysfunction in your golf swing. Instead, to improve shoulder strength, which is key to controlling a golf club at high speeds, hold a kettlebell upside down at shoulder height and push straight up, keeping your forearm, hand and bell as vertical as possible. Not only does this exercise do wonders for your shoulders, it improves forearm and grip strength, making those shots out of the rough easier.

5. Instead of leg extensions, do split squats

Average golfers typically have weak hamstrings — especially those with desk jobs — when compared to the quadriceps (front of thigh) muscles. When the hamstrings are weak, it’s a challenge to stay in posture when making golf swings, which leads to poor contact. Instead, split squats really focus on the hamstrings, allowing you to stay down through impact and blister the ball. Keep your torso upright and head back as you drop your trail knee to the ground. As this move becomes easier, you can make it more challenging by holding dumbbells.

The post Five stupid exercises for golfers (and five ways to replace them) appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Take a close look at a player during their first moments on the driving range, and there’s a good chance you’ll spot them doing one, specific stretch.

Don’t believe it? Here’s Rory McIlroy doing it.

Ross Kinnaird

And here’s Collin Morikawa doing it, too.

Maddie Meyer

They’re called resistance band pull aparts, and they’re the topic of our most recent episode of the Golf IQ podcast after Maddi MacClurg and I spotted multiple players doing it on the range over the last month.

Why pros like band pull aparts

The exercise itself basically involves stretching a resistance band across your chest, getting into golf posture, and keeping it stretched as you turn back and through. There are other exercises involving resistance bands.

There’s a few good reasons why players and coaches love this exercise, especially before rounds:

• It opens up the range of motion in your chest, upper back, and shoulders, which can help you make a bigger backswing turn.
• It mirrors the kind of stretch-contract movement that happens in your body in transition from backswing to downswing. The more you can stretch, the more forcefully your muscles can contract and generate speed on the downswing.
• It’s an active mobility exercise. More intensive than stretching, but less so than lifting weights. Pros, like Jon Rahm, love doing these kind of exercises, because it gets the blood pumping.

All of which is to say, this would probably be a great exercise for you to incorporate into your routine, either at home or before your rounds.

The post One pre-round stretch that you can spot tour players doing all the time appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.