Before Tiger Woods became known in the golf world, there
wasn’t much emphasis placed on fitness for golfers.
But along comes Tiger, a golfer with long, lean muscles,
core strength, incredible flexibility and balance for
golfers to start taking notice.
Tiger
is religious about fitness and incorporates Pilates into
his exercise regime. Now Pilates has become recognized
in golf as a must to improve your game and prolong your
career. The acceptance has been such that the PGA National
Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens recently announced
that it has partnered with All-American Pilates to open
the PGA Pilates studio.
Rocco
Mediate, another professional golfer has had much to say
about Pilates after having major back surgery. Mediate
just wasn't the same. He couldn't bend over for long periods
of time to practice his putting, and his back always went
out after lengthy plane trips.
After
just a week of starting Pilates, he was turned around,
and after two weeks he said he felt like he’d never
felt before.
Mediate
has since got rid of his weights and has completely outfitted
his workout room with Pilates equipment. "Pilates
never compromises your back," he says. "I've
got more motion in my shoulders, midsection and legs.
I can repeat my basic swing more often. Pilates is going
to add five, six, seven ... years to my career."
It
is said that the golf swing is a little one-sided, which
can create imbalance in the body. Pilates helps to balance
out the body against the forces of the swing. It helps
to create less torque in the spine because you learn to
swing from your center and not from your limbs.
Mediate
gives Pilates credit for major improvements in his game.
He used to avoid putting, and now he's a putting machine.
