Golf: History, Training And Possible Injuries

Evolution of the sport

Golf is one of the oldest sports which is still popular among us today. It is known to be the sport with longest history which traces back to Julius Caesar where they stroked feather-stuffed balls with club shaped tree branches. Golf began to spread flourishly in Great Britain in seventeenth century which came up with British Open in 1860. It also started spreading out to the United States in the late 18th century, “The first 18-hole course in the United States was in The Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois, in 1893.

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Rules of the sport

There are two main differentiation in golf which is PGA and LPGA where PGA is a men’s golf and LPGA is for Ladies Professional Golf Association but both have the same rules. The main objective of golf is to hit the ball into the hole only with fewest hits as possible. Not like other sports, golf does not have an opposed team.

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Depending on the typos of the game, as some golf plays in a team, but pure golf plays one on one with a grouping of four golfers. So the enemy of a golfer could be seen as themselves as they have to compete themselves to overcome the stress they get during the game. The meaning of par in golf is the number of strokes that the golfer is required to complete the hole. So for an example, a 4 par hole means the golfer has four times to finish the par.

So if the golfer finishes 4 par hole by 4 strikes, it is called a par. If the golfer puts the ball in just by three times, which is one par under its original par, it is called birdie and if the golfer finishes by two strokes less than par, it is called eagle. Sometimes, golfers aim for hole in one which is possible in three par holes. Hole in one is where golfers hit the ball and it goes in with only one stroke. There are normally luxurious prizes for who succeeds to get hole in one. So many golfers aim for hole in one as it also helps to get their names on board. On the other hand of hitting under pars, bogey is when the number of strokes exceeds the number of par to get the ball into the hole. An example could be a golfer stroke 5 times in a 4 par hole. Golfers always have caddie next to them who carries the golfer’s bag around the golf course. Also helps to check how many distance the ball is away from the hole and suggests which club will be the best in those situations. In addition, they also help to check the lie and line of where their ball is and where they have to send their ball to.

Golf has special equipment to hit the ball named golf club. There are different numbers of golf clubs which are specialized to use at different situations. Firstly, driver is a club is the longest with biggest head which was purposely made to deliver the ball to far distance. Woods and hybrid club is used normally after driver on fair ways. As golfers move closer to the putting area, they use matched sets of irons from 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, w (wedge iron), p (pitching iron), s (sand iron) and lastly putting iron to sink the ball into the hole.

Training for the sport

One of the most common physical training golfers take in daily life to maintain their muscle stability and physical strength is to do muscle strengthening and endurance exercise, balance and flexibility at the same time. Single leg deadlift with dumbbells in each hand as it helps to build hip strength and balance at the same time. Push up is also very important as it helps to build up arm muscles and core muscles which will increase the instantaneous power when hitting the ball and stability while doing their swing. Push up is a process of Eccentric contraction which means the muscle length increases and the muscle force is less than the load. Also, as balance is one of the key factors in goal, golfers take a great part in training on half size balance ball. Ice Skater is one of the basic exercises which golfers exercise for balance. They stand on one leg and move the other leg from front to back and keep repeating this. This particular exercise not only helps to balance well but also increase muscle endurance on the supporting leg as it is continuously generates tension to maintain balance.

In addition, golf is one of the sport where it requires strong mental stability. As mentioned above, this particular sport does not have an enemy except yourself. Caddy, who is the one that stays with the golfer throughout golf competition and training always have to support them mentally to help them to maintain their mental strength which creates great impact physically once they lose mental stability. In the worst case of unstable mental condition, it could lead the golfers to yips.

Also, special nutrients are needed regarding to this sport which are carbohydrates and water. Carbohydrates include whole wheat bread and meat, chicken, beef and pork or omelet with toast. Also, water is very important as one game of golf takes more than half a day. The energy are stored in skeletal muscles, and in order to generate muscle energy, they use up the food eaten. They have to be hydrated.

Components of fitness

As a result of regularly taking part in this sport, there will be a great improvement in muscle endurance and body composition. The main core of body and overall balance will be well settled, as a result, their body will have good posture. Golf is not a fast intense sport, nevertheless it is very difficult to maintain the same strength all the way throughout the game. When you take a part in this sport, the exercises that take in place are mostly aerobic processes which are carried out at an intense level. This will aim to target their VO2max and as a repetition of this, their VO2max will increase. Due to this, their cardiorespiratory system will increase and therefore their left ventricle will thicken and will be much efficient for the heart to pump blood. This will lead to a decrease in resting heart rate which is a great advantage as it means the heart does not need to work much.

Injuries of the sport

Common injuries that are sustained by athletes taking part in this sport are back injuries, shoulder injuries, neck injuries, knee injuries and yips. Back pain normally occurs from rough forceful swings or incorrect swing that does not suit themselves. Because they repeat for hours on rotation, all that stress passes on to the lower back creating sharp pains. This also generates stress on shoulder therefore shoulder pain is also detected. In addition, knee injury is also significant in golfer. Because of continuous rotation of hip, the stress moves down to the weak supporting knee.