Golf is good for your health and safe for your heart – but don’t immediately
start walking if you’re not used to it. Don’t switch from riding a cart to
walking 18 holes all at once. Instead, get into shape for golf before you use
golf to stay in shape.
Start walking for health, and then walk nine holes – that’s two miles – once
or twice a week. If you build up slowly, you’ll go from riding a cart to
walking without unduly stressing your heart.
Golf is good exercise and, since it can be played alone, a challenging
alternative for those who cannot engage in strenuous solitary or contact team
sports.
Most Common Golf Injuries
Golf looks leisurely, even gentle, but swinging a club a hundred times in
four hours during a game puts a lot of strain on your joints, muscles, bones,
and tendons. Unless you are physically fit, you can get injured.
A golf swing involves your whole body. It’s not surprising then that any part
of the body can get hurt – or that the muscles you use the most are at risk.
Anyone who swings a club can be hurt – just one “fat shot” (striking the ground
with the club) can do the trick. But the likelihood of injury is greatest in
older players and in those who play more than once a week.
A survey of 1,000 U.S.
amateur golfers who play at least twice a week showed that injuries are common.
More than 60% sustained one or more golf-related injuries over the course
of their playing years.
The injury rate was higher for amateur players over the age of 50 (a 65%
injury rate) than it was for players under 50 (58% injury rate).
The injury rate was slightly higher – 67.5% among low-handicap amateur
golfers (below 9 handicap) – than it was for less-skilled amateur golfers.
The typical injury forced the amateur golfer to miss an average of more
than five weeks of playing time. The injury rates for male and female amateur
golfers were about the same.