How Can I improve My Fitness While Playing Golf? (Video) - by Dean Butler
How Can I improve My Fitness While Playing Golf? (Video) - by Dean Butler

Okay. So, how can I improve my fitness while playing golf? Well, very simple. Make a few small changes to what you do before your game and during your game. So, fitness, how many times you’ve been on the golf course when you – it starts out quite nicely, going at a nice pace and you get towards the turn, the ninth, the tenth hole. All of a sudden, your energy levels are just starting to go down? So, what do you do? Maybe reach for a Mars bar, chocolate bar of some description, quick sugar boost. Think, “Oh, that’s good, that’s good.” And then three holes later, we’re going back down again, our levels.

So, that would be typical of somebody on the golf course, eating a chocolate bar, maybe having some fizzy drinks, lots of sugar. It peaks us up but then, we come back down very, very quickly. So, that’s not a good idea. And, of course, we’re packing those calories in there at the same time. So, to improve your fitness, what we can do is a few things. The first thing is by eating plenty of carbohydrates. If you decided that, “I’m going to play golf at 12 o’clock,” why not have something to eat say three hours before and actually like chicken and pasta or rice? Because those things are a good fuel for your body. If you think, “Well, I can’t have that since it’s a bit early in the day there,” well, let’s maybe get to the golf course and think, “Okay,” instead of getting on drive on, or driving on the golf course, how about putting your bag on a trolley and pulling it so we’re getting the walk, getting the exercise, improving our fitness? Maybe you think, “Oh, I can’t do that because as a senior golfer, I need the buggy.” Okay. I know where you’re coming from. So, why don’t we, instead of – instead of having maybe a bit of an alcoholic drink in the back or maybe a fizzy drink or chocolate bars, why don’t we put a nice bottle of water in there or one of the sports hydration drink where you can rehydrate yourself? Maybe put in there some sort of nuts with slow release protein, so you’re now refueling your body as you’re on the golf course. Remember, you’re out there up to three to four hours. You may be covering three, four, five miles depending on how long the course is. And it’s not a flat course, is it? How many courses are perfect like this? You’re going up, you’re going down. So, you’re burning it off all the time. So, to improve your fitness, you’ve got some nice tips there. But I think the things to do for me will be to look at your score card, maybe just put a little mark on your card every three holes and say, “Right, I need to refuel.” So, I go to the first here, I play three holes, have a sip of water, maybe a few nuts or something like that which is very healthy, slow release of energy. In every three holes, I’m putting that fuel in. Remember, you’re going to burn that fuel off. And this is how you maintain a good fitness. And if you can make these small little changes, it’ll improve your fitness on the golf course and it should improve your golf because a fitter person is someone that’s less tired. And also, improves your body that you’ve actually got. So, put these little things into place and I’m sure your fitness will improve. 2014-05-14

Okay. So, how can I improve my fitness while playing golf? Well, very simple. Make a few small changes to what you do before your game and during your game. So, fitness, how many times you’ve been on the golf course when you – it starts out quite nicely, going at a nice pace and you get towards the turn, the ninth, the tenth hole. All of a sudden, your energy levels are just starting to go down? So, what do you do? Maybe reach for a Mars bar, chocolate bar of some description, quick sugar boost. Think, “Oh, that’s good, that’s good.” And then three holes later, we’re going back down again, our levels.

So, that would be typical of somebody on the golf course, eating a chocolate bar, maybe having some fizzy drinks, lots of sugar. It peaks us up but then, we come back down very, very quickly. So, that’s not a good idea. And, of course, we’re packing those calories in there at the same time.

So, to improve your fitness, what we can do is a few things. The first thing is by eating plenty of carbohydrates. If you decided that, “I’m going to play golf at 12 o’clock,” why not have something to eat say three hours before and actually like chicken and pasta or rice? Because those things are a good fuel for your body. If you think, “Well, I can’t have that since it’s a bit early in the day there,” well, let’s maybe get to the golf course and think, “Okay,” instead of getting on drive on, or driving on the golf course, how about putting your bag on a trolley and pulling it so we’re getting the walk, getting the exercise, improving our fitness?

Maybe you think, “Oh, I can’t do that because as a senior golfer, I need the buggy.” Okay. I know where you’re coming from. So, why don’t we, instead of – instead of having maybe a bit of an alcoholic drink in the back or maybe a fizzy drink or chocolate bars, why don’t we put a nice bottle of water in there or one of the sports hydration drink where you can rehydrate yourself? Maybe put in there some sort of nuts with slow release protein, so you’re now refueling your body as you’re on the golf course. Remember, you’re out there up to three to four hours. You may be covering three, four, five miles depending on how long the course is. And it’s not a flat course, is it? How many courses are perfect like this? You’re going up, you’re going down. So, you’re burning it off all the time.

So, to improve your fitness, you’ve got some nice tips there. But I think the things to do for me will be to look at your score card, maybe just put a little mark on your card every three holes and say, “Right, I need to refuel.” So, I go to the first here, I play three holes, have a sip of water, maybe a few nuts or something like that which is very healthy, slow release of energy. In every three holes, I’m putting that fuel in. Remember, you’re going to burn that fuel off. And this is how you maintain a good fitness. And if you can make these small little changes, it’ll improve your fitness on the golf course and it should improve your golf because a fitter person is someone that’s less tired. And also, improves your body that you’ve actually got. So, put these little things into place and I’m sure your fitness will improve.