Fit for Golf : How a Personalized Conditioning Routine Can Help You Improve Your Score, Hit the Ball Further, and E

Several years ago someone told me that once you hit thirty-five you have to work harder just to keep playing golf at the same level. I want to play until I’m fifty-five, and I don’t want to be one of those guys just barely clinging to the PGA Tour. I want to keep getting better and I want to win. So when I turned thirty-five, I hired Boris Kuzmic as my personal trainer and started working out. I liked Boris’s background as both a professional golfer and fitness expert, and with the workout plan he designed for me, my torso strength and flexibility improved and my clubhead speed increased, which allowed me to hit the ball farther. 

Before long, working out became such a part of my routine that I regarded it as essential as hitting balls and practicing putting. I built a gym in my house and put a stair-climber in the TV room. Most people don’t know this, but on the final Sunday of the 2000 Masters I had to go out early to finish my third round before playing the final round. Boris and I met at 5:45 a.m. to spend a half hour in the gym getting warm and loose. I played twenty-two holes that day and wound up winning the tournament, which gives you some idea of how important fitness had become to me and my game. That’s an extreme situation, but whether you’re a weekend golfer, an aspiring junior player, or just someone who’s trying to get better, working out can help you, too. You can’t hire Boris, like I did, but he has put everything he knows about exercise for golfers into this book, which is almost sure to help. Although Boris has moved back to Sweden, I continue to work out harder than ever and I never miss a day. In fact, when I’m at home I often work out twice a day—in the morning before practice and then again afterward. Last year, at the age of forty, I won four times on the PGA Tour, recorded eighteen top ten finishes, and ended up first on the money list, so I think it’s safe to say that adding physical fitness to my golf routine has certainly worked out for me. I’m sure it can help you, too.

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