On Par: For Spring Success, a Winter Fitness Regimen

The New York Times—September 6, 2009

This is the last On Par golf feature of the year. As a service to our Monday golf community, I'm going to advise all to use the coming winter - the off-season for the geographically challenged - to start a golf-specific fitness program or to integrate a modest one into your exercise regimen. Such a program primarily enhances the flexibility in your hips, back and shoulders, adds strength to your core and improves your balance.

As Dr. Vijay Vad, a sports medicine specialist at Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, said: “We're all living longer and people don't want to retire and sit on the couch. They know the importance of aerobic exercise, but unless they tune up their muscular-skeletal system, things often break down playing something like golf. So then they will play less, be in more pain afterward and score higher, too.”

There are a lot of ways to get started with a golf-specific exercise program. Two years ago, Vad wrote “Golf Rx,” which promotes a 15-minutes-a-day regimen.

Read the full story at nytimes.com.