Do you know you will log 13,000 steps playing 18 holes of golf and leaving the cart at the clubhouse?

Think of the health benefits you’ll get walking the course – and the same will go for your dad if you take him golfing as a Father’s Day present.

The American College of Sports Medicine and other health and fitness groups recommend walking at least 10,000 steps a day to help your heart and control weight. Those number of steps serve as the premise for The Step Diet, a book written by Dr. James Hill, an exercise expert at the University of Colorado.

'Enjoyable way'

And from Hill’s university comes a study that shows golfers averaged more than 13,000 steps in walking to play 18 holes, and even those using carts logged more than 6,000 steps. Golfers who walked the course weighed about 8.5 pounds than players who used carts.

“This illustrates an enjoyable way to get the health benefits of walking,” said Cristina Sanders, the study’s lead researcher. “Some people play golf for 40 or 50 years, and it can be quite beneficial.

“We had expected that golfers using a cart might take one-quarter as many steps as those who walked the course.  We were surprised to find that, depending on the course, cart users logged up to half as many steps.”

However, regardless of whether you walk the course or take a cart, you may risk injury if you don’t warm up first before teeing off. Unfortunately, few golfers perform appropriate warm-ups that may prevent injuries, sports-medicine experts say.

For example, more than a third of the golfers in a recent study suffered injuries to their shoulders, elbows or lower backs – largely because they didn’t warm-up before beginning play, according to the sports medicine organization.

Strains and stiffness

Injuries occur to golfers of all ages and ability levels, and can significantly affect their golf game and daily life. By far, strains are the most commonly reported type of injury, followed by stiffness, inflammation, tendonitis, sprains, pinched nerves, fractures, heel spurs, cuts and bruises, or dislocations.

According to sports-medicine experts, a full warm-up should include:

•  Aerobic exercise to increase muscle temperature;

•  Sport-specific stretching, including stretching the shoulder, trunk, chest, lower back, hamstrings, forearms, and wrists;

•  Activity similar to the event, starting slowly and building in intensity. For golf, this might consist of air swings involving the club but not the ball.

Only three percent of golfers surveyed regularly performed two or more of the components, leaving them vulnerable to injury, sports-medicine experts say

More experienced players—who play more often—tended to sustain more back injuries, while those with higher handicaps suffered more injuries to their hips, elbows and knees due to poor swing mechanics, the experts say.

Older golfers are likely to sustain more groin injuries due to a decrease in hip strength, and more knee and foot injuries due to degeneration of those joints, according to the experts.

More women golfers .  .  .

Since 1986, according to the National Golf Foundation, the number of women playing golf has risen 11 percent, from 4.6 million to 5.1 million. And of the 7 million non-golfers who identified themselves as being highly interested in golf, 60 percent were women.

While women comprise only 22 percent of the golfer population, they account for 39 percent of beginning golfers.

Check these out: 

•  Get in Swing Without Tendon Pain

•  Foot Pain Ruining Your Swing?

•  10 Tips for Avoiding Exercise Injury

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Source: American College of Sports Medicine

This summary by Nubella News, a division of Marketing Technology Solutions, Inc., is a snapshot of larger, more detailed studies and/or research projects. We encourage readers to do additional research into the topics addressed in each article. Nubella News does not offer medical advice. We recommend readers ask their doctors or other medical professionals for advice and guidance pertaining to our articles.