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All golfers want to improve their swing, and as a
result, lower their score. But often, despite numerous
golf instruction videos, lessons with pros and time on
the range, they are still far away from reaching their
goals. Maybe that is because golfers are thinking about
the process of improvement incorrectly? Maybe achieving
a repeatable swing and staying calm under pressure is
not all about time on the range or on the course, but
the manner in which you care for your body and mind
because that is the foundation of a great golf game. The
goal of The Healthy Golfer is to provide you with
information that will help engage all of your senses on
the course so you can enjoy the game as much as possible
for your entire life. In fact, this book is intended to
be a complement to swing-based golf instruction as it
provides a platform to build a solid golf game from the
ground up, starting with your feet and concluding with a
discussion of brain function. There is a void in golf
literature when it comes to discussing how the body and
mind impact one’s ability to enjoy time on the course
while playing to one’s maximum potential. You will not
find illustrations, photos and diagrams showing you
where to place your hands or feet, where to set the club
in the backswing, or the ideal swing plane. Instead, The
Healthy Golfer takes a whole new look at the sport by
focusing on critical aspects of human performance, such
as diet, stress, muscle imbalance, the brain, and
injury. These are neglected areas of concern for almost
all golfers, regardless of age or handicap. Below are
some of the key topics in The Healthy Golfer. Why your
feet, and footwear choices, are so important. The feet
are the foundation for all of your body movements and,
obviously, provide the only connection between you and
the ground when you are golfing. Practicing barefoot,
and wearing minimalist golf footwear, allows your body
to function naturally, while improving tempo, and
providing amazing benefits in terms of balance and
awareness. Developing endurance. Golf is a game of
endurance. As an essential foundation of fitness it is a
requirement for lower scores. It means building the
physical and metabolic body to help accomplish several
important tasks: it prevents injury and maintains a
balanced mechanical body; it increases fat burning for
improved stamina, weight loss and sustained energy; and
it promotes virtually all other aspects of health and
fitness including optimal muscle function. Eat well and
hydrate properly. Specific foods are discussed in this
book that can influence your game and energy more than
you can imagine. Food can immediately affect your score,
especially those consumed before and during the round.
Proper hydration, not too little or too much, is also
important. In addition, foods play a key role in
controlling the body’s inflammatory hormones—important
to prevent many injuries, chronic disease, and help you
recover from a round or a weekend of golf. Manage
physical, chemical and mental stress hormones. Imbalance
of these hormones can arise from the accumulation of
everyday tensions. Stress adversely affects performance,
contributes to illness or injuries and affects your
biomechanics. You can control stress more than you
think. Improving brain function. The brain is the most
neglected and important part of playing better golf. It
controls your entire physical and mental game, and a
healthier brain produces lower scores. A better brain is
the result of eating well, managing stress hormones,
proper sleep, and adequate stimulation. The Healthy
Golfer, as you will see, is not the kind of golf
instruction book that you have seen in the past, because
my expertise has not been in golf instruction but in
helping the human body achieve maximum performance. It
will be impossible for you to reach your full potential
on the course if you are not healthy in body and mind.
—Dr. Philip Maffetone
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