[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

When you post something you hear on the news,
most readers probably assume that you agree with the information.

Well, I do agree with the information! But I doubt that golf is the only way to relax and enjoy life.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

Well, I do agree with the information! But I doubt that golf is the only way to relax and enjoy life.

Everything causes something in something. Have a good life taking chances, or live in a capsule.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

Village PL
I think the majority of people think that a little golf will help us age healthily.

However I'm surprised you haven't mentioned pickle ball ...
I hear it's responsible for a lot of falls, when played by novices,
but that may be rumor.

Someone in The Villages fell backward while playing pickleball and died. You don't realize how hard the concrete is until you fall down on it. I fell down on my side but was lucky because I just got up and kept playing. Concrete is very unforgiving.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Everything causes something in something. Have a good life taking chances, or live in a capsule.

I did take lots of chances in my lifetime. I fell down playing pickleball and baseball. In baseball, I fell backward, hitting my head on the ground and got knocked out for a few seconds. On other occasions I injured my shoulder and both thumbs. I wrecked a couple of cars and a motorcycle.

Taking chances and getting injured stops being fun after a while. Although, on April 30th, I rode a skateboard in Walmart, just for the fun of it.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

I did take lots of chances in my lifetime. I fell down playing pickleball and baseball. In baseball, I fell backward, hitting my head on the ground and got knocked out for a few seconds. On other occasions I injured my shoulder and both thumbs. I wrecked a couple of cars and a motorcycle.

Taking chances and getting injured stops being fun after a while. Although, on April 30th, I rode a skateboard in Walmart, just for the fun of it.

I guess you are making my point, in a way. You rode a skateboard in Walmart for the fun of it. You could have fallen off of it and hurt yourself. You took the chance, had fun and didn't get hurt... A choice you made.

Some things enrich one's life so much you take the chance, mitigating the risks as much as possible. (I don't put riding a skateboard in that category, but to each his own!) Otherwise you sit in a chair for the rest of your life.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

..... I heard a doctor talking about it on the news. It doesn't mean that everyone will get a back injury from playing golf. It just means you will raise your risk for getting a back injury. And I assume the risk increases as we age.

Originally Posted by Mudder

Any movement can put you at risk for back problems so why worry about it? Relax, enjoy life, VillagePL.

Originally Posted by Villages PL

\It seems I can't report what I heard on the news without someone thinking that I'm not relaxing or not enjoying life.

It sometimes seems that you do worry a lot, VP, and keep warning us about bogeymen in the closet.
As Mudder said, we just want you to relax and enjoy your retirement.
I think that golf has a lot of health benefits including fresh air and walking,
and it's one activity that people can do, even with limited dexterity.
My next door neighbor golfs at the age of 92, bless him.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by justjim

Probably no golfer was more fit than Tiger Woods and he has back issues and leg issues. Experts of the game (including Jack Nickalas) believe that the length of golf courses and the lively golf ball may have something to do with the injuries plaguing professional golfers today.

No doubt there appears to be more and more injuries even though today's professional is more fit than those of previous years.

There are ways to swing the golf club that will better protect a golfer but you won't be driving the ball 300 plus yards and that could seriously make you less competitive.

We have not heard the last of these issues.

I have wondered if Tiger's new swing while working with Sean Foley has hurt his back. A certain type of swing is harder on the back then others. I don't know Foley's methods but if he adheres to certain principles he may have contributed to Tiger's problems. Tiger also works out like a mad man. I know people that have been in the gym with him and they say it's simply unbelievable. While you would think that this is good, if certain muscles get too strong they can twist the back in ways that it's not meant to be twisted.
I think that Jack also has a point about how hard some of these guys swing, but then again, sweet swinging Freddie Couple had back problems as well. Freddie's swing should not cause him any problems but it has. Sometimes you just have the wrong genes.
As for myself, I believe that my physical problems came from the fact that I didn't do the things off the golf course like stretching and strengthening that should have been doing. I was very busy running a golf course and when I had the opportunity to play, it was just jump onto the first tee and go. I'd also not play or practice for long periods and then realize that I had a tournament coming up and go out and hit 500 balls or so and spend several hour chipping and putting the day before. Not good after a period of inactivity.
But, backs are funny things. Some people just have problems and I don't think that anyone really knows why. As has been pointed out many professional athletes in excellent physical condition have discs pop out on them. I know overweight, out of shape people that play golf and have no back issues.

[DougB]

Originally Posted by CFrance

?... Some things enrich one's life so much you take the chance, mitigating the risks as much as possible. (I don't put riding a skateboard in that category, but to each his own!) Otherwise you sit in a chair for the rest of your life.

A would-be client went to a personal injury law firm looking for legal representation. But after the man was injured when the chair he was sitting in at the law firm collapsed he sought damages against the law firm for the injuries that he suffered from the chair.
The man took the premises liability case to court and won a $2.2 million jury verdict. The law firm was liable for one-third of the man's total damages award and the retailer that sold the chair was liable for two-thirds.

[2BNTV]

If a survey indicated having sex, would be bad for you, wiould you give it up????

Seriously, everything in life invovles risk. You can't live your life, in fear.

Use it, or lose it.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

There was some talk about Tiger Woods having a back problem and I heard a doctor talking about it on the news. He said it's not that uncommon for golfers to injure their back because the golf swing is not natural. I think he means it twists the back in ways that are unnatural. Throughout most of history, man did not swing a golf club, so we are not designed for it.

It doesn't mean that everyone will get a back injury from playing golf. It just means you will raise your risk for getting a back injury. And I assume the risk increases as we age.

That may well be the case for "some", but here is a truly inspirational story about a young golfer.....and her journey prior to playing golf......and out of all the sports, it turned out that golf was the easiest on her body. Plus, I would add that her passion for the sport, no doubt helps her immune system.

Kristy McPherson is a professional golfer who was diagnosed with systemic-onset juvenile arthritis at age 11. She is currently playing on the LPGA Tour. She has said she took up golf because after being diagnosed, she was no longer able to play sports that involved running and jumping -

Diagnosed with juvenile theumatoid arthritis as a child, Kristy is an inspiration to those who suffer from it and serves on the board of directors of the Arthritis National Research Foundation.

When just 11 years old, Kristy McPherson came home from school one day and felt something in the back of her leg pop. She then developed a rash on her body and in her throat.

"It all happened very fast," the 32-year-old pro golfer says. "One day I was fine and the next, I couldn’t walk. My body felt as if I had aged 50 years overnight, and all I wanted was to be a kid and go outside and play."

Finding medical answers for her problem wasn’t easy, because joint pain can stem from many conditions, including fractures, infections, congenital defects and arthritis. It took doctors 5-1/2 years to diagnose McPherson with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). The verdict left her reeling.

"My doctors told me I probably wouldn’t be able to play any sport that required running or jumping," says McPherson, a South Carolina native. "Until that day, I had played every sport possible, and it was hard to imagine [an inactive] future."

McPherson, who suffered from severe pain and stiffness, was hospitalized for three months and home-schooled for the rest of sixth grade, as she learned how to walk again.

"It took a few days before the initial flare-up got under control," McPherson says. "The whole 11-1/2 months afterward was pretty painful, but the first 5-1/2 months was the worst until they got me on the right prescription drugs to help the pain."

Still unable to participate in softball and basketball, her dad would carry her to a local golf course so she could ride in the golf cart and watch him play, McPherson recalls.

McPherson then started playing golf seriously her freshman year in high school.

"I had played golf since I was 8, but played other sports too," she says. "Golf was my least favorite of all the sports – but after getting RA, it was the easiest on my body and I discovered a great passion for the game."

McPherson’s skills on the golf course led to a scholarship at the University of South Carolina, and then a spot on the Futures Tour, the training league for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

McPherson, now celebrating her seventh year on the LPGA tour, is a fierce competitor and refuses to rheumatoid arthritis hold her back. She played on the team that won the Solheim Cup tournament in 2009 and appeared on the Golf Channel’s reality show "The Big Break VI."



　


　








　

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by pooh

Could be true for some, especially those who are constantly at the driving range or the course, but I know a number of people with back difficulties and they play golf with no increase in pain or problems. They have been given lessons that help them swing their golf clubs with accommodations for their difficulties.

Many sport activities put us at risk of injury....tennis, pickleball, running, baseball, cycling to name a few. Are you advocating that we give up sports or just be careful....

It depends on the individual's age and physical condition.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

This is news? I had a 35 year career as a PGA golf professional. I have had three back operations, two shoulder surgeries and a knee surgery.

Golf is very hard on the body and the back. Golfers have been having back problems since 1300.

A lot of people don't realize what it takes to play golf at a high level. The average golfer going out using mostly his arms and shoulders to hit a ball 175 yards or so doesn't experience the same problems that better golfers, who used all of their muscles and hit 500-1000 balls a day. Playing good golf is a very physically strenuous activity.

Thanks for adding some of your experience as a golf professional. However, I would like to add this: We're talking about elderly people in The Villages, some of whom may have various degrees of bone thinning. Some may have osteoporosis of the spine and not even be aware of it if they haven't been tested. 175 yards would be nothing for a pro golfer but it could be the straw that breaks the camels back for an elderly golfer who has undiagnosed bone thinning. I think it could even be possible to break a hip.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

If a survey indicated having sex, would be bad for you, wiould you give it up????

Seriously, everything in life invovles risk. You can't live your life, in fear.

Use it, or lose it.

Everything in life involves risk but we can try to prudently lower the risk whenever possible while still enjoying ourselves. We might choose to enjoy ourselves less robustly. Remember, we're not getting any younger. At some point that reality will set in.

[Mudder]

I'd rather break my hip actually playing golf instead of sitting in a chair thinking I might break my hip if I play golf. I'm willing to put up with the ever present pains I have after playing my sports and at 74 I NEVER think of myself as elderly. In today's world(especially in The Villages), elderly is only a figment of imagination!

[Barefoot]

Sorry VP, I didn't think I was questioning your integrity.
I just think golf is a great game for all ages.
I promise I won't comment on your threads any more.