PGATour Player Fitness Programs

PGATour player fitness programs are part of the show at every tournament. At each PGA Tour event, there are two 50-foot fitness trailers parked near the range. Together, the trailers provide about 1,600 square feet of space; half to physiotherapy, rehab and injury prevention; the other half to exercise and weight training. It's smart business, since the Tour has a health plan for its members and the players are the one asset that draws the fans.

The trailers open ninety minutes before the first tee time and close after dark. Players take full advantage of these facilities now, keeping up their fitness routines to stay tournament ready year round.

Gary Player was the first pro to make PGATour player fitness programs a factor in North America.

Tiger Woods made these trailers popular. When he first appeared on tour in 1997, he would be one of the few in there working out. Tiger's success has made believers out of many on Tour as fitness has become so closely linked with competitive results and financial gain on and off the course.

Tiger Woods Golf Fitness - Details

• Tiger works out 5-6 days per week, even while on Tour
• Kleven alternates Tiger's workouts between different routines to permit him to keep active over extended periods
• Kleven's program consists of two components: Manual Therapy and Weight Training
• Manual Therapy: extensive stretching (30-40) minutes before each workout, manipulation/mobilization of Tiger's muscles and joints to maintain flexibility
• Weight Training: high reps (25 - 50) with relatively low weight to focus on balance, control, endurance and speed in the muscles.
• Tiger works to improve his whole body, but emphasizes the back and shoulders
• Interesting quote from Tiger, describing his emphasis on reps rather than bulk when lifting weights: "I've never, ever hurt myself lifting.....I don't even know what that feels like. I've been sore, but I've always been able to function and do whatever I wanted to. A lot of people have had injuries or been so sore they can't do anything. I've never experienced that."
• Woods enhances his weight training with extensive core training, including situps and exercise ball work.
• During high school, Tiger ran the 400 meters and cross country, which he maintains, mixing 3 mile "speed" runs with 7 mile "endurance" runs.
• Sound nutrition is also fundamental: no junk food, period; low fat; with supplements Nutriex and Ortho-Bone products to support the strict diet.

The workouts are having an obvious affect. Woods is visibly "bigger" now than he was when he started on Tour. In 1996, Tiger weighed !58 lbs. and stood 6' 2". He now weighs between 180-185. His upper body, especially the shoulders show the gains the most, although the article states that his legs are also much bigger.

Kleven's fitness philosophy focuses on posture and physical symmetry. He says, "I've always tried to maintain a perfect state of posture for both his upper and lower quarters. Power with speed, combined with making sure both sides of his body are balanced and symmetrical."

The article brings up a great point; there is no off-season in golf anymore. So, Tiger's program adapts to this reality by keeping him in what he calls a, "..continuous maintenance phase." This is very insightful. PGATour player fitness is not simply about hitting the ball farther off the tee. It's about sustaining physical and mental performance throughout a season.

Physical workouts improve mental fitness for golf as well. The ability to sustain a high level of play under the pressure of tournament golf is critical to success in the game. Four rounds of golf confront a player with tough, stressful game situations. Short putts, tight fairways, and long carries over water can exhaust a player both mentally and physically over a long season.

Vijay Singh's Fitness Regimen

Vijay is on the staff of Cleveland Golf, who sponsor and supply him with golf equipment. Joey Diovisalvi is Vijay's strength and conditioning coach. On Clevelandgolf.com, the company website, there is an excellent section on Human Performance. A short video is backed up with exercise descriptions that show the intensity of Singh's stretching, agility and core training program.

In the video, Vijay works out on the beach in Florida, where Joey has laid out a rope ladder flat on the packed sand.

• lateral throws with a 5 and 10-lb medicine ball, Vijay lying with his lower back against a 75cm fitness ball while he played catch with his trainer. Extremely good workout for his core area.
• playing catch with his trainer, throwing the 10-lb ball about 15 feet while rotating his torso in a rotational golf swing-like movement.
• doing push ups with hands on a 75cm fitness ball, with feet on the ground for core strength
• movement strength: using hurdles, rope ladders and resistance bands and medicine balls. Jumping sideways(jumping jacks) both left and right for 30 feet in both directions along the length of the rope ladder; to improve agility
• high stepping over low hurdles (about 1 ft high) for repeated lengths of the 30 ft path
• resistance bands of about 8 ft in length. Joey and Vijay pulling against one another. The exercise helps the ability to turn through the torso through the golf swing, develops power through impact and works the whole body. Vijay would stand directly opposite the trainer, knees slightly bend a feet apart in the swing address position and pull the stretch bands straight back in one exercise, then back up over his head in another series.
• another killer drill using the 10 lb medicine ball was to hold the ball directly over the head and pull the hands straight down in order to bounce the ball off the sand directly in front of Vijay in a "bounce" pass to his trainer.
• the rotational exercises with medicine balls were done at the same tempo Vijay uses in his actual golf swing. The workout matched the golf movements with the focus on building strength, flexibility and stamina.

The impact of this routine on Vijay's play has been powerful. He was ranked number one on Tour in 2004 and has 16 victories on tour in his forties.

This workout looked intense. Vijay is a big man and he worked hard. The video and accompanying text are a great illustration of the effort and dedication the pros exert to achieve PGATour player fitness excellence. I invite you to go there and see for yourself. It is very well done!

Return from PGATour Player Fitness Programs to Home Page

Return to Golf Fitness