PGA Tour Survey, 2010

09-03-2010

It has been an eventful year so far in professional golf. The events are probably not what the organizers, executives and sponsors of the PGA tour had in mind (while over on the LPGA tour, the excitement is relatively muted in comparison). The biggest piece of news, of course, is the drama-filled absence of the world's top golfer, Tiger Woods. Around this story, which has been reported devotedly, sub-plots spin off like episodes in a TV serial. What did Stevie Williams say about Tiger? Will Phil Mickelson ever find a challenge worth living up to on the golf course? What did Butch Harmon say? Was legend Tom Watson in or out of place when he suggested that Woods show more respect for the game? Nicklaus? Barack Obama? Nearly everyone has an opinion.

Meanwhile, out on the golf course(s), the developments have been intriguing. Young players such as Camillo Villegas and Dustin Johnson are impressing the golf literati with very solid performances. The compact phenom Anthony Kim looks on the verge of realizing his astonishing potential, Ryan Moore is a factor, and rookies such as Washington Huskie Alex Prugh are making their marks. Solid and colorful veterans such as Paul 'Sunshine' Goydos, one of the most erudite of quipsters, provide great stories of pluck and intelligence as they match up against the 'kids' and their routine 320 yard drives and massive irons.

The Florida Swing is in full, well, swing, as the flowers bloom in the flat state stocked with golf courses, strip malls and housing developments featuring flamingos, herons and alligators. Villegas won the Honda Classic easily, while Arnold Palmer's grandson Sam Saunders illustrated a few of the benefits of having a king as your coach. Saunders is another to watch. Doral beckons, traditionally a favorite course of both Woods and Mickelson. Nobody can quite figure out Phil the Thrill's lackluster start to the year; after all, the absence of his arch-rival should have sparked his golfing engines. It appears to have done the opposite.

As the Masters approaches, with its green coats, immaculate fairways, beautiful blossoms and fierce gallery rules amid the Augusta majesty, speculation abounds about Woods' future. Will he return for Palmer's Bay Hill tournament near Orlando? Will he be back for the Masters?

Over on the LPGA tour, the post-Sorenstam era is moving along nicely. The Asian dominance of the PGA is becoming an established fact, with Japanese Ai Miyazato joining the legions of superb Korean players setting down a new standard of consistency. Young stars such as Michelle Wie are coming into their own, while Paula Creamer struggles with a debilitating hand injury. The LPGA events provide interest as well in that the average recreational player can better relate to the distances and shots indicated; the booming belters of the PGA create distances that the club golfer can barely fathom.

Golf is a game with challenges and stories and lessons for all of us. Visit our Golf Page at UptoFitness (your current location) for more on the game's physical and mental challenges!

Andre Agassi's Tennis Mind

28-02-2010

Andre Agassi learned tennis from a boxer, Mike Agassi, and from Nick Bolletierri, another very directed and intense individual. Bolletierri, who can be fairly described as a strategic tennis genius, has taken generations of raw or semi-formed tennis talents and helped to shape them into court predators with very efficient attacking baseline games.

Andre was prepped for life in the Florida academies - and the tour - with intense sessions at home in Las Vegas. The story goes that Agassi learned his machine-gun ground strokes as a byproduct of standing near the service line and returning thousands of balls fired out of a tennis ball machine. The work clearly improved Andre's reflexes. There is a powerful lesson here, for we are often told that coordination and reflexes are purely a divine gift. In fact, they can be jumpstarted by rivers of focused work.

While Andre's relationships with both father Mike and Bolletierri almost certainly suffered from the intensity of both men, his tennis future was nearly guaranteed. And while Andre wavered in his commitment to his pro career for at least two-thirds of its course, the foundation he had proved critical.

Andre was also blessed with something as powerful as cannon groundstrokes trained to half-volley fuzzy yellow bullets. That something was a tennis mind which could calculate dynamic events on court and the value of adjusting a particular tactical approach. Like Roger Federer, Agassi was blessed with the habit of watching the ball into his strings; this the product in part of learning to play the desert winds.

When it came to tactics and strategy, Andre was almost always efficient and sometimes brilliant. He incorporated the basics of crosscourt play and of reserving attempted winners for the right moment. He had full confidence in his groundstrokes, for good reason. If Agassi did prepare to strike a winner, he was often inside the court. This was yet another lesson from his youth - dog the baseline, take the ball early and cut down the opponent's time.

Yet Andre's game truly blossomed after he met Gil Reyes, who inspired him and set him on a profoundly beneficial fitness path. Until Reyes' ideas and training transformed Agassi's fitness, he could not really apply the gifts, skills and tactical wisdom learned in his youth.

Once the 'new' Agassi was created, he did play like a boxer - the kind that closes in on a stronger opponent and pummels him with body blows until he tires. He played to weary and break the spirits of opponents with punishing rallies, even foregoing available winners for the accruing benefits.

Both Brad Gilbert and Darren Cahill added to the Agassi mental arsenal, but make no mistake - the Agassi tennis knowledge was immense and his evolution traceable. That Andre paid a personal price for his greatness is now clear; from this too we can all take lessons. That what we were watching was far more than a prodigy is also in sharp, retrospective profile.

Getting Fitness Right: Our Purpose

Thanks for dropping by UptoFitness. We believe that fitness is an important component of your daily life and well-being. It boosts energy and purpose and ratchets up contentment levels.

Ours is a no-nonsense fitness site with a different approach. We provide you with a toolkit to pursue your unique fitness path. The tools inside are a combination of information, fitness and nutritional philosophy, suggestions and encouragement.

Use this kit to assemble the right mixture to achieve your fitness goals. The path that you set depends on current fitness profile, athletic ambitions, energy and time. Design a workout progression with specific metrics, goals and ambitions in mind. After that, it's up to you. Make your workouts varied and purposeful, and the rewards will come.

We do not have a magical solution to your fitness quest. Everyone is different. People have unique bodies and physiology - all human physiology is complex and fragile. It is also amazingly sturdy and resilient.

Which brings us to the main point. At UptoFitness, we believe that nearly every fitness-seeker has far more potential than realized. We think that you have the ability to get honed, buffed and toned - and become the athlete of your dreams.

If you are among those that are convinced that they have no athletic inclinations, pursuing a steady, well-planned fitness program may surprise you. Increasing speed and stamina and improving coordination are all possible. Following specific exercises and executing movements that mimic common moves of your sport CAN make you better.

Our goal is to provide clear, practical ideas that inspire you to create lasting personal fitness based on reason, planning and autonomy. Remember that whatever fitness program you embark upon, it is always subject to tweaks and adjustments. You are in charge. You set the path.

Makes sense, right? After all, you'll be the one treading its surface.

The Value of Fitness

Being fit is important, valuable and fashionable. Getting fit enhances body and mind and supplies you with new energy reserves. We think the first two are what should count.

Good fitness is also a foundation for life's challenges, providing you with confidence, energy and purpose. Fitness not only describes the state of one's body and measures its health. Being fit feels good and provokes positive thought and actions.

Having a strong, sound body IS important for overall health. Truly intelligent workouts revolve around a sympathetic attitude towards your body and self. Fill them with content and purpose, and see the results come. Use common sense when it comes to nutrition, and energy and enthusiasm for workouts will benefit.

While the ancient Greeks believed that the body was a temple, you don't need to worship your physical self. There are additional factors in a sense of well-being, but fitness does play a key role. Pursuing it intelligently provides positive feedback to keep you going.

You will be stronger, leaner and more energetic. Everything will look better as a sense of physical well-being migrates into more areas of your life. Adherence to a smart fitness workout plan is work well spent.

Building Your Fitness Plan

What is your priority and emphasis in pursuing a fitness course? Do you want more energy and generally better health? Logic suggests you plan a general exercise and nutrition program that builds strength, cardiovascular level and stamina.

If you are an athlete chasing superior performance, evaluate your current fitness state and your actual nutritional habits. Measure your current speed, strength and stamina levels with the help of a personal trainer. Use these metrics as baselines for change.

Different pursuits require different programs and emphases. Set out a personal fitness plan in stages, and break major segments into minor ones. Correlate those to individual workouts. For instance, shape a workout to focus on speed or strength. Remember, fitness training is personal, so customize and tweak it to your benefit.

Take runners: if you are a sprinter, customize a program that combines strength with speed and coordination exercises. A long-distance runner or rower gains the most benefit from a program that emphasizes endurance training. Endurance is stressed - but not at the exclusion of stability, strength or speed components.

Tennis players profit from speed, strength and stamina work, and from core work via pilates and related exercises. Whether you are a genius like Roger Federer or a weekend warrior, you gain from a methodical workout plan that highlights physical attributes and skills critical to good tennis. Golfers have their own unique demands and strains on different parts of the body. Flexibility and strength are critical to good, consistent linkmanship.

Learn the value of stretching and warmups. Stretching, often thought a prerequisite to a vigorous workout, is most valuable at its conclusion or when you are fully warm. The warmup itself should be simple, and might consist of walking a treadmill or light jogging for five to ten minutes.

Listen to your body. Pay attention to its moods and rhythms. When you are energetic and focused, exploit this happy combination. If you are tired and distracted, go easy and go light. Don't try to squeeze water from a stone.

Build a personal fitness training program that integrates skills and attributes compatible with better performance in your sport. Stay open-minded, and tweak fitness philosophy to keep it fresh. Google 'fitness' and related keywords and phrases when your routine goes stale.

NOTE: Before getting strenuous, consult a doctor. Make sure you are ready for the physical demands of a full workout schedule.

Nutrition: A Team Player

Nutrition is often associated with dietary deprivation. It should not be. Nutrition is not only a critical component of health to be treated with reverence; it is also an essential aspect of building and maintaining a solid fitness profile.

Good nutrition will likely imply reducing caloric intake from current levels, but that should not be your focus. Learning to live by a balanced diet, one high in nutrients and low in inflammation-causing foods, is a positive decision.

Solid nutrition has its own rationale and justification. It is not about losing weight per se. Switching to a vegetable and fruit-oriented diet and working out consistently will naturally provoke weight loss.

If you are committed to being fitter, healthier eating habits will become second nature and you will become addicted to good nutrition. Should you fall back into bad eating habits, the negative impact on your fitness should spur corrective table action. Be smart about nutrition and life.

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