Exercises for the Elder Statesman duffer
By BILL DUNCAN
Elder Statesman July 2006
The late Jeff MacNelly’s cartoon strip "Shoe" has always interested me as a reader mainly because his main character, the wise old owl, is a newspaper editor who’s desk is piled higher than mine. He also often captured the game of golf with about the same viewpoint as I have or as Mark Twain called it "a good walk spoiled."
I have saved one of Jeff’s cartoons that has the old owl struggling on the golf course. His caddie says to him: "Why play this stupid game?" Shoe replies: "Because golf is a great way to relax." The final panel shows a pile of twisted golf clubs and a frustrated Shoe screaming: "That’s Why!"
Admittedly, I am not a golfer, but I have three sons who are. I have often wondered why they are so intense over a game that is supposed to be fun. I reckon it must be the exercise they get following the ball for 18 holes.
The other day, Hatherleigh Press sent me a book written by Paul Frediani that reaffirms that exercise theory. The book "Golf Flex: The Complete Workout," contains flexibility and strength conditioning exercises recommended for the golfer before he takes a swing.
Forget playing golf, Frediani’s book is generously illustrated with ways to limber up whether you are swinging a club or not. I benefited from some of the tips, that Frediani, a fitness expert, offered in "Golf Flex."
Stretching before any exercise is probably more important than the exercise itself. It certainly takes the soreness out of moving muscles.
Frediani believes that in just ten minutes a day, doing his designed stretches and flexes he can improve the golfer’s game. "The simple, easy-to-follow plan," he said, "is specifically designed to prepare, warm-up and strengthen the muscles used in golf."
Interestingly, Frediani has included a DVD illustrating the complete workout for those who purchase his book. He said the book and the DVD will give readers an advantage on the links by increasing the power and range of their motion.
The book, including the DVD, sells for $19.95 in paperback. For more information, readers can go to www.getfitnow.com or call (800) 528-2550.
Frediani has written a whole range of fitness books, including the intriguing volume called, "The Boot Camp Workout." Been there, done them, couldn’t do them now if I tried.
However, I wonder at my age, if he could really make me the next Tiger Woods. I’d settle for just being a spry old Elder Statesman duffer.
(Bill Duncan is editor of The Senior Times)