Lightning in a Bottle

I'm going to talk about why Tiger's play seems a bit more erratic than most fans expect, but let's take a moment to appreciate what he did Saturday.

Tiger set at least two personal records. The 30 he shot on his first nine was the best nine he's ever shot by two strokes, and the 65 he shot is his best-ever round at THE PLAYERS.

Think about that, folks. A year ago Tiger wasn't even sure he'd ever be able to play, and yet Saturday he played a round that was better than anything the "Unbeatable Tiger" of the early 2000s was able to do. That's pretty special.



But it's that kind of special performance that makes fans wonder why Tiger is so erratic. Why does his game seem to be so hit-and-miss?

In one of my posts I said I didn't expect Tiger to really start winning for maybe 18 to 24 months. The reason -- and it's a reason that affects all kinds of athletes who have surgeries that affect their spine -- is how nerves heal.

I don't mean nerves as in a player's mental state. I mean the physical neural pathways that let the brain tell the muscles what to do.

Tiger mentioned early on that some of the players who had gone through back surgery told him that it had taken as much as two years before they felt "right." When Colts quarterback Payton Manning had neck surgery, it took the better part of two years for him to return to the field. And, as it turns out, there's a medical reason for that.

While doctors can predict how quickly muscles and bones will heal, they can't do the same with nerves. The pure and simple fact is that nerves are somewhat magical in their behavior. What western medicine describes as electrical impulses traveling through bundles of nerve fibers as they leap little gaps called synapses, eastern medicine describes as a mystical force called chi that flows through meridians or channels throughout the body. When you see those Chinese martial arts movies where masters battle each other with energy bursts, they're flinging chi at each other.

That may sound hokey to western ears, but the chi explanation leads to results that even western doctors have trouble arguing against. Nerves resist easy explanations because nerves march to their own drumbeat.

Here's some info from two different websites, this one on how nerves heal and this one on recovery from surgery. Let me give you a quick and simplified summary, snagged from that first site.

Regeneration time depends on how seriously your nerve was injured and the type of injury that you sustained. If your nerve is bruised or traumatized but is not cut, it should recover over 6-12 weeks. A nerve that is cut will grow at 1mm per day, after about a 4 week period of ‘rest’ following your injury. Some people notice continued improvement over many months.

Sensory nerves are more resilient than motor nerves and can recover sensation months or years after injury.

Motor nerves have a time limit for healing. The reason for this is a structure called the ‘motor endplate’, where the nerve joins into the muscle. If the motor endplate receives no nerve impulse for more than 18-24 months, it dies away and there is no longer any way that the muscle can be activated by the nerve. The muscle then whithers away. Thus surgical repair of motor nerves needs to happen within 12-18 months of the injury.

Now bear in mind that this is info on nerve healing in general, not nerve healing specific to athletes. A normal person who doesn't push his or her body to extremes on a daily basis will "feel normal" sooner than an athlete, simply because the demands on the nervous system are different.

But note that damaged nerves grow very, very slowly and that sensory nerves -- the nerves that give Tiger the "feels" he's been trying to relearn -- can take much longer to recover than the motor nerves that control the muscles. In a worse case scenario, the motor control can take up to two years to return (if it doesn't return by then, it probably won't return at all) but the sensory nerves can't even be predicted that THAT accurately.

That's probably the source of Tiger's erratic performance. While the motor activity in his muscles seems to be recovering quite quickly, the sensory nerves are taking their own sweet time. He feels a number of different things when he swings, and different groups of nerves function at different levels of consistency. Some days it's more hit-and-miss, while other days give him a more complete overall performance.

And then there are days like Saturday, where they all got their act together at the same time and Tiger catches lightning in a bottle.

The fact that we're seeing this sort of thing begin to happen more frequently is a good sign. It doesn't tell us how soon Tiger will return to his old form, but it certainly indicates that it WILL happen sooner or later.

And that is very good news for the golf world... but maybe not such good news for those young guns who want to see the old Tiger in action.

Thoughts on Tiger and Lydia Ko's Problems

Though many fans worry about the swing problems Tiger and Lydia have gone through recently, their problems are neither serious nor permanent. Today I'd like to take a quick look at them.



I'll start with Tiger, simply because he just came off a Masters performance that shocked many people. If you read my "5 to Watch" post about the Masters, you know I didn't include Tiger as a favorite. To quote myself:

After some personal debate, I have decided not to include Tiger in this list. While he has improved much faster than I expected and I won't be surprised if he does win, he doesn't make my "5 to Watch" list. Why? Because I still see him making strategic errors coming down the stretch in regular events, and I suspect he's still learning how his body reacts to adrenaline after the fusion. That can only be amplified in a major, and he hasn't even teed it up in a major in two years. You have to go all the way back to the 2015 Masters just to find a major when he played the weekend!

For the record, I do expect Tiger to contend this week and I expect getting a "major rep" will help him start winning the regular tournaments soon. But I feel that he's still one, perhaps two, majors away from being a serious favorite in the big ones. So, barring any wins before the US Open, I'm targeting Carnoustie as a realistic chance for a Tiger major.

While Tiger continued to have problems with his driver -- a chronic problem during his career, and one for which he continues to try new equipment -- he himself noted that the main problem was his iron play. He simply couldn't control his distance, and that's a primary symptom of uncontrolled adrenaline. This shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone, for the exact reasons I gave in the quote above. The sheer joy of getting to tee it up in a major after so long must have played havoc with his adrenaline levels! And when he went out Friday with the potential of getting into contention... well, you know what happened.

And Tiger knows this as well. He has repeatedly said since he came back that he knows how to get into contention but, once there, he has to get the job done. But he can't do that until he gets his "feels" back. He's talking about controlling his adrenaline, pure and simple, because adrenaline changes how your body feels.

The fact that Tiger got to play the weekend should help him here. Unfortunately, the only way to learn to control your adrenaline in a major is to play more majors. But since major "feels" are more extreme than weekly event "feels," just having one major weekend under his belt should help him zero in on how his adrenaline levels affect his "new" body. I suspect we'll see more consistent performances in the regular events pretty soon. After that, it's just a matter of getting more major reps.

As for Lydia... with all the changes she's made to equipment and caddies and instructors and everything else, her problems could come from anything, right? I don't think so -- at least, not her current problems. I think most of the other changes have basically taken hold. No, the problem is much simpler yet nobody seems to have mentioned it.

Lydia has lost weight. Estimates run from ten to twenty pounds. And when you're as small as Lydia, that's a major body change.

Major enough to cause swing problems. Over the years we've seen players lose weight and then seen their games adversely affected.

I remember years ago when Joanne Carner, alias Big Momma, lost a sizable amount of weight. She never got skinny, but she was noticeably smaller. However, her game went south along with her weight. She lost her ability to consistently hit shots accurately, which was the strength of her game both as an amateur and a pro. I don't know if it was a conscious choice but she eventually gained most of her weight back.

David Duval also lost a noticeable amount of weight when he was challenging Tiger for #1, but he faced a different problem. David's game didn't suffer -- but his body did. Perhaps because the whole idea of weight training for golf was relatively new, David ended up with back problems that eventually ended his career. And he too eventually gained the weight back before he began to get better.

Why does weight loss affect a player's swing? The swing itself may not feel much different, but as arms and torso become smaller, the swing planes and angles created by those feels DO change. And then players are forced to relearn their swings, which means they're thinking more about mechanics than shotmaking, and... well, you can see how the problems begin.

Personally, Lydia looks a bit too thin to me. But whether you agree or not, she's definitely thin enough that her swing MUST have changed. Given the number of changes she's made to her swing over the past few years, I don't see this as a long-term problem. If her weight stays stable, she'll probably make the proper adjustments and get her game back on track -- although I don't know how quickly that will happen. Each case is different.

My point here is that not all swing problems the pros face stem from the kind of mechanical issues we typically blame them on. Emotional stress in one's personal life can cause inexplicable swing problems, but those problems can vanish very soon after the source of the stress vanishes.

A recent sickness can also cause problems. Jordan Spieth has been in a bit of a slump simply because it takes a while to completely recover from mono, which he had over the Christmas holidays. And Jimmy Walker's bout with lyme disease is still causing him some lingering symptoms.

The simple truth is that ANYTHING that interferes with your body's normal function can have a dramatic impact on your game. But that doesn't mean you need to make dramatic swing changes to fix it.

Sometimes you just need to give your body time to heal and adjust naturally. And that's all Tiger and Lydia need... TIME.

Lexi Sidelined Until Mid-January

In case you missed it, Lexi has withdrawn from the Diamond Resorts Invitational in January, citing that recurring wrist injury of hers. Here's the tweet (@Lexi) she sent out:

My statement on withdrawing from the 2018 @DiamondResorts Invitational ... Thank You for the invite @TheVacationDR ! pic.twitter.com/WCFgqMyfoO

— Lexi Thompson (@Lexi) December 15, 2017

I hope this isn't the start of a major problem in 2018. She was finally getting back on her game.

The Duvals Defend in FL and Sneds WDs in Jakarta

Today's post is short. First, I want to remind you that the PNC Father/Son Challenge Pro-Am airs today at 5pm ET on GC. The main event doesn't begin until tomorrow (Saturday) at 11am ET on GC with more coverage at 4pm ET on NBC. David Duval and son Nick Karavites are the defending champs.



And for those of you interested in the Indonesian Masters, which is airing live at midnight ET here in the US, you might want to know that Brandt Snedeker had to withdraw from the event after 11 holes. He was playing well in the second round but got dehydrated and had to WD for treatment. Sneds was trying to make the OWGR Top50 before the end of the year so he would qualify for the Masters, but now he'll have to find another way.

Justin Rose has just teed off as I write this and after two holes he's at -11, one shot back of Kiradech Aphibarnrat at -12. But Aphibarnrat has finished his round, so Rose has a good chance to really open up a lead before the day's over.

Of Course We Have to Talk about Tiger!

But rather than rehash old news, I'll link you to GC's article about his announced return later this year and get on with my own thoughts on the matter.



To be honest, I'm not terribly surprised that Tiger plans to tee it up at the Hero. The course is tailor-made for a test of his health and it won't require any real travel for him. And he will have incredible control over his circumstances off the course as well as on, which may be even more important for a successful return. (Remember, Louis Oosthuizen has to carry a mattress with him when he travels.)

As many of you may remember, I questioned his ambitious travel schedule so soon after his last comeback. But perhaps he learned from that little mistake. Let's hope so. If he avoids long plane flights until his back has proven it can handle short ones -- he was sore after two rounds at Torrey last year -- and sticks to domestic tourneys for a few months to be sure he knows the difference, he just might make this comeback stick.

In my opinion, listening for his back's slightest twinge and minimizing his travel for the first few months are key for him. Because I believe this very firmly -- as long as Tiger Woods has that wonderfully strategic mind of his, he can be competitive if he's physically just half of what he used to be.

And if he's patient this time, I think he'll do better than half.

Yes, It's the Tiger Swing Tweet (Video)

The reason for posting this tweet is simple -- it's great to see Tiger gradually increasing his flexibility. This isn't about when he comes back to play, but just about him getting healthy.

Smooth iron shots pic.twitter.com/v9XLROZnfW

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) October 7, 2017

I have no idea when Tiger will be back playing, although I do think he will eventually be able to play again. I just hope his doctors do a better job managing his recovery this time than they did the last time.

Joe Miller on Range of Motion (video)

Golfing World did a few videos with long drive champ Joe Miller. This one focuses on range of motion -- yes, that insanely long swing Joe uses -- and he demonstrates the basic principles by helping host Anna Whitely pick up some distance.



Here is what I want you to get from this video. These couple of points are dirt simple but so easy to misunderstand.

First, Joe says there are two main ways to create swing speed:

• One is force. You try to swing the club down as fast as you can. Joe says most people think this is the most obvious way.
• Two is length of swing. If your hands -- yes, Joe focuses on hands rather than clubhead -- travel a longer distance, the club has more time to pick up speed. This is the one Joe says he uses.

This is basically the difference between the modern and classic swings.

• Modern swings try to swing as fast as possible. Many people tense up their back muscles and jerk the club from the top when they try. And then they wonder why they have back problems!
• Classic swings don't necessarily try to swing harder, but by swinging longer the club picks up speed more smoothly.

And second, swinging longer automatically makes you swing faster. You don't have to try any harder than normal to pick up speed if you just swing longer.

Joe and Anna are using a device that measures speed. And simply by swinging longer -- watch the video and see, Anna isn't trying to swing out of her shoes -- she picked up 6mph. That's 15-20 extra yards.

I'm not saying you have to twist yourself into a pretzel and swing like Joe Miller. But I keep telling you that swinging relaxed will increase your swing speed... and trust me, you can't swing like anything like Joe Miller if you tense up and try to swing hard. Let gravity do most of the work. The key is to stay as relaxed as possible until your arms are near parallel to the ground in your downswing. (I'm giving you a safety measurement here. At this point, your body will be less likely to pull any muscles. Always better to be safe than sorry. Trust me on this.)

Watch this video a few times then try to practice making a longer, more relaxed swing. I'm thinking you just might pick up some yardage without lifting cars in the gym everyday... and with fewer back problems as well. REMEMBER: Always err on the side of safety!

Some Hope for Tiger

Jaime Diaz over at Golf Digest has done a long article called Why Tiger Woods' Fans Can Take Heart After His Latest Surgery. Why am I linking you to this article? Because this is the first article I've read that dives seriously into the complications of back surgery for an athlete.



Diaz not only talked to doctors about the surgery -- which is unusual among golfers, although Dudley Hart had it back in 2009 -- but also to a number of golfers who have had serious back surgery. In fact, two of the golfers who he interviewed extensively for the article, Lanny Watkins and Lee Trevino, are fascinating reads all on their own. Trevino, for example, had steel rollers implanted in his back!

Why am I so surprised by this article? Because in the final paragraphs of the article, Diaz wrote this:

It’s apparent that for the increasing numbers of Woods’ doubters, players who have been there both at the highest level competitively and through the throes of back surgery are revealingly optimistic about Woods’ playing future.

This isn't the sort of thing we're used to hearing from the golf media. Most of them seem to have written him off already. But this is the first fact-based article I've read that seemed optomistic about Tiger's return.

And that in itself makes this a must read if you're curious about Tiger's future in golf.

Another Back Surgery for Tiger

Was this really a surprise? Probably not. Tiger's recovery after his ill-advised trip to the Middle East in January hadn't gone as well as hoped, although his appearance at Big Cedar Lodge earlier this week raised our hopes a bit.



But it wasn't to be. Tiger had another back surgery, and the details are in this Golf Digest article. The most reasonable expectation is that, between rehab and reconditioning, he'll miss the rest of the season.

However, I was interested to note that Tiger had a different surgery this time -- not a microdiscectomy but a single-level fusion. The difference? The first removes herniated material from between discs, the second fuses two discs together. The fusion, according to Dr. Richard Guyer of the Center for Disc Replacement at the Texas Back Institute, who did the surgery, is that this is only a six-month recovery period.

That makes sense to me. For all practical purposes, they're completely removing the source of the problem -- the space between the discs that grinds out that "herniated material" isn't there anymore.

So it seems the big question is no longer whether Tiger will finally be able to function normally in his everyday life; it sounds like this will do the job. But how will effectively having one less vertebra affect his golf swing?

I guess it'll be a while until we know for sure. But in the meantime, it's nice to know that Tiger probably won't be crippled with back pain anymore.

And now we wait...

The Third Ben Shear Core Workout (Video)

I almost forgot to post this! I posted the first two of Ben Shear's core workout videos for Golf Digest (that link takes you to the second post, which also has a link to the first one). The first video introduced three half-kneeling exercises, while the second video gave you three standing static exercises. (Static because you just stood still and held the positions.)

Today's post gives you the third and final core workout video, which presents three standing dynamic exercises. (That means you move while you do them.) Here's the video:


Again, three simple exercises that work your core in three planes of motion, with the resistance provided by an exercise band:

• The band is stretched parallel to your shoulders. You straighten your arms in front of your chest and try to keep them there while doing backward lunges.
• The band is still stretched parallel to your shoulders. You straighten your arms above your head and try to keep them there while doing side lunges away from the band's anchor point.
• Finally, the band is stretched perpendicular to your shoulders and tries to pull you backward. You straighten your arms above your head but you try to keep them there while doing forward lunges.

The other videos measured your progress by the time you held each position; for these exercises you count repetitions. And of course, you need to do the first two exercises on each side of your body. (You don't have to do backward lunges with the final exercise.)

Shear suggests at least two sets of 8-10 reps of each exercise. If you combine the exercises on this video with the exercises on the first two, you should get a pretty stout core workout without straining yourself. (After all, you're using an exercise band. It's easy to reduce the tension by just standing closer to the anchor point!)

And again, the real beauty of these exercises is how simple they are, as well as how quickly they can be done. The three exercises on each video are pretty much identical, they just add more movement as you progress through them. If you're looking for a decent core workout, these nine exercises might be just what you're looking for.

The Second Ben Shear Core Workout (Video)

A little over a week ago I posted the first of three Golf Digest core workout videos from fitness instructor Ben Shear. That one focused on half-kneeling exercises.

Today's video is the second in his three-part series. This one focuses on "resistance" standing exercises.

Watch this video on The Scene.

When I call these resistance exercises, I mean that you aren't trying to make an obvious body movement like a waist bend. Instead, you're just trying to maintain a vertical body position while an outside force -- in this case, a resistance band -- tries to make you move.

Here are the three exercises, all done from a standing position:

• You straighten your arms in front of your chest and try to keep them there while the band tries to make you rotate.
• Then you straighten your arms above your head and try to keep them there while the band tries to make you bend sideways.
• Finally you straighten your arms above your head but you try to keep them there while the band tries to make you lean backwards.

And of course, you need to do these exercises on each side of your body.

One of the things I like about these exercises is that you can position yourself so the band doesn't place too much stress on your body for your current strength level, but you don't have to take time to change weights on a machine. All you have to do is step a bit closer to or away from the band's anchor point to adjust the amount of tension you feel. (Of course, you can do these with a weight machine at the gym if you want, but the band is much simpler.)

As I have said before, I LOVE simple exercises. And they don't get much simpler than these.

Why Men Worry More about Zika than Women

With Jason Day's decision to wirhdraw from the Olympics due to risks from the Zika virus (and Shane Lowry's decision shortly afterward), there have been a number of people wondering why the men seem to be more worried about Zika than the women.

It seems almost counter-intuitive, doesn't it? The dangers we know about seem to focus on Zika's effects on unborn children and pregnant women. But if you read the information about Zika, you will find that there are more unanswered questions concerning Zika's effect on men than on women. Bear in mind that the men say they have talked in depth with health officials before making their decision.

Unless otherwise noted, the info in this post comes from the Zika pages at the CDC site, so this is the most accurate and dependable info we have access to. This is the link to the main page of the CDC's Zika site, but I'm going to refer mainly to this specific page on Zika and sexual transmission. I'm going to cut and paste things from the page, so you read exactly what the CDC says.

Here's the first thing that grabs your attention, and it's something that hasn't been emphasized on TV.

Zika virus can stay in semen longer than in blood, but we don’t know exactly how long Zika stays in semen.

How much longer? Although the CDC doesn't know how long the Zika virus can remain in semen, statnews.com says Public Health England (the British equivalent of the CDC) reported finding the Zika virus in semen 62 days after the patient became ill. This was originally reported in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, but the report doesn't say whether further tests were done to determine if the virus was there AFTER that time. Who really knows how long the virus might affect a man?

In addition, the ability to pass Zika through sexual activity is different for men and women. In regards to women, the CDC says:

It is not known if a woman can pass Zika to her sex partners.

But here's what the CDC says about men and Zika:

A man with Zika virus can pass it to his female or male sex partners.

• In the known cases, men had symptoms. Zika can be passed before symptoms start, while he has symptoms, and after his symptoms end.
• Men without symptoms may be able to pass the virus to their sex partners.
• In the known cases, the men had vaginal, anal, or oral (mouth-to-penis) sex without a condom.

In other words, although the CDC doesn't have enough solid evidence to say anything for certain, it appears that a Zika infection could potentially have much longer-lasting effects on men than on women.

A few other facts from the CDC site must be considered as well. My thoughts are added in the parentheses following the CDC quotes.

• Testing blood, semen, or urine is not recommended to determine how likely a man is to pass Zika virus through sex. This is because there is still a lot we don’t know about the virus and how to interpret test results. Available tests may not accurately identify the presence of Zika or a man’s risk of passing it on. (Read that again. Not only is there no way to determine risk once a man has Zika, but we may not even be able to accurately determine when the Zika virus is gone!)
• In many cases, Zika does not cause any symptoms or causes only mild symptoms lasting several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon. (So a man may not even be aware that he has contracted the virus.)
• No vaccine exists to prevent Zika virus disease. (This is the first fact on the CDC's Prevention page and, given the first two facts, I think this problem becomes even more critical.) 

Taken all together, there are even more unknowns regarding Zika's effect on men than regarding its effects on women.

A further consideration is the timing for having children. The wives of the men who are withdrawing are either currently having children or plan to have them soon. For the women athletes I've heard interviewed, they aren't planning on having children soon. Most women athletes -- not just those being asked about Zika -- usually say they plan to pursue their careers and have children later. I suspect the majority of women athletes considering the risks of Zika are looking at having children perhaps 5-10 years down the road, so they may consider the immediate effects less threatening.

And while it's not a health concern, I can't help but wonder how many women athletes are affected by the lack of respect shown by society at large for their accomplishments. The potential backlash that the male athletes expect for withdrawal is unlikely to affect their careers the way it would affect the female athletes, should they make a similar choice. That's not a criticism of the women by any means, just a recognition that they face different societal pressures.

At any rate, these are the primary reasons that male athletes are reacting more dramatically to the Zika virus than the women. If they're being advised by knowledgeable health care professionals, the men are aware that Zika could have effects on their ability to father healthy children that are longer-lasting than those affecting the women. At this point, we simply don't know.

I know that if I had to make the decision, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Ben Shear's New Core Workout (Video)

Golf Digest has started a new three-video series on core exercises that are aimed at the specific needs of golfers. The first one uses three static exercises in a half-kneeling position, and that's the one I have here.

Watch this on The Scene.

Although the video shows each exercise to only one side, obviously you need to reverse position and do them the other way as well. And although there are two people demonstrating these exercises, you could clip the exercise band in a doorway and do them by yourself.

They're doing this as part of their Fitness Friday series, so the next one should be out next week. Next week's video is supposed to be static exercises while standing, and the last one will focus on dynamic core exercises.

I'm bringing this to your attention simply because -- at least in this first video -- the exercises are neither complicated nor do they require a lot of room. And if the other videos use a minimum of exercises like this one, the total workout shouldn't take much time either. We'll have to see what Shear comes up with next week.

Just How Much Exercise Do You Need?

In case you aren't abreast of the latest trend in fitness science, let me bring you up-to-date. Athletes have been using interval training for decades, but the new scientific evidence is turning things upside down.

Many scientists now believe you can get as much good from one minute of exercise as you can from 45 minutes' worth. That's right, I said ONE MINUTE.



I think that's just a bit misleading. In fact, you're working out for more than one minute... but it's broken down into three or more intense spurts of hard work, with a few minutes of much easier exercise in-between. Still, we're talking about cutting your workout time by a factor of three or more. Wouldn't you like to cram that 30-minute running or cycling workout into only 7 minutes or so?

Here are links to a couple of articles on the New York Times website that will help you understand what's going on:

• The first is a general overview of the new research called 1 Minute of All-Out Exercise May Have Benefits of 45 Minutes of Moderate Exertion. Again, I think that title's a bit misleading but the article does explain things pretty well. Read this one first to get a handle on the new paradigm.
• The other article is called Really, Really Short Workouts and it has links to a number of different ways you can try this new approach to interval training. There are 10-minute, 7-minute, 4-minute and 10-20-30 second (yes, you read that correctly) training programs, among other types. Think of this as a grab bag of possibilities.

Before you run out and try any of these workouts, you need to understand that these are STRESSFUL workouts. The shorter the workout, the closer to all-out effort you need to expend. That means you should probably see a doctor first, especially before you try the shortest workouts. High-intensity interval training -- which several of your favorite pros are already using -- is challenging and takes a lot of concentration.

You just don't have to concentrate for quite as long, that's all. And for some of us, that may be all it takes to get us working out more -- uh, less.

A Three-Step Leg Workout

Golf Digest ran an article with this quickie three-exercise leg strengthening routine that looks really simple while still working your legs in a number of different ways. They recommend a mere 8 to 12 reps of each exercise -- of course, since each leg is worked separately, that means you have to do each exercise twice to get both legs.



The first one, pictured above, is a lateral squat. Pretty much self-explanatory, huh? One leg bends while the other stays straight.

The other two exercises have 'moving photos' ('gifs' for all you computer geeks out there) to demonstrate the movements:

• The prisoner split squats look a lot like lunges to me.
• And the single-leg deadlifts remind me of those old 'drinking bird' toys. Remember them? You put a glass of water in front of them and they bobbed up and down, getting lower and lower, until their beaks dipped into the water. Then they popped back up and started all over again.

Bear in mind that you don't have to go as low as possible if that means you can't get back up! Go down only as far as you can without hurting yourself. Over time you'll get stronger and can go lower if you want.

As I have said before, I love exercise routines that are short and simple. You don't have to spend hours in a gym to get stronger.

So You Still Can't Activate Your Glutes?

Humor me here -- I have a serious reason for this post. But even I know how funny this sounds, so stay with me.

Ever since Tiger talked about his glutes not activating on the course, it seems the phrase won't go away.

Here's what I find most humorous about the whole thing. I love knowing that after all the TV analysts made fun of Tiger, the fitness guys came out and said Tiger was completely correct and that 'glute activation' was important in a golf swing. Now it seems everybody has a method for activating those stubborn old butt muscles.

Today I'm posting a Golf Digest video with a simple butt exercise you can do without any special equipment -- except your conveniently located kitchen sink. Instructor Ralph Simpson calls them single leg sit backs.

Watch this on The Scene.

As I said, I have a serious reason for posting this.

While we tend to focus on golf-centric exercises, the fact remains that healthy hips are vitally important for a normal life, whether we're playing golf or not. Strong hips do more than help your golf game; they help you function during the day. And since most of us have jobs where we sit a lot, it's important to find easy ways to keep them strong.

This exercise is something you can do in a few minutes, almost anywhere, several times a day. And since Simpson says this exercise works your butt muscles in a way that normal squats don't, this is an exercise worth knowing.

So this post is for your glutes. Keep 'em healthy and activated!

Blair O'Neal's Three-Exercise Core Workout

Since it's so cold around the country I decided to go for another workout video tonight. I really like simple ones, workouts with a minimum number of exercises, so you don't have to spend so much time. After all, most of us don't have two hours to spend in the gym.

So here's a golf.com video from Blair O'Neal with three posture exercises you can do inside the house.



Okay, three core and posture exercises:

1. Single leg rear lift (activate your glutes!)
2. Lunges
3. Dead lifts (the movement but without the heavy weights)

You can strengthen your core and improve your posture while you're watching TV (and maybe Blair). What more could you ask for?

Annabel Rolley on the Reverse Warrior Yoga Pose

I know you'll think this exercise is crazy but it's a multi-purpose workout that strengthens and stretches your muscles, plus it increases your endurance. Annabel Rolley calls it a 'Reverse Warrior Yoga Pose.'

I'm not even going to try and describe it. Just watch the video and copy what Annabel is doing. But having tried some specific yoga poses in the past, I can tell you from firsthand experience that something like this can do wonders for you. Because you're trying to stay as relaxed as possible while you do these types of exercises, they let you do an amazing amount of work without hurting you. Over a period of weeks you really will feel a difference.

Go on, give it a try. What have you got to lose?

Annabel Rolley's Bicycle Kicks

If you hate crunches as much as I do, you'll like this core exercise. Annabel Rolley calls them 'bicycle kicks.'



Crunches are one of those ab exercises on which trainers disagree. the tide of opinion seems to be turning against their use because they put an unusual amount of stress on your lower back. All I know is that I have trouble doing them properly, and an improperly done exercise is rarely good for you!

Annabel's bicycle kicks are deceptively easy. In fact, while you're actually doing them, you can be fooled into believing that they aren't doing much for your core at all. But I think that's the genius of their design. While you may not feel much while you do them, you WILL begin to feel their effects shortly after you finish... and I do mean shortly. I can feel their effects on my abs within five to ten seconds after I'm done, and I can still feel them several minutes afterward.

The great thing to me is that (1) they don't hurt my back and (2) I can maintain proper form while I do them.

So if you're looking for a good ab exercise, this might be one you'd like to consider. Especially if you have trouble doing crunches.

Two Moves to Help Your Back

This little video is from Golf Digest's Fitness Friday series. It has a couple of unusual moves to help relax and stretch the 'soft tissue' in your middle back.

Watch this on The Scene.

Just a couple of observations here.

Although Cummings talks about 'digging into' your muscle tissue, he doesn't mean you should hurt yourself. If you've ever tried to massage a muscle, you know you have to use a bit more pressure on the muscle than you might expect... but you don't want to cause bruises.

Cummings specifically mentions that you can use a tennis ball in a sock to get the same results, and I think that's a better approach for most people. The ball has some give to it and the sock gives you a way to keep from dropping it. You just hold the end of the sock and put the ball between your back and the wall, then wiggle around a bit to get the effect of a massage.

As for that stretching routine, the 'sliding device' he's using looks to me like one of those pads you put under heavy furniture so you can slide it across the floor. But I bet you can get the same result with another sock -- just stick your hand into it and let it slide along the wall.

Cummings recommends maybe 30 seconds of each movement. Remember, you don't have to go overboard with stretches and exercises to get results. Don't think you have to live in a gym the way some of the pros do, just to get more fit. In fact, you'll probably get better results with less risk of injury if you take things slow.