FIRSTLY, my thanks to Brad Clifton and the Australian Golf Digest team for inviting me to be part of the annual Get-Fit Issue.
It’s always humbling to be recognised for the work I am doing. To be given the opportunity to share this work and hopefully inspire fellow Aussies to achieve something, on or off the course, through a magazine I’ve enjoyed a wonderful relationship with for so many years, gives me great satisfaction.
As you may have seen on social media recently, fitness continues to play a crucial role in my day-to-day life, just like it did when I was playing full-time around the globe. Without my health and fitness, I never would have become the No.1 golfer in the world for 331 weeks and I never would have had the capacity to undertake the business ventures I’ve been busy managing since. And I certainly wouldn’t have been able to pursue my recreational hobbies like hiking, diving and tennis.
Fitness is key to any successful golfer, sportsperson or just life in general. I’m 62 now but regular training and a good diet makes me feel so much younger. It will change your life too, believe me.
But before you make any drastic changes you need to understand what it is YOU really want. Do you want to be Golf Fit, Ego Fit or Life Fit? By that I mean, do you want to get fit to improve your golf game, bulk up to impress yourself and others, or do you want to take the road I’m now on and live a healthy life in the mind, body and soul?
What you’ll find inside this issue aren’t a bunch of unsubstantiated exercises that promise to give you a six-pack or a bodybuilder physique. What you will get is an insight into my daily routine and how I go about maintaining my current fitness levels and body shape. I’ve shared some of my favourite gym workouts and dietary tips that I’ve carried with me from my very early days on tour with my trainer of 20 years, Pete Draovitch, and discuss the importance of stretching and how it should be Priority No.1 for you to play your best golf ever.
A point a lot of amateurs – and tour professionals – still miss today is you have to train in relation to your golf swing. Your golf swing is like a fingerprint, you can’t – or at least shouldn’t try to – change it. Only you know how your body rotates and how your back works. Only you know how your hip fires forward in the downswing, or how you rotate around your spine angle. All these little things are what you work around, not against, as you will learn.
I’ll even let you in on a little secret about the foods I got away with eating mid-round, and which sport I believe is truly best for aspiring pro golfers.
My competitive days on the fairways may be behind me but make no mistake, if someone called me up to go play an exhibition match in three months from now – given the condition I’m still in – it would only take me three months to get my body speed back to where it needs to be and the power to keep up with the kids off the tee … well, maybe a few metres behind them!
As Muhammad Ali once said while training in the gym, “You don’t start training until you start feeling the pain.” It’s an attitude and ability I hope to pass on to you, too, because as the mantra for this magazine reads, we should all Think Young, Play Hard.
Enjoy my words of wisdom, and here’s hoping that fit-looking old guy bombing it past the younger members next weekend is you!
Greg Norman
Australian golf legend
@SharkGregNorman
