Nutrytics In Action

NUTRYTICS IN aCTION

From Beginning to End

Research in action

Step 1: Stop the guessing

I was asked by a professional colleague how he could improve his golf game. His game had plateaued. Frustration and fear of reinjuring his back replaced enjoyment and he lost his edge. He wasn’t sure how an article I published could personally help him. I explained that Exercise Science and Performance Nutrition would quickly improve his game. Understanding how muscles use energy is unique to each sport and is crucial to optimizing performance. Then you work backwards to develop a training and nutritional plan specific to that sport and that athlete’s goals.

Competitive Golf: How Longer Courses Are Changing Athletes and Their Approach to the Game

Dr. Zoffer

Golf has been played as a sport for over 500 years and competitively for over 160 years [1]. In 2021, total purses for the 50 PGA Tour events are worth over USD 392 million. Golf is fiercely competitive at this level, yet there are few peer-reviewed articles focused on nutritional strategies that can improve performance. A literature search for “Golf and Nutrition” in PubMed yielded no studies solely dedicated to the sport, and they all used golfers as part of a larger cohort. Performance improvement articles in the literature focus on strength and mechanics to increase ball distance or assess fitness in casual golfers. The Distance Insight Report jointly authored by the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) and Royal and Ancient (R&A) has concluded that golf courses are longer, yet strategies to train, fuel and supplement these athletes have been lacking in the literature that acknowledges this information. An approach to incorporating aerobic training and complementary nutritional strategies during training, competition, and recovery is not currently recognized as a method to improve performance for competitive golfers.

Evaluation In Action

Step 2. Know what you need… know how to measure it?

During a round of golf with Dr. Zoffer his colleague realized that increasing stamina and acclimating the golfer were keys to success.

Our evaluation included:

Food diary
Current hydration regiment
Strength and endurance testing
Body composition analysis

But Dr. Zoffer also employed the latest technology. A portable VO2 analyzer measures how hard he works to swing the club at various times during the round. Long before mishits and short putts his oxygen uptake increased before he realized he was fatigued.

Athletes know themselves, coaches know their players.

Nutrytics knows the sport.

The Game Plan in action

Step 3. Packing your nutritional suitcase

A plan that was specifically tailored for the athlete went beyond basic macronutrient requirements. Food timing and food choices are crucial to optimizing an athletes performance and vary depending on the situation.

A plan was provided specifically for:

Pre-training fueling to increase carbohydrates similar to endurance sports.
Recovery meals to include both carbohydrates and protein.
Fueling and hydration strategies during matches, tailored to prevent fatigue late in the round and when higher humidity was a factor.

Strength training days were modified to focus on lower extremity and core strength strength, and HIIT to improve endurance. Protein and carbohydrate intake was adjusted to reduce soreness, improve recovery, and accelerate gains.

After a few months there was a significant drop in his handicap, his stamina improved, and his confidence returned.