BRIEF REPORTThe Contribution of Golf to Daily Physical Activity Recommendations: How Many Steps Does It Take to Complete a Round of Golf?
Section snippets
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
Forty-two subjects (12 men and 30 women) aged 30 to 80 years (mean ± SD age, 55±13 years) were recruited to participate in the study. Recruitment occurred via posted advertisement at 3 municipal golf courses, verbal presentations at city golf league organizational meetings, and discussions with local golf teaching professionals. Each volunteer was at least 18 years of age, had an established United States Golf Association (USGA)-certified handicap index (a number representing a golfer's ability
RESULTS
The mean ± SD number of steps taken per 18-hole round of golf for all 3 courses was 11,948±1781. As shown in Table 2, most golfers accumulated more than 10,000 steps during a round, regardless of course or demographics. Step count did not vary by course (F2,28 = 0.649, P=.525), sex (F1,36 = 0.383, P=.540), or handicap index level (F2,36 = 0.010, P=.990) (data not shown in Table 2).
DISCUSSION
In the fight against the obesity epidemic, health care practitioners continue to explore user-friendly methods to increase and monitor the physical activity of their patients. One such method is the recommendation to accumulate 10,000 stepseach day as part of a general physical activity plan.3, 4, 5, 6 Golf is a popular sport, attracting males and females of all ages. Although previous studies have defined the potential health benefits of regular golf participation, this is the first
CONCLUSION
Although individuals vary in their risk factors for disease and daily activity requirements, accumulating 10,000 steps per day while consuming a nutritious diet is likely to lead to improved health.3, 4, 5, 6 Despite the observation that previous research has questioned the intensity of golf in the context of physical exercise, our data clearly indicate that golf participation can contribute considerably to an overall daily physical activity plan.8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Acknowledgments
We thank Jud Taylor for his assistance with data collection and Roy Bechtel, PT, PhD, for his critique and advice on the manuscript. This study was undertaken to fulfill requirements for completion of a DScPT degree at the University of Maryland at Baltimore (S.L.K.).
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Financial support for this research was provided by the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Sports Medicine Center.