Nick Faldo

Jul 11

Nick Faldo

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Exceptional Athlete—Captain of Advice

In the September/October, 2008, issue of Golf Fitness Magazine, available on newsstands nation-wide, Ryder Cup European Team Captain NICK FALDO gives ADVICE YOU CAN USE. As we head into the Ryder Cup weekend, Golf Fitness Magazine.com brings to you MORE of the exclusive interview and insight on just what it takes to be one of the world’s most respected and talented golfers.

Nick’s Thoughts on Golf Fitness

Golf Fitness Magazine: During your competitive years, was your fitness routine, in your opinion, golf-specific in relation to your health and competitive edge, or simply a regime to stay fit? And in hind sight, was your conditioning a prerequisite to your success or something you got into after your golf career began?

Nick Faldo: We were always very conscious of what people would say, don’t lift weights because it will ruin your touch, obviously they have proved all of that wrong now, now you can work pretty hard and still maintain touch for the game of golf.

GFM: Do you think it was a prerequisite to your success?

NF: I think it was kind of important; I really don’t have to tell you guys, you know if you are physically strong, you’re mentally strong. That has always been important to me. I have always been physically fit, I was a good cyclist, I guess my cardiovascular came from cycling. I used to run. I actually quit running in 1987, I will never forget, I was running up a hill in Sydney, Australia, and the strain on my back, I thought, wow, you know I’m a big guy and this is not for me, then I became more sport specific for golf, power walking and other things. I’ve been fortunate my body is adaptable; I can train in different ways and recover well, so that’s probably got something to do with it too.

GFM: As the #1 player in the world and a Ryder Cup champion for a number of years, and assuming your level of fitness was giving you a competitive edge, why do you feel that there wasn’t as much attention from other players of the time, about conditioning, as you see on tour today?

NF: I don’t know, I guess we have moved on from it. You have a good pair of hands, good hand- eye coordination, you could play, but I wanted to play well when I wanted to play well. I always felt like a lot of guys showed up to have a good week but they couldn’t make it happen; sure it would happen at one stage or another because they were talented golfers. What I was trying to achieve was to be able to play well tomorrow when I really needed it. I did enough that I felt like I had an advantage over those sorts of guys. To be fair we didn’t have all the depth, mentally I would think, I only have five guys to beat, now all that has definitely changed. Today the leading guy still knows who they have to beat, but there is still more depth where more players can come through and stay in there, where back in my year, yeah, sure they can come through, but you knew darn well they wouldn’t last.

GFM: Do you feel that fitness has reduced your risk of injury and added longevity to your career as a competitive player?

NF: Yes, very much so, I don’t know how many millions of golf balls I have hit, and you know my spine is still straight. I started more seriously with balance training, I had a trainer back in 1990 who said I wasn’t balanced throughout my body and weak in different areas, that was the first era. My cardiovascular was always good, I always looked after myself, I had a lot of massages and a lot of physiotherapy and I would go 3 times a week and she would just go up and down my spine with her thumbs and manipulate my spine, get them all moving. That was very important to me. Now we do so much, playing, training, jumping on airplanes, sitting in cars, it’s a brutal life on your neck and back.

GFM: What about Gary Player?

NF: Well, Gary was very inspirational; he did all sorts of stuff, real basic stuff. But the strength of players back then came all from just hitting golf balls. You look at it now (depending solely on hitting golf balls for conditioning), it’s very dangerous, very risky.

GFM: If a player only had 10 minutes to warm-up before his round, what, in your opinion, would be the most important thing to do in those 10 minutes?

NF: Really simple exercises for your wrists and arms. You can do figure eights with your club. Draw a figure of eight with your driver. That warms up your wrists, forearms and a bit of the rotator cuffs as well, that’s quite important. For me, lower back; I might get on the floor and do a few twists here and there just to de- clunk it, that sort of thing; and then some shoulder stuff, just some rotations of my shoulders to get them warmed up. Also use the golf cart to help you; stretch your shoulders out some way or another, that’s always good to just ease them out a bit.

GFM: What advice would you give to junior golfers about golf-specific fitness and training for success in the sport of golf?

NF: Number one, I think that people assume that because they are young they are supple and flexible are they are not. They are amazingly tight, these kids, some often having very poor range of motion. I have my own Faldo series and we have been working on fitness now for most of the 2000’s, I have had a variety of different coaches have come along to help me to explain it better and try to get them into routine. The other big one that is so important is stretching before you go to bed. A lot of people think I will just stretch in the morning. As you know, there is a cool down at night, you have a long day, then you sit and have dinner, and then your lower back tightens up and then you jump into bed, and it just tightens up even more. So we like to instill a little bit of discipline, we ask them do something at night before they go to bed, at least the stretching, you probably sleep better as well.

GFM: What are your thoughts on steroid testing for PGA players? Did you ever think that golf would be considered such an athletic sport that this testing would take place among the players?

NF: I think it’s because they are getting us ready for the Olympics. I’ve been out there 30 years and never suspected anything. As golfers we need strength, we need elasticity, we need nerve, and we need touch, if there is a pill or whatever out there that can do all of those (laughs) then send me a few. I can’t imagine they are going to find anything, I just hope nobody gets called out for silly obvious things like nasal sprays.

GFM: As much as you travel, is there a “must have” golf fitness aid you take with you and use on the road or do you just utilize the gym or in room routine at the hotel?

NF: I don’t need a ton of weights to get in a decent work out. I only need 10 to 15 lb. dumbbells and elliptical trainer for cardio or even better if there is a medicine ball or Swiss ball. That’s all I need in my kit, I can create lots of little programs for myself. What ever a gym has got, I can have a pretty good session.

Nick’s Ryder Cup team preparation

GFM: You offered complete fitness analysis the top 20 Ryder Cup point’s leaders—how were the turnout? And were there any of these players who have made significant improvements with their game or rankings?

NF: It was quite well received. I did a dummy run myself, strength tests, balance tests, cardiovascular, all that stuff. I put together a menu; the guys would get a quick MRI, check any of the areas they need. Quite a lot of guys went down and were quite impressed. Some went for total golf related; others went for more life, medical, body related. That was the process, we lined a few things out for them and they took what they needed or not.

GFM: And about any players making significant improvements?

NF: Well I think so, many guys have their own trainers these days but they all learned a lot about different versions of golf exercises and core stability exercises that the guys thought were interesting.

GFM: Clearly, supreme fitness was an integral part of your competitive career. By having some of your team assessed for their level of fitness as it relates to golf, how important do you feel this component is to your team’s competitive edge?

NF: Definitely, I think it will make a difference.

GFM: From this experience, do you see the Faldo Institute integrating some golf fitness assessment and fitness training as a part of your student’s experience?

NF: I asked that question myself, a number of years ago, and it seems like many people, including some of my friends, they say that will help me, that won’t help me, and I say, well how do you know? They might say they have a bad shoulder, I say, okay are you going to do some exercises, and they say will that work for me, that’s not for me, I’m not that good a golfer. And I say it doesn’t matter about golf, you know, I think a lot of people are kind of in a resistance phase. I do corporate golf; I say do you want to turn more? Yeah. Do you want to hit the ball further? Yeah. They say how we do the swing, I say no, it’s your lower back, you can’t turn. And if you want to do something about it, get six little exercises to strengthen and stretch your lower back. If you can get five more degrees in that, I can’t imagine how much further they could hit the ball. Here is another thing, posture, not only is body posture good for everyday, obviously for golf its even more important. Posture = balance and power and it takes a long time to get that. Also what I see is a lot of focus on arms and shoulders, and bellies getting stronger but nobody focuses on their ankles and making their ankles stronger. For a golfer, when I say hold your finish and hold your balance, they are shaking, they’re absolutely shaking. It’s amazing for how many people, if you say stand on one leg and swing your arms around or whatever, how many people can’t do that, it’s quite unbelievable. For golf, it makes a lot of sense, everyone talks a lot about the back but it obviously starts from the ground up. Well, the ankles are the first thing that pivots and rotates and supports, I mean they do so much yet people don’t look at that.

GFM: Based on your Ryder Cup experiences and success (11 appearances and record 25 points), do you have any pre-round “rituals” for your Ryder Cup Team that you are willing to reveal?

NF: There is nothing secret; they all have their own routines. They all understand that they need to warm up and they all know the importance of stretch and even down to nutrition and hydration, all those things they understand. We put 3 or 4 physios [Physical Therapists] out there. We’re conscious of all those areas right now. As far as the rituals, no not really, we haven’t got any war dances, we might play the Macarena on the bus on the way there (laughs) apart from that, no. It’s a long day, its rather routine than ritual.

GFM: The friendship and the bond that is developed between a Ryder Cup team is one that truly cannot be described—do you think this mental and emotional bond gives the players an advantage? And why do the Europeans do it better than the Americans?

NF: Yeah, I think it’s important, and I think Europe is pretty good at it, it was priority moons ago, back in the mid eighties, to bond to create the team, and it comes quite automatic now. You know we have great characters that create a great atmosphere; it’s as simple as that. And I’m just keen on wanting the guys to have a relaxed atmosphere; I think that’s important we have fun and laughter. I personally would like for them to forget the golf. That’s what I used to do, it was nice to play, but at least be able to switch off from it, and I think that’s what we will be able to do quite easily. And like I said, it all starts again the next day.

GFM: What was your greatest moment as a Ryder Cup Player and will Winning as a Captain top that?

NF: I was on the 1987 team, and that’s the first time we won in America, and that was obviously very special, Murfield Village, Jack’s course you know, great atmosphere that was a great week. I have hit a few memorable shots. At Oak Hills where I got up and down on the last hole with a wedge shot to about 4 feet from the hole and I won. That was really special for me to feel like I did my boys right in the eleventh hour, that was really precious stuff, quite a moment. The toughest thing is performing in front of your team, they are all pulling for you and don’t want to let any body down. You can let yourself down and throw your clubs in the back of the cart, but you just don’t want to let your guys down, that’s what adds to the shear emotion and drama of the week. As captain, I will do as much as I can and I intend to do exactly the same job I did as a player, I’m going to give it 100% in every area and then what will be will be, if we win, I’m deemed as a good captain, if we loose, I presume I will be deemed as a poor captain you know (laughing). Even though I did exactly the same job and you know golf is golf, my intention is to do my best. The guys are going to do their best and our intentions are to go out there and win again. The whole world does watch the Ryder Cup which is pretty cool; I believe it’s about the 3rd biggest sporting event in the world. It’s quite an event, it’s unique, 24 guys playing for points.