Scott Kramer - The Golfers Diet: A Daily Plan for Par Performance

Diversion Books
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Copyright 2011 by Scott Kramer

All rights reserved, including the right to reproducethis book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For more information, emailinfo@diversionbooks.com.

First Diversion Books edition November 2011.

ISBN: 978-0-9839885-2-6 (ebook)

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As a writer, Ive always been able to tellwhen I was onto a hot topic, for two reasons. First of all, peopleI interview are passionate about the information and quotes theyprovide. Secondly, I learn something about the topic by writingabout it. Golf nutrition is one of those subjects. While writingthis e-book, I discovered the above two requirements were easilybeing met, plus several people told me that golf nutrition is goingto be a huge factor in the coming years and is just in its infancyright now. Dumb luck on my part, I suppose.

But there are plenty of people who arealready paving the way, in the world of proper diet for golf. And Ihad the pleasure of putting a lot of their collective inputtogether into the pages ahead, so that readers can understand wherethe field is at and where its headed.

On that note, I want to thank all of thehard-working people from nutritionists to PGA Tour pros -- whotook time to answer my (many uneducated) questions. And somespecial thanks, as well. To the folks at Cleveland Golf, Adams Golfand Callaway Golf, for their having faith in this book and thegoodwill to chase down their tour pros for answers to my nutritionquestions. To the relentless, tiresome work of one of the worldsgreat future nutritionists, Erin Smolinski, who was able to trackdown nutrition basics and details for me through her notes,textbooks and professors at Michigan State University. And to mywife Cindy for her incredible patience during the entire process. Asincere appreciation to all of you.

Shortly after I began writing this book,seven friends of mine asked me to join them for a guys golf daytrip to Palm Springs. Problem was, it was June. Ever been to thedesert in the summer? The forecast that day called for a high of111 degrees, and the weather people didnt disappoint. Thatoppressive heat would normally zap any energy the average personmight have on a golf course. And we were slated to play 36 holesthat day.

Knowing the power of the desert heat andin the spirit of testing some of the theories for this book Ivowed to perpetually drink water while out on the course. I alsopromised myself to abstain from liquor, and only eat fruit andprotein bars. In the meantime, I watched my buddies pounding beers,grabbing hot dogs at the turn, chowing down candy, chugging energydrinks, and having the occasional water.

Mission accomplished. By the end of thefirst 18, I felt completely fresh after shooting a 78 and swiggingseven bottles of water. The next nearest score and mind you, wetypically all play to within a few shots of one another -- was 84.The rest of the scores were north of 90. All the other guys weremoaning about the extreme heat, how sore their bodies were, and howthey felt dehydrated and we hadnt even teed off for our secondround yet.

I began suspecting that this differential inconditioning and performance was a result of more than just a fewlucky shots on my part. I simply felt different. Stronger. Morefocused. And eager for the next round.

That afternoon, I grabbed two apples andheaded for the first tee. Thankfully, this course offered waterstations on every other tee box. So I made sure to consume anentire large cup of water before arriving at the next waterstation. I fired another 78 and maintained my full level of energy.In fact, I was as refreshed after the 36th hole as I was before thefirst. Apparently, no one else learned a lesson from the morning.Needless to say, the next closest score was 92.

Point is, how you fuel your body willabsolutely affect your golf round. And believe me, Im no posterboy for good eating habits. But this is one area Im now adamant onhaving dietary discipline. And if you at least loosely follow theguidelines I lay out for you in the pages ahead, listen to thewisdom of the experts quoted, and experiment with some of it onyour own, I really believe you will not only feel better, strongerand more energized out on the course, but youll also play bettergolf. One caution: For best results, combine your fresh eatinghabits with a solid exercise regimen thats right for yourbody.

So pay attention, particularly if youveever gotten fatigued by the 4th hole, played with a hangover, hadthe shakes on short putts, watched less-talented players out-driveyou, or been too tired to walk a flat course and carry your bag.You know who you are. And its time to put an end to your weakness.By eating the proper foods before, during and after your round, youcan easily and quickly play at your peak physical and mentalcondition for every round of golf. Whether you play once a monthfor fun, are playing in a three-day club championship, are tryingto make it to the tour, or are going on a golf trip with yourbuddies, you can have a definitive edge over your competition, ifyou know what youre doing in terms of nutrition and can stick witha plan.

Everyone has unique dietary patterns andrestrictions, food allergies and tastes. So this book is in no wayan attempt to preach to you what you should and should not eat.Thats up to you, your doctor, your family, and whoever else mightinfluence what you put into your body. Instead, I just hope to makeyou more aware of the power of good nutrition and its reach on thegolf course, and prepare you to be able to put the fundamentals inplace, to lower your golf scores, raise your energy and focus onthe course, and make your golf game more enjoyable.

Bon appetit, and get ready to start eatingyour way to better scores!

Sometime in May of 2011, PGA Tour pro GraemeMcDowell reportedly felt his legs fail him on a Sunday, during thefinal round of an event. He had a rather successful start to thegolf season, but then missed three cuts in four tournaments.Something just didnt feel right to him. He was fatigued. In anattempt to jump-start his body, McDowell hit the gym for a coupleof days, to infuse some life back into his legs. But there was onemore element he recognized that needed addressing. He toldreporters that something happened to him. He wasnt getting hisnutrition or hydration quite right, and that completely threw himoff. Soon thereafter, he got his nutrition and exercise back ontrack, and began playing well and feeling proper again. And thatwas no coincidence.

With all of the attention paid to nutrition,diets and food sciences these days, it remains a wonder why peoplesimply dont eat better. We know which kinds of foods are betterfor us than others. And when we dont, there are the informationlabels to reference on the side of every package, box and carton --helping us make informed eating decisions. Theres even a greatphone app Fooducate that quickly and clearly spells nutritionalvalue out for us. Yet most of us dont seem to care.

Look around and you see obesity everywhere,packed fast-food restaurants and the surging popularity ofcupcakes, donuts and fattening, sugar-laden iced coffee drinks.While these foods taste great, they certainly arent doing humanbodies any good.

Its up to you to recognize when enough isenough, that you can get a competitive advantage by treating yourbody like a well-oiled machine. Fuel it right and youll get plentyof mileage and performance, more energy and focus while youreplaying, and a quicker recovery between rounds. So what, exactly,constitutes good nutrition? Simply put, its food thats good foryour body. That generally means items that you cannot findpre-packaged in a box or tub, or anything thats undergone somekind of processing inside a factory.