Introduction
Professional golfers participate in various global tours, such as the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf for men, and the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour (LET) for women. These tours often lack a defined off-season, leading players to choose their own rest periods. For instance, in 2024, the DP World Tour hosted 44 events across 24 countries on five continents. Typically, tournaments span four days (Thursday to Sunday), with players arriving earlier in the week for preparations.
This demanding schedule requires frequent travel, often across multiple time zones, resulting in irregular sleep patterns, inconsistent nutrition and hydration, disrupted training routines, and limited access to familiar facilities and support staff. Such factors can adversely affect a golfer’s health, well-being, and on-course performance.
Biomechanically, the golf swing imposes significant stress on the body. Studies have shown that compressive forces on the spine can exceed 7,000 Newtons during swings with drivers, woods, or long irons, equating to over eight times the body weight for an 80 kg golfer. During a tournament week, a professional golfer may execute over 2,000 swings, combining practice and competition, and walk between 40 to 80 km.
To mitigate these stresses, effective recovery strategies are essential. Prioritising quality sleep is crucial, as persistent sleep disturbances can negatively impact performance. Proper nutrition and hydration ensure energy availability and support muscle repair and immune function. Additional recovery methods include manual therapy, foam rolling, ice baths, and structured warm-up and cool-down routines.
Understanding these challenges is vital for healthcare professionals working with golfers to develop comprehensive support systems that enhance player health, well-being, and performance.
This module will provide you with the information required to better understand recovery option and their efficacy in golf.
Course Curriculum
Recovery
Conclusion
Meet Your Instructor
Assoc. Prof Chris Bishop
Chris is Head of Department and Associate Professor of Strength and Conditioning at Middlesex University. He has supervised and led research projects in strength and conditioning, markers of high performance, and recovery in golf, and is on the medical and scientific advisory committee for The R&A, the Ladies European Tour and the DP World Tour.
Meet Your Instructor
Dr. Danny Glover
Danny serves as Chief Medical Officer for the Ladies European Tour, and Hotel Planner Tour, and director of the Ladies European Tour Performance Institute. He is a distinguished consultant in Sports and Exercise Medicine with extensive emergency care expertise. He has worked with multiple premier league football clubs.
As the founder of a health technology startup and author of multiple publications focused on knowledge translation, Danny continues to pioneer advancements at the intersection of sports medicine and digital health. His vision centres on delivering optimal performance and care for athletes and patients.
Meet Your Instructor
Prof. Graeme Close
Professor of Human Physiology at Liverpool John Moores University where he combines his academic research with nutrition and physiology consultancy to some of the worlds leading sporting organisations. Graeme is currently working with The R&A, The DP World Tour Golf and European Ryder Cup Team. Outwith golf he consults to the British and Irish Lions and England Rugby, and several Premier League Football clubs and players. Graeme is currently the Deputy Chair of the Sport and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENr) and is a fellow of both The European College of Sport Science and The British Association Of Sport and Exercise Sciences. Graeme regularly appears on television (BBC Trust me I’m a Dr, ITV Truth about food) and radio (BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Merseyside) discussing nutrition for health and sports performance. He has published over 160 original papers and review articles and regularly delivers key note conference presentations a across the world.
Meet Your Instructor
Dr/Prof Andrew Murray
Andrew works as Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for the European Tour Group, including DP World Tour, Hotel Planner Tour, Ryder Cup Europe, and the European Tour Performance Institute. He is Chief Scientific Officer for the Ladies European Tour, and a medical and scientific adviser for The R&A, and other leading golf organisations. He has worked at Olympic, Paralympic, and Commonwealth Games, and led medical teams at European and World Athletics Championships as well as AIG Womens’ Open’s, Ryder Cups, Solheim Cups and Open Championships. An honorary professor at Liverpool John Moores, he is faculty on International Olympic Committee sports medicine and physio courses, and has >130 peer reviewed publications, >100 international and national plenary presentations and has provided advisory to governments on sport and health from his base at the University of Edinburgh.
