Week 24: Other sports that can help your golf game

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At first glance, the sports listed below may seem to bear no relation to golf. But when you think about the mental and physical approach you need to take to play each of the following sports, you will soon begin to see many similarities to similar approaches in your golf game. Try these other sports and see how they may affect your time on the links.

Wanna help your golf game? Try playing a little tennis.

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Tennis -- Though there is much more running involved in tennis, the sport still requires you to maintain your balance, place your feet properly and rotate your trunk to achieve a maximum racquet speed and hit the ball with force. The same is true of golf. Because you do not have the luxury to hit the tennis ball when you are ready, it forces you to continually practice coordinating these movements until they feel natural. After a round of tennis, taking a balanced golf swing will seem much easier.

Running -- Many golfers enjoy the game for its leisurely pace, so running wouldn't seem to be all that useful to a golfer. But the strength you will build in your legs will pay off in the form of longer distance on your shots and greater stamina when you reach the later holes of the round. Even though your arms and wrists seem to play the pivotal role in your swing, do not discount the incredible impact your legs have on your game.

Billiards -- It's not the physical aspect of playing billiards that will improve your golf game?it's the mental acumen. To be a great billiard player, you have to be able to control the cue ball around the table, putting it in the perfect position for your next shot. Golf is the most similar sport in this respect. Every hole should have a game plan that requires you to control the ball on the course, putting you in the best possible position for the next shot.

Swimming -- It doesn't have a ball or require you to swing a club or racket, so how can swimming help? It can increase the fitness of your entire body significantly without putting unnecessary stress on your joints. Your arms, legs and torso will all get stronger, allowing you a fuller rotation and a more powerful swing.

Archery -- Think about it for a moment. Archery and golf are probably the two most target-based sports you can play. You dictate the tempo of your actions. You are required to have great calm and mental focus to hit the target. Other opponents aren't blocking your goal. It's a competition against yourself. Archery can help you master the concentration necessary to bring out your best performance repeatedly. Drawing back the bow is also not a bad way to gain strength in your arms, wrists and grip.

Other sports can greatly improve your golf game, but chronic knee pain can ruin it just as quickly. If knee pain is preventing you from performing at your best, you might be suffering from osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Various treatments for OA do exist, such as ORTHOVISC®, which provides up to six months of knee pain relief. Made from ultra-pure natural hyaluronan, which is found in healthy joints, ORTHOVISC® is injected into the knee joint where it acts to replace your natural joint fluid, to help cushion, protect, and lubricate your knee.

ORTHOVISC® is a proud sponsor of PGATOUR.com. Talk to your doctor to see if ORTHOVISC® is right for you. Or visit our Web site at www.orthovisc.com for more information on how to maintain your knee health to help you keep playing the game you love.

Follow us on Twitter for up-to-date information on maintaining joint health and the prevention/treatment of knee pain due to sports-related injuries or the early symptoms of osteoarthritis.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

ORTHOVISC® is indicated in the treatment of pain in osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee in patients who have failed to respond adequately to conservative nonpharmacologic therapy and to simple analgesics, e.g., acetaminophen. In clinical studies, the most commonly reported adverse events were arthralgia, back pain and headache. Other side effects include local injection site adverse events.

ORTHOVISC® is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to hyaluronate formulation or known hypersensitivity (allergy) to gram positive bacterial proteins. ORTHOVISC should not be injected in patients with infections or skin diseases in the areas of the injection site or joint. Strict aseptic technique should be used. The effectiveness of more than 1 course has not been established.