I came across this article from Runner's World and the video here recently saying that Tiger Woods blamed running for his decline in golf.
Tiger Woods turned pro at age 20 (in 1996) and revolutionized how golf was played. He trained really hard physically and many others copied his physical training regimen (after seeing his success) in order to catch up. He made golf really, really popular. Lots of young local golfers I treated wanted to be like him.
Many courses had to "Tiger-proof" their course by adding yardage to their tees because of his long hitting ability.
Well, with all due respect to Tiger, I don't think it's fair at all that he attributed all his injuries to running over 30 miles (or > 48 km) a week over six years.
Yes, Tiger had numerous knee surgeries after tearing his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and at least four back operations.
I would say that his injuries were definitely partly due to his ability to hit the ball so far. The fact that he generated so much forces with his hard hitting that it affected his left knee and back.
Stand up and try this now. If you are right hand dominant, when you rotate your body to hit the ball, you can feel the rotational forces though your left knee and back. For Tiger fans, here is another possibility.
I've written before that running more miles does not wear out your knees. Plenty of published evidence support those findings. Done correctly, running is actually good for your back.
And the stress from his "personal affairs" definitely did not help either.
So don't worry, if you do not have any pre- existing injuries, running more than 30 miles (48 km) a week will not "destroy" your body or knees.
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