Each year golfers are bombarded with products, companies like Ping, Taylor Made and Titleist compete for attention for their new hardware, making bold claims like ‘Carry a extra 17 yards’ or ‘Fix your slice’ on their latest innovations. So much effort and investment goes into a golf bag, but what about the golfer?
Sure, clubs and golf balls can make a difference to a golfers performance, but very few companies focus on the health, wellbeing and performance of the person holding the club.
Sports supplements and health products are not always easily linked to golf, the skill and precision required to play golf doesn’t necessarily demand extreme training regimes, drastic diets or excessive muscle, many of the health supplements available focus on such areas. It requires dynamic strength, mobility and a clear, well trained mindset.
Much of the traditional health supplements market is surplus for the conventional golfer, but CBD products have a few party pieces that golfers of all ages and abilities can benefit from.
How can CBD help golfers?
There are 3 main areas where CBD and Golf can cross paths, areas of the game that will be familiar to almost everyone who’s picked up a club at some point in their life.
Nerves
Standing on the first tee box, heart beating a little faster than you might like, friends or colleagues are stood on the edge watching on as you pull out your driver for the first time today. Sounds pretty daunting, right? Nerves can plague golfers, the onset of nerves can overflow into a lack of confidence and a round of golf can turn upside down as a result.
People are now looking at CBD as a way to calm and ease these nervous moments on the golf course, citing their documented anti-anxiety effects as playing a role in helping them achieve a calmer state of body and mind.
Anti-Inflammatory Effects
Regular golfers will know that injuries and soreness can impact your golf in a variety of ways, inflamed muscles and joints can cause pain and difficulty during movement. Several joints have to work together harmoniously to keep a golf swing consistent, throw one of these out of balance and it’s likely you’ll see your performance suffer as a result.
Noted in multiple studies, CBD and indeed other cannabinoids have been shown to reduce inflammation of muscle and tendons, the impact of which could mean golfers can benefit from a naturally sourced anti-inflammatory, without the need for conventional pharmaceutical drugs.
Pain Management
Playing golf with pain is something many players suffer at some stage of their lives. Whilst every effort should be made to ensure mobility and physical strength is maintained, some issues can manifest themselves and create real issues for golfers with acute back and knee pain being regular concerns for many players.
CBD can act as a natural pain reliever, with it’s potent influence on pain receptors, Cannabidiol can be the secret weapon in your golf bag when pain starts. Studies have shown an improvement in people with MS and how they managed their pain whilst taking a Sativex – (derived from the hemp plant). Several other human studies have found strong support for CBD as a pain management tool.
CBD in the Professional Golf World
As the profile of CBD has been raised in recent years, professional golfers have shared their advocacy of the plant product in various ways, Bubba Watson has a commercial interest in a CBD company in the US, Scott Mcarron has publicy advocated for CBD use, there was even talk of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson taking CBD at the 2019 Masters Tournament at Augusta.
Safe to say, that once the consensus of the professional top tiers of golf begin working with CBD brands, a substantial wave of adoption will wash over the golf world at large, and we for one, can’t wait!
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