Tiger Woods regrets running so much (but he might’ve been overtraining)
The golf champion attributed many of his knee issues and injuries to running too much when he was younger, but is that the whole story?
Tiger Woods has had one of the greatest golf careers in history, but he has also dealt with many injuries over the years. In a GolfTV video, Woods was asked what he would tell his younger self if he could go back in time, and without hesitation, he answered, “Not to run so much.” He said he ran a lot when he was younger, and he blamed that for his injuries, which have plagued his career for over a decade. But there might be more to this story than one phenomenal athlete concluding that running isn’t all that good for you.
What would @TigerWoods tell his younger self if he could go back in time?
Use #AskTiger to submit your questions. pic.twitter.com/xf1xzan518
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) May 1, 2020
An injury-riddled career
“Running over 30 miles a week for my first five or six years on tour pretty much destroyed my body and my knees,” Woods said. Despite missing so much time and so many tournaments due to injuries, he has 82 PGA Tour wins to his name, and he is tied for most wins all-time with Sam Snead. Woods would almost certainly have the outright lead for most PGA Tour wins had he not been injured so much, so it’s sort of understandable why he regrets all the running when he was younger.
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Overtraining?
We don’t know much more about Woods’ running habits or training schedule, but 30 miles a week (almost 50K) is a lot for someone who’s already in the gym and on the course for hours every day. Plus, Woods had a history of overdoing it when injured.
Tiger Woods says this exercise "destroyed" his body: https://t.co/GXRyENgNIa pic.twitter.com/3RvdB9EBw7
— Golf Central (@GolfCentral) May 3, 2020
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According to the PGA website, Woods tore the ACL in his left knee in August 2007 and continued his season. In April 2008, he had surgery on his knee, but only to repair cartilage damage, not for his still-injured ACL. A month later, he was told he had two stress fractures in his left tibia and should lay off it for a while. Instead, he competed at and won the U.S. Open. After that win, he finally had his ACL repaired, almost a full year after he tore it.
Woods is the type of athlete who goes all-in every day, and that’s why he’s possibly the greatest golfer of all time. That tenacity, though, is not always a good trait, especially for runners. In running, you have to know when to take it easy, and every run can’t be at high intensity. The odds look pretty good that Woods just went too hard too often and got hurt because of it.
When someone says running will wreck your knees, look more closely at what they’re basing that on. Running very well might have been the reason Woods has had knee issues for most of his career, but it was probably because of overtraining more than the act of running itself.
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