For decades, Arnold Palmer's name has been synonymous with a golf career that few professional golfers could rival. After all, few can lay claim to winning 92 professional titles, 62 of which Palmer won on the U.S. PGA Tour. But there's more to Palmer than a killer swing. For this prostate cancer survivor, a future where cancer doesn't kill has become a bigger goal than limitless holes in one. Palmer, renowned for his magnetic personality as well as his sportsmanship and business acumen, sees cancer as a formidable opponent—and he has spent years [and millions of dollars] to find a cure.
Palmer says his main objective is to encourage people to have checkups to facilitate early detection of cancer. “That's the most important facet of cure,” says the 76-year-old. “You just can't stand aside and hope that you don't have it, and you can't make excuses for not having yourself checked. No one is out of the woods as far as having cancer is concerned.”
These aren't just empty words. Palmer not only survived prostate cancer, which was discovered and treated in 1997, but his beloved first wife, Winnie, was diagnosed with peritoneal carcinoma in 1998 and died of the disease one year later. His daughter Amy Saunders, now 48, was the first in the family to be diagnosed with cancer. At age 32 with four children, Saunders found out she had breast cancer in 1990.
“In my early days I was frightened of the ‘C' word,” Palmer recalls. “It was a lack of knowledge as much as anything, but I didn't want to even talk about it.” Now, Palmer talks about cancer all the time and says his efforts are motivated by doing what's in the best interest of those who may be helped by prevention and early detection.
Early on, one physician gave her a 15 percent chance of surviving five years. “I didn't want to deal with the dismal thought that my treatment might not work,” she says. “To survive cancer, you want to be realistic, but choosing to be optimistic is crucial. That was how my father handled things when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.”
When Palmer was diagnosed, he had already been a care-giver to his daughter. Still, despite the fact that he was back on the golf course two months after surgery, there was an intense amount of concern about the challenges ahead. As Saunders recalls, the diagnosis hit the family hard. “I think this was the one time I saw a little more vulnerability in my dad.” For Palmer, getting sick wasn't an option, especially after such an esteemed golf career. “There weren't other alternatives for him,” Saunders says. “He loved the game so much. It was his life.”
Palmer readily admits it was his late wife of 45 years (he remarried in January 2005) who helped him get through his surgery and treatment. Then, when Winnie became sick, Saunders saw her father change. Palmer began to evolve into an advocate of cancer programs supporting early detection and research. “I think he became more passionate about fighting cancer specifically because of my mom,” she says. “We both had the good fortune of having a different outcome, but when you don't, it makes you go through different phases of anger, disappointment and fear, and that makes you want to fight it even harder and find out what you can do.”
“Communications were not as good as I felt they should be between the doctors and researchers,” Palmer says. “Now, I think that communication line is opening up. That's one of the most important things for the prevention and cure of cancer.”
At the helm of the fight against prostate cancer, Palmer has become a beacon of hope. He not only talks very openly about his own experience with the disease, he also encourages men to get prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests and go for annual exams.
Palmer's biggest rallying cry is to be positive, even despite a bad prognosis. “If you approach cancer from a negative standpoint, it's going to be more difficult to return to your normal life. That positive I-can-beat-this frame of mind will go a long way.”
Arnold Palmer Golf Swing
Most golfers don't know that eighty percent of the world's golfers have a handicap of 18 or more. Finding ways to improve your golf game, then applying what you've learned and practicing, is the number one way to get ahead of the game. Even the guys who play golf for a living and get the best golf instruction in the world still struggle to improve their golf; and they practice each and every day!
Visualize where you would like the ball to land, as you swing. Always be aware the mental aspect of the game contributes one way or another to the difficulty of the golf swing. If you've hit with your golf driver perfectly once, you can do it every time; the subconscious mind knows the correct number and sequence of muscle contractions and nerve impulses needed, called muscle memory.
As the body matures, the ability to rotate the upper torso is affected by age, and the hand action can also slow down requiring a slightly stronger grip. It's difficult for a golfer to practice hitting shots longer than short pitch shots unless one pays to play golf or pays to practice at a driving range or indoor golf training facility. After the ball is hit, the follow-through stage consists of a continued rotation to the left.
One of the problems that most inexperienced golfers share is they think too much about their swing. Putting can become a nightmare and a condition called the 'yips' has affected not only amateurs but professionals as well; get expert advice and consider a golf swing aid. Try not to grip the club too tightly.
Accomplished golfers purposely use sidespin to steer their ball around obstacles or towards the safe side of fairways and greens. Make sure to use the proper technique. Many golfers who are strongly left-handed in their daily life prefer the right-handed golf swing.
Swing slowly and steadily using a nice rhythm. The most important thing about the golf swing is the angle and not the strength that's applied to it.
Using some simple tips, techniques and stretches, you can increase your drives by up to 20 yards-- practically overnight. Conditioning your golf muscles will reward you with straighter swings. Hold a medicine ball and turn back and forth; it must be rotational to improve your driving distance.
Sporting goods stores have golf aids to improve your game. If you're a golfing novice just starting out, it's easy to become overwhelmed. Golf swing aids come in all shapes and sizes including apparel type accessories to correct alignment or a golf club add-on accessory to monitor your swing.
Be careful about the claims on TV commercials and magazine ads; seek expert advice before you buy because they may not live up to their claims. Aids can be found online and are often cheaper. Look for aids at your local golf course.
Overall, investing in golf swing aids will greatly improve your golf swing and your golf game. Keep in mind that with some aids, you may still need advice or help from an expert. Ask an expert, who is not associated with the shop you would buy your golf swing aid from, for advice on the right aid for you. There are a number of good golf swing aids on the market today. There are aids that will help you with swing alignment.
Try to concentrate on one golf swing weakness at a time. There are hundreds of useful golf tips to seek out in golf magazines, consumer magazines, sports magazines, in books, ebooks, DVDs, online and offline. Take as many private lessons as you can afford with a good golf pro.
Both Dr Laurence Magne & are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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