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Golfer Wie making fitness a priority
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-12 09:34
HONOLULU - For a girl with such grandiose dreams, even Michelle Wie thought
the bar was set too high.
It was one of her first
exercises late last year with Paul Gagne, a fitness guru who spends most of his
time with hockey players, and the task was a simple pull-up. Wie jumped up to
grab the bar, and her 6-foot frame dangled in the air for a few seconds before
she tried to lift herself. She barely moved a few inches.
When the workout was over, Wie said she was so sore she couldn't lift her
arms to wash her hair in the shower.
"It was way too painful," she said. "My New Year's Resolution is to cut down
on sugar and not be as lazy. That means going to the gym a lot more. My goal is
to get fit, get stronger and prevent injury."
Her ultimate goal remains the same — to play golf against the best in the
world.
The next chance comes Thursday in the Sony Open, the first full-field event
on the PGA Tour where Wie has become a regular fixture. It will be her seventh
time competing against the men, and fourth time on the PGA Tour as she tries to
become the first woman since Babe Zaharias in 1945 to make the cut.
But the junior at nearby Punahou School no longer emphasizes getting to the
weekend. The older she gets, the farther along in her unique journey, she has
paid less attention to results and more on hitting the right shots.
How does she measure success?
"If at the end of the week I felt good about the week, I had a lot of fun and
I played as hard as I can," she said.
Her newfound dedication to fitness is one example of Wie seeing a bigger
picture.
Swing coach David Leadbetter said her upper body strength was woefully
lacking, and he brought in Gagne for help. In the last few months, he said Wie
has increased her ball speed about 5 mph to 161 mph, which he compared favorably
with the 166 mph ball speed of Justin Rose.
Wie has added about eight pounds of muscle, which Leadbetter says has given
her more strength to hold the club in the proper position at the top of the
swing.
"Look at what strength training did for Annika (Sorenstam)," Leadbetter said.
"Michelle tended to shy away from it. But once we pointed out the benefits, it's
a full program she has to work on. When you've got the talent she has, it's a
matter of getting your ducks in a row. She's game for it. She's starting to
enjoy it."
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