Mixing humor and emotion in her acceptance speech, the three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion calls the honor one of the highlights of her career

Houston, Texas ­– During her 16-year career as a professional golfer, Annika Sorenstam marched down fairways around the world with a steely countenance that was the outward manifestation of her singular purpose, competitive spirit and unwavering focus.

Those who watched that Sorenstam – the one who won 90 professional tournaments, including three U.S. Women’s Open championships ­– would have been surprised by this Sorenstam, ­the one who accepted the 2012 Bob Jones Award during a dinner at the 2012 USGA Annual Meeting. Addressing more than 300 guests, she cracked jokes, shared warm memories of her parents and fought back tears while thanking her husband, Mike McGee, for his support.

“When you play professional golf, it’s easy to get caught up in only results,” said Sorenstam, who retired in 2008. “Standing before you tonight and receiving this award is honestly one of the highlights of my career.

“Because it goes beyond all the scores on the golf course. I see things very differently now. At the end of the day, no matter how many putts you make, the true legacy that you leave behind is the number of people you touch in your life. That is what I care about right now, and I think that is what this award and the USGA are all about.”

Sorenstam, 41, earned the Bob Jones Award, which recognizes distinguished sportsmanship in golf, both for the way she conducted herself on the course and for her efforts to promote the game and pass on the game’s values and benefits to subsequent generations.

As a USGA Ambassador, Sorenstam helps the USGA make the game more accessible to all golfers. She has helped the Association educate golfers through a series of “Play by the Rules” video vignettes and was the honorary chairman for the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo.

In addition, Sorenstam is a global ambassador for the International Golf Federation and runs the ANNIKA Foundation, which uses golf to teach children the importance of fitness and nutrition as the pillars of a healthy lifestyle. The ANNIKA Foundation has partnered with the American Junior Golf Association, The First Tee and the Florida Hospital.

Among the lessons she tries to impart to youngsters are the standards of sportsmanship, honesty, integrity and respect that are at the core of what it means to be a golfer.

“We should all be proud of the values we teach,” said Sorenstam. “Whether it’s being credible in business or reliable as a partner or trusted as a spouse, we can all use what golf teaches us to be better people. That’s why I love this game so much.”

At the dinner, it was apparent that the admiration was mutual. Prior to her acceptance speech, Sorenstam and the audience watched a video that showed the numerous highlights of her life.

About halfway through, there was footage of the final shot of her USGA career. During the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn., Sorenstam holed a 6-iron from 199 yards to make an eagle on the 18th hole in the final round.

As the ball took a big bounce onto the green, then rolled toward the hole on the two large screens in the ballroom, the dinner attendees murmured in expectation. When the ball fell into the hole, they exploded into applause as if they had been sitting around Interlachen’s 18th green.

More than three years after Sorenstam last hit a shot in competition, the golf world continues to cheer her on. That is why Sorenstam is a deserving recipient of the Bob Jones Award, the USGA’s most prestigious honor.

www.usga.org

To watch the tribute video the USGA put together for Annika, click here to head to the USGA website.

(ORLANDO, FL) — The Annika Academy, Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam’s boutique golf instruction and fitness facility, announces its diverse menu of individual, group and corporate schools for 2012.

New to the roster is the ‘Player’s Package.’ The program includes three hours of instruction on three consecutive days; 54 holes of golf; and full-service breakfast daily. Groups are limited to no more than eight guests, fostering an intimate guest-to-instructor ratio and environment conducive to learning. Prices start at $1,900 per person.

“The ANNIKA Academy presents a one-of-a-kind opportunity for golfers to learn the game from the teachers who were so dedicated and influential during my career,” says Annika, an eight-time LPGA Player of the Year. “The attention to detail we give to all aspects of the game along with club fitting and fitness provides a truly unique, holistic approach to instruction.”

Tailored to suit a variety of tastes and budgets, the ‘Championship,’ ‘Platinum,’ ‘Major Championship’ and ‘Soren-Slam’ packages are again offered in 2012. Annika participates in three of the four packages, creating an authentic learning environment unmatched in the marketplace.

Championship Package:

• Led by Henri Reis (Annika’s swing coach), Charlotta Sorenstam (former LPGA winner)
• Covers full-swing, putting, chipping, bunker play
• Fitness instruction and nutritional overview with Kai Fusser (Annika’s personal trainer)
• Personalized CD with your workout program
• Golf video swing analysis
• Club fitting using C-PAS (Callaway Performance Analysis System)
• 27 holes of golf
• Course management strategy with Charlotta (on course)
• Full-service breakfast, lunch
• Maximum eight guests, 4:1 guest-to-instructor ratio
• Starting at $3,000 per person

Platinum Package:

• The Championship Package experience, plus
• Lunch with Annika
• Photo and autograph session with Annika
• Starting at $3,750 per person

Major Championship Package:

• The Platinum Package experience, plus
• Instructional clinic with Annika
• Starting at $5,250 per person

Soren-Slam Package:

• The Major Championship Package experience, plus
• Nine holes of golf with Annika
• Starting at $9,245 per person

For more information, contact Gary Lorfano, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing garyl@theannikaacademy.com / 407.385.1245.

About the ANNIKA Academy

The ANNIKA Academy is a state-of-the-art, “boutique” teaching facility at Orlando’s Reunion Resort. The Academy opened in 2007 as a platform to share Annika’s passion for golf and fitness. It is led by her long-time personal coaches, Henri Reis (lead swing instructor) and Kai Fusser (personal trainer). Their proven, simple techniques allow players of all skill levels to reach their potential by transferring more energy and power to the golf course.  One of only 15 certified Callaway Performance Centers in the country, the Academy provides custom-tailored corporate packages, individualized golf instruction, personalized fitness programs, club fitting and even opportunities to play with Annika.

For more information: www.theannikaacademy.com / 888.266.4522

This is not an easy task for me to explain in a short fitness tip why we should stay away from the typical low to moderate-intensity continuous training (“CARDIO”) and instead do sprint interval training (SIT, or burst training).

Slow cardio is very time intensive (the number one reason people skip their workouts), only works on your aerobic fitness (and that fairly inefficient), burns some calories during the activity but has no impact on your metabolism and stresses your joints due to repetitive impact (especially running), increases inflammation and makes you slow (the golf swing is a fast activity !).

Now here is a solution for you, SIT training will only take about 4-8 minutes 3 days a week. It works your aerobic and anaerobic system at the same time and is very effective for fat loss, will raise your metabolism for several hours after, will build “fast muscles” and reduce impact on your joints and helps reduce inflammation. Sprint training can burn the same calories as slow cardio in 1/15th of the time ! Slow cardio produces a lot of stress hormones (cortisol) while sprint training stimulates growth hormone ( have you ever compared the physique of a sprinter to a marathon runner ? its your choice).

It is the intensity, not duration that effects the adaptation to exercise.

There are different ways to implement SIT training, it can be done on equipment like a treadmill (rather with steep incline then high speed), stationary bike, upper body ergo meter or a X-iser or it can be done with no equipment like sprinting (athletes only), running up a flight of stairs, up a hill or with full body calisthenics like a Turkish Getup. I recommend to start of with 4 min workouts (add 2-3 min of warm up before) with a sprint to rest ratio of 1-3, say 10 sec sprint with 30 sec rest (slow pace). As you feel more comfortable you should work your way down to a ratio of 1-1 like 20 sec sprint with 20 sec rest. The maximum total time you would want to do is 8 min. (more is not better in this case).

Please remember that the sprints should be “high intensity” which is of course relative to your fitness level (compare a fully trained athlete with a de-conditioned couch hugger).

In any case you will be surprised how fast your body will adapt to the new and positive exercise stress, your energy level will increase, performance will improve, you metabolism will pick up, you will safe time and wear on your joints and most of all it can be fun !

Happy SIT-ing,

Kai

For research on this matter I recommend to read some publications by Mark J. Smith, Ph.D “http://www.x-iser.com” or the research done by Dr. Izumi Tabata

Decide and Commit
When it comes to picking the shot and club you’re going to hit, don’t overthink. Consider the lie, the target and any trouble in your way, but keep it simple. Once you make a decision, focus only on what you need to do—no second-guessing. If you feel nervous or think your swing is getting a little quick, take one more club and swing smoothly.

Take the simplest route
The main thing I do in practice rounds is find the simplest route on every hole. In other words, if a bunker cuts into the fairway in the driving zone, I’ll hit 4-wood to stay short of it. If a par-5 green is well out of reach, I’ll lay up with an iron to leave a full-wedge third shot. (My favorite distance is 80 yards.) Some people call this conservative, I call it smart golf.

Warm up routines help loosen your muscles, relax your body and improve the rhythm and timing of your swing. This will build your confidence and help you be focused and ready when you hit your first tee shot. Annika and I worked together to develop a routine that she uses consistently before each round. I believe this was one of Annika’s biggest strengths.

Annika’s Warm up Routine 
On tournament days, Annika’s warm up is always the same: one hour and 15 minutes. Annika starts on the practice green, hitting some short putts then longer putts to help her get a good feel for the green. Then she moves on to chipping and if there is a bunker nearby, she will hit a few bunker shots. This takes roughly 15 minutes.

60 Minutes to go…
Then it’s onto the range, where she starts with her 60-degree and works up through the bag; some days it’s even clubs and some days it’s odd clubs. Before she pulls out the driver, she goes back to her sand wedge and hits a few more shots. She always likes to be sure her swing has stayed smooth, with the same tempo from wedge to driver. This part of the routine takes approximately 45 minutes.

15 Minutes to go…
Finally, she goes back to the practice green. The purpose now is to hit a few short putts to see and hear the ball dropping into the cup—a great image to take to the course. This is her last time to gather her thoughts and mentally prepare for her upcoming round.