Matty Forde loves his golf.
When he retired from the Wexford county team seven years ago now, one of his main aims was to get that handicap lower than the 11 it was then.
He played golf, hit many a fairway over the years that followed but in the last two, he’s barely struck a ball.
And though he misses hitting greens and sinking putts, Forde has had to admit to himself that cutting out the golf has seen his back pain reduce greatly.
In the early 2000s, Forde was one of the most feared forwards in the game. He carried a Wexford team to an All-Ireland semi-final and won an All-Star for himself along the way.
In 2011, he had no option but to hang up the boots at 31. Chronic back pain that had him struggling to get out of bed the morning after games and training took its toll on him and sapped his enjoyment out of the game.
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He’s 39 now, and Forde is still playing for his club. He kicked Kilanerin to Wexford and Leinster intermediate titles last year and he almost led them to senior glory this year, only for his club to be well defeated by Shelmaliers in the replay at the weekend.
Plenty of core-work, diligence toward his S and C programme and stretching has helped his case, but leaving the golf clubs in the shed has been another ‘huge factor’.
“I haven’t missed a game in the last couple of years,” he said on The GAA Hour Show.
“One thing and I never considered it at the time was, I used to play an awful lot of golf…Through other circumstances – work and stuff – I haven’t played any in the last two to two and a half years, and it’s probably only hit home with me that in the last while that since I stopped playing, it’s definitely been a huge factor in it.
“Listen I do an awful lot of core work and stuff like that but I think it’s a combination of things like that that’s helped me come back to a sense of normality.”
“When I did retire, I was in an awful lot of pain. The morning after training and matches it really was a struggle to get out of bed…(Giving up the golf) wouldn’t have done any harm, but I think it’s more a case of it healing over time…
“Not golfing on it is definitely not doing it any harm anyway…”
There’s a lesson for any golfing GAA players struggling with back pain…
You can listen to the Matty Forde interview, and much more from last Thursday’s GAA Hour Show.
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