Extreme training is only thing saving career, Oberholser finds  PGATOUR.com Contributor FORT WORTH, Texas -- He calls it last-resort type stuff.  A balky back has forced Arron Oberholser to take drastic measures. (Richard Schultz/WireImage)
Nothing else, after all, worked. Nothing. Not the fitness trailer. Not the last bunch of trainers or their regimens. Not the ones before that, either. So Arron Oberholser puts himself through the wringer. He pushes himself past what he ever thought his body could handle. And then he straps an electronic stimulator on his legs to make it tougher. The type of training no one save an NFL player like Indianapolis defensive end Dwight Freeney would inflict on himself. And, know what? It's working. Oberholser hasn't had a back problem since he started this program -- Accelerated Recovery Performance, ARP for short. Also known as Ultra Fit. Something his fiancée suggested. She does it, too. "She's probably one of the strongest people I know,'' he said. Oberholser may not be far behind. The man who played 31 holes Friday at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and walked off smiling. He tossed out a little second-round 66 to settle in one shot behind rain-delayed second-round leader Tim Clark, then settled down to talk about the routine that's saved his career. His back problems first came up when he was playing on the Nationwide Tour in 2002, and they persisted through the start of the year when he had to withdraw from the Mercedes-Benz Championship after one round. That's when he changed strategies. "I was fed up after this last bout when I hurt it again,'' he said. "So I said enough is enough. I'm going to take care of this.'' So he sought out the ARP guys to strengthen his leg and back muscles. "I think the people I was working with before were afraid to give me certain things because they didn't know what kind of load I could handle,'' Oberholser said. "These guys don't care. They say do this, you'll be fine.'' So Oberholser does the most basic -- as he says -- of exercises. Five-minute wall squats, Russian lunges, Russian lunge holds. And with the electrical stimulator, 15 reps feels like doing 150 reps. And, once a month, he goes for a full body evaluation. That's when he exercises eight hours -- with a 45-minute lunch break -- one day and four hours the next. Twelve hours over a period of 24 hours where, he said, they balance his body. "When you have tried everything and nothing is working and you still keep getting injured this is what you go to,'' he said. "Because no one would want to inflict this kind of pain on themselves. Unless you really want it. Unless you really want to play golf.'' The 32-year-old calls it managing his back, something he'll have to do for the rest of his life. Which is why you don't see him playing more than 25 events a year. In 2006, it paid off as he won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and shot 60 in the second round of the EDS Byron Nelson, missing a 15-foot putt at the final hole that would have put him in ultra-elite company with a 59.  Tim Clark sits at 11 under heading to the weekend. (Grayson/WireImage)
This year, he's been up and down. He's perfect on cuts made since that withdrawal in Hawaii and he has three top 10s -- a T10 at the Honda Classic, a T9 at the Shell Houston Open and a T47 at the Wachovia Championship. But he's also had his share of 45th-and-higher finishes. A year ago, he finished T4 here and no, this nasty weather doesn't bother him. He grew up in the San Francisco area. "Rain and wind don't really bother me, '' he said. "But together, they're annoying.'' After Thursday's frogstrangler, which ended play around 4:30 p.m., Friday was damp and dotted with sprinkles and drizzle. But nothing major. "It was one of those starting pitcher deals,'' he laughed. "(Rain) Jacket on. Jacket off." Still, Oberholser had to finish the final 13 holes of his first round before heading out to the second 18. To close out the first 18, he threw out four straight pars, then played the final eight holes 5 under to pull to finish with a 64. "I can't remember the last time I had to play 31 holes,'' he said. "It was a long day. On the course it wasn't that bad, though . . . The golf course is pretty flat and, very, you know, user-friendly as far as walking.'' But, he added, "if you can get the mojo going early, and then just carry it onto the next round.'' And if you don't? You've got plenty of holes to recover. "So it's mentally and physically taxing, but at the same time, we're athletes, right?" He grew up playing basketball and used to go to a local gym for a little four-on-four pickup. Now, the best he does is shoot around a little. "I'm a six-foot guy with a 6-8 mentality,'' he said. "Every once and a while I would get a rebound or I would come down on someone's foot and twist an ankle. Now I shoot around to see if I have any stroke left.'' You can bet he does. And with this new workout, he might even be able to get a TOUR team together. If he did, he said he'd start with Jason Gore down low on the block. "Just back him down,'' he laughed. As for his longevity? Oberholser is confident this ARP and a limited schedule is the way to go. "I don't know if you are ever totally out of the woods with back problems, considering what we do for a living,'' he said. "And considering the load you put on your back and the lumbar disks when you play . . . ." All you can do is manage it. Even if it means putting yourself through the wringer. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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