A cut above: Injury is the worst woe for a sportsman

We are towards the end of the season and I am looking eagerly forward to the break. It has been a long year, which felt even longer because of the various injuries I had.

That's how you feel when you are forced to sit back when you'd rather be out there playing. The days just seem to stretch. Injury is definitely the worst thing that can happen to an active sportsperson, but it is also something that you've got to expect. There is a very famous saying in India, which goes something like this: In a battlefield, only those guys fall who are riding on horses; not the ones who are crawling on their knees!

The reason I am talking injuries is because that is my biggest resolution for 2010 — to try and stay fit and healthy. And I know several other players are also thinking along the same lines. Just take a look at Paul Casey. What a super season he was having before the intercostal muscle injury (exactly the same injury that kept me out this year for almost three months) ruined everything.

How do I ensure that I do not get injured? All you can do is take some precautions. I have been to the Titleist Performance Institute in the US, and those guys are at the cutting edge of golf fitness. I have gone through the entire gamut of tests which gives us a very good idea about which parts of my body need to be worked up on to handle the rigours of a golf swing. And I have been given customised exercise sets to work on those areas.

Better schedule

The other thing is to have a better schedule to give the body the required rest. I have already cut down a lot on my playing commitment, and I need to be even better organised in 2010 as I want to play the mandatory number of events on both the US PGA and the European Tour, as well as participate in a few events in India, Asia and Japan.

Finally, I have been asked by many people about Tiger Woods. I can write pages and talk for hours on his golf, but the events of the last few days is related to his personal life. And that's something I do not wish to comment upon. It's for him and the family to sort out.

Jeev Milkha Singh is a three-time winner on the European Tour.