Key result
Each extra hour of sleep linked to ~0.5 fewer strokes among professional male golfers.
Why the study?
Sleep and cardiac autonomic function indicate recovery and readiness, but their role in elite golf performance remains understudied.
Do wearable-derived sleep and physiological metrics (RHR, HRV) associate with performance in professional golfers?
Observational (n=389)
Do wearable-derived sleep and physiological metrics (RHR, HRV) associate with performance in professional golfers?
Effect estimate: b = -0.522
p-value: p=<0.001
Wearable-derived metrics of sleep and cardiac autonomic function (RHR, HRV) are significantly associated with objective performance outcomes in elite professional golfers.
May support wearable monitoring of sleep and recovery in elite golfers; leaves open causal effects and need for interventional trials.
PURPOSE: Elite golf performance hinges on physiological and psychological precision, with success often defined by razor-thin margins. Sleep and cardiac autonomic function, reflected by resting heart rate (RHR) and heart-rate variability (HRV), are indicators of recovery and readiness, yet their role in golf remains understudied. METHODS: We analyzed wearable-derived data from 389 male professional golfers across 521 events, totaling 35,140 nights of monitoring. Key metrics included sleep duration (7.2 [0.7] h), sleep consistency (regularity of sleep/wake times; 69.1% [6.9%]), RHR (55.9 [7.9] beats·min-1), HRV (root mean square of successive differences; 64.2 [28.1] milliseconds), and a composite recovery score (integrating sleep and biometric data; 59.1% [9.9%]). Objective golf performance (total score, great/poor shots, strokes gained) was extracted from a subscription-based database. Models assessed between-persons differences and within-person changes across seasons (using seasonal averages), adjusting for age (34.1 [9.1] y), height (1.81 [0.07] m), and weight (83.2 [10.6] kg). RESULTS: Golfers with longer and more consistent sleep, lower RHR, and higher HRV performed better (P < .05). Between athletes, each additional hour of sleep was associated with a lower score (b = -0.522), as was a 10-percentage-point increase in sleep consistency (b = -0.382), a 1-beat-per-minute lower RHR (b = -0.038), and a 10-percentage-point increase in recovery (b = -0.476). Within athletes, improvements in sleep consistency (b = -0.193 per 10 percentage points), HRV (b = -0.016 per 1 millisecond), and recovery (b = -0.238 per 10 percentage points) were also associated with lower scores (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Sleep and cardiac autonomic function were associated with elite golf performance. Both individual differences and within-athlete improvements were linked to better play, highlighting the potential role of sleep, RHR, and HRV in optimizing performance at the highest level of golf.
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Grosicki et al. (2025) conducted an observational in Professional golf performance (n=389). Wearable-derived sleep and physiological metrics (sleep duration, sleep consistency, RHR, HRV, recovery score) was evaluated on Overall score (total number of strokes taken during a competitive round) (b = -0.522, p=<0.001). Among professional male golfers, each additional hour of sleep was associated with a 0.522-stroke lower overall score, and higher sleep consistency, lower resting heart rate, and higher recovery scores were also linked to better performance.
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