(CNN) -- Golfers everywhere beware! The knee problems that left Tiger Woods on the sidelines and threaten his bid to overtake Jack Nicklaus as the all-time majors winner are not solely the preserve of star players.
If you are a middle-age golfer with an expanding waistline you too could be placing great strain on vulnerable joints.
It seems Woods' left knee gave out because of the "tremendous forces" he exerts during his swing, according to leading U.S. orthopedic specialist Dr. Nicholas A. DiNubile MD.
He has treated many leading athletes during his career, including NBA star Allen Iverson and is the best-selling author of "FrameWork - Your 7 Step Program for Healthy Muscles, Bones & Joints."
"Dr Nick has helped keep me keep me in one piece and that's no easy job," reads a personal testimony from former Philadelphia 76ers star on the surgeon's official website.
But the bulk of DiNubile's day-to-day work involves treating less impressive physical specimens than the likes of Woods and Iverson, and middle age golfers are among his biggest clients.
"I see perhaps three to six per day and I tell most of them they could do with dropping a few pounds," he told CNN.
"Every pound you are carrying equates to between five to eight in terms of pressure on the knee during a golf swing," he revealed.
The good news for the average hacker is that they are unlikely to suffer such a drastic injury as that suffered by 14-time major winner Woods.
He tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in 2008 and further problems flared up this year to sideline him from the U.S. and British Opens.
DiNubile believes the former world number one can get back to his best, but warned: "The knee is never quite the same when your tear the ACL."
A birds'-eye view of how an ACL tear is fixed 
And that is where Tiger and the high handicappers have something in common because DiNubile believes that arthritis is a factor "unavoidable after ACL surgery however perfect the procedure."
A common injury problem among golfers who have played for a number of years, other than lower back issues, is the tearing of the meniscus in the knee.
Meniscus are shock absorbers and once they are damaged, the dreaded arthritis creeps in.
With proper treatment, a good fitness program and shedding a few pounds, golfing careers can be extended, but DiNubile warns that arthritis "goes through phases when it calms down, then out of the blue it comes back at you."
DiNubile was a special advisor to the president's council on physical fitness and sports in the first Bush administration and helped former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with his syndicated medical column.
He has his own words of advice for Woods and other golfers suffering from a similar knee problem.
"Stay fit, lay off running, weights are great and there are joint supplements that help, as well as lubricants we can inject (into the knee) that tame arthritis a little."
Woods returned to action last month after an 11-week layoff and before the tournament in Ohio told reporters he felt the "fittest he's been in years."
The 35-year-old added: "The great thing is I don't feel a thing, Woods said of his left leg.
"It feels solid, it feels stable, no pain. That's one of the reasons why I took as long as I did to come back is that I want to get to this point where I can go ahead and start playing golf again like this."
Physically fit again he may be, but Woods has struggled on the course, finishing down the field at his comeback event and missing the cut at this week's U.S. PGA Championship.
DiNubile has no doubt he can still challenge in the majors, but like other golfers with knee problems believes it will be a limiting factor.
"I do think it will indeed change the potential of what he might have accomplished. It is a real issue," he concluded.
