Is Golf Physical?

Clarification: He said it took alot of skill, but was nowhere near the physicality of football, basketball, etc. Therefore, it's not a sport. In his eyes.

I remember I used Rory and Tiger as the example of you have to be big and strong to play golf too. He just doesn't believe 80 year olds can play a 'sport'.

define 'alot'...in basketball you run (doesnt' take talent nor skill to run) and shoot...football you run and catch (doesn't take 'alot' of skill to run, nor catch a football)...
just sayin.
 
We actually had a huge debate on this subject in the past, but that was long before you joined.

I think it's a sport that requires some form of athleticism, coordination, skill, whatever you want to call it. Obivously not as physically taxing as some others, but I'm worn out at the end of a round if I'm walking.

Agreed, it certainly requires some physical skill, but there are certain people who could play a round of golf, but in no way could play a full game of say football or soccer.
 
I think the baseball comparison says it all. If baseball is a sport, how could golf not be?
 
Agreed, it certainly requires some physical skill, but there are certain people who could play a round of golf, but in no way could play a full game of say football or soccer.

And there are people who could play a full game of football or soccer who could not make it through one cross-country practice, or one swimming practice. Does that make football and soccer not sports?
 
Golf is a physical as you want it to be.

If you want to be an elite golfer you have to be physically fit. If you want to be an elite footballer or hockey player you need to be physically fit. But none of those sports require it on a recreational level.
 
I also don't think golf is a sport. In my opinion it can't be called a sport when extremely out of shape or even fat guys can be among the very best in the world.

I think for something to be a sport you habe to get into shape BY doing it and do additional work in order to get really good. Nobody I know picks up golf to get or stay in shape.

I also think the type of competition plays a role. In a sport you play against an oponent whereas in golf you play against the golf course. There is no way to force your oponent to make a mistake. In Basketball your shot can be unguardable, you can shut your oponent down defensively. In (real) football you can defend hard in tennis you can play tactical shots like a drop shot or serve with kick. In golf you can only put mental pressure by playing a good shot. You can't however hinder someone from hitting a good shot themselves.

I am having a hard time explaining what I mean. I guess my problem is that you cannot make the game of golf any harder for your oponent who might even have finished his round whereas in every sport I know you can. Am I making any sense here?

Then what about basically any track and field event (basically pure athletics). Almost all are either timed or measured. You cannot affect your opponents. Are you going to tell me the 100M is not a sport and that Usain Bolt is not an athlete?
 
Thanks guys! All great points. He's a huge baseball fan so I'll bring that up and it should be an interesting argument. I'll report back here when it is all done.
 
Let's just say i lost 30 pounds for playing daily for the entire month of April, if golf ain physical, I don't know what is. Tell your friends to go play with you and see haha
 
Golf is a physical as you want it to be.

If you want to be an elite golfer you have to be physically fit. If you want to be an elite footballer or hockey player you need to be physically fit. But none of those sports require it on a recreational level.

Might just be the best post.
 
Golf is a physical as you want it to be.

If you want to be an elite golfer you have to be physically fit. If you want to be an elite footballer or hockey player you need to be physically fit. But none of those sports require it on a recreational level.

Rep added. Great point.
 
THere were a lot of good responses to this, and as usual, I'll add a little to the firestorm. Personally I don't get too involved in discussions of whether or not it is a sport because if you want to feel it is, fine. If not, fine. I base my perspective on the scoring system. I do not consider cheerleading, gymnastics, ice skating etc sports. They are competitions. Is it splitting hairs or getting wrapped up in symantics, yes. But that is my opinion. The basis for that opinion is that if there is a defined objective (get across the finish line first) and/or points associated with that objective, then it is a sport. Basketball-1,2,or 3 points for getting the ball in the basket. Football-6 points for getting the ball in the endzone with 1, 2, or 3 point variations for various other plays. Soccer/hockey/LaCrosse/Polo for goodnes sake etc-1 point for getting the "ball" in the goal. You get the idea. Gymnastics, Ice skating, cheerleading does not have this. With these activities it is purely based upon SUBJECTIVE judging as to how a performer or team does. One judge looks and says that was a perfect flip/spin or whatever it was and the guy sitting right next to you says that flip/spin stinks his toe wasn't pointed and his left arm was askew. It is purely subjective. Golf does not have this. You get a point for every stroke that you take to get the ball to it's final objective. You get penalized with extra points for certain violations in your trek from the starting point to that very well defined final objective = Sport.

That is the basis for my opnion, may not be right, but that is how I define it. I'm not saying that gymnasts, cheerleaders, and ice-skaters, etc are not talented. They have a huge amount of talent, skill, and to be good takes years of dediation and practice and I wouldn't minimize it. Are the athletes? Sure, but I don't consider their activity a sport.

As far as video games, the title says it all-GAME. You are not actually engaged in whatever you are doing in the game be it basketball, golf, football, Olympics, racing, you are SIMULATING at a very base level the experience of whatever game cartridge you have installed in the machine. Even if you were to play a golf round in front of a trackman, or that home simulator, you are only simulating a real event making it a game in my book. May be just as enjoyable to some degree, but it is still just a game.

And the game is not just against the course. Yes, that is a large part of it, but if you playing matchplay your not playing your opponent? Yes, directly. You can do things to mess them up, but at a mental level. As much as you'd like to you can't stand in front of him and jump up and down while he putts, or try to kick his ball before it gets in the hole, or throw rocks at him, but you can play safe and lay up if you don't need to go for it, or you can give him some close putts, not allowing him to putt in, then when the pressure is on, start making him putt out and watch him miss etc.. It's not as direct player to player, but the element is still there.

That's my long winded 2 cents worth.
 
I know too little about Baseball to form an opinion. I have never watched a whole match (game?) because it is virtually unknown here in Germany. I watched some of the world series in 2004 because I was an exchange student in Boston and I could only tolerate watching it because I was in Boston and the Red Sox won...
Actually, what Tiger said today about intimidation not being a factor because players don't play against each other is almost exactly what I mean.

It’s not like you go over the middle and some guy is 255 pounds and going to take your block off. This is about execution and going about your own business and see where tends up at the end of the day. It’s just the nature of our sport, which is different than some sports.

"Some individual sports, such as tennis, you actually can do that physically, because you’re playing against somebody. Here no one is affecting any shots.
I got this from PGAtour.com
 
Yes but in golf you aren't playing against someone, but something. The course is the competitor. However when you are playing against someone you can drop a big putt for birdie and put pressure on them, hence making it harder for them.

Is archery a sport? Is badminton a sport? Is table tennis a sport? Is diving a sport?

No, yes, yes, yes
 
Then what about basically any track and field event (basically pure athletics). Almost all are either timed or measured. You cannot affect your opponents. Are you going to tell me the 100M is not a sport and that Usain Bolt is not an athlete?

Please read my post again. Obviously Bolt is an incredible athlete. I mentioned two criteria one being that a sport is physically exhausting and demanding enough to get in shape which clearly applies for track and field. The other being the competition thing which track and field does not have. In my opinion golf doesn't have either which is why it ain't a sport.

Sorry for making several posts but I haven't quite figured out how to quote multiple posts at the same time. Oh never mind I just figured it out. I just have to use the quote tags :banghead:
 
Not sure why "sport" has been brought into this, as it does not define physical exertion.
 
I like how technique plays such a pivotal role in golf. I play baseball with uber athletic guys how can hit the baseball farther than me, but when we play golf none of them can hit a golf ball farther than me. Coordination, technique, finesse, and a repeatable swing are physical. Course management, imagination, confidence and the ability to shrug off a bad shot or round are mental aspects -- every bit as critical as the physical side of golf.
 
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Please read my post again. Obviously Bolt is an incredible athlete. I mentioned two criteria one being that a sport is physically exhausting and demanding enough to get in shape which clearly applies for track and field. The other being the competition thing which track and field does not have. In my opinion golf doesn't have either which is why it ain't a sport.

Sorry for making several posts but I haven't quite figured out how to quote multiple posts at the same time. Oh never mind I just figured it out. I just have to use the quote tags :banghead:

On a smaller level it does. Try getting your butt off the couch after months of Kardashian re-runs and walk/play 18 holes. Now, judge which muscles are needing to get in better shape by the pain you are experiencing. No matter how minute, you will be shaping muscles for this exertion.
 
This is exactly what happened last time hahah.

It doesn't matter at the end of the day if it is a sport of not. Because I'm still going to play it.

I don't understand how anybody can say diving is a sport and not golf. You compete against others in golf, just like you do in golf. At the end of every golf tournament I've watched I'm pretty sure a scoreboard was shown.
 
Golf is physical in that you need to make an athletic move by turning your shoulders and hips with precise timing. I had this debate last year with my fiance's brother and his agruement for golf not being a sport was that its not dynamic, meaning that the ball just sits there and you hit it. Its not like other sports where you have to constantly adjust to whats happening around you (baseball, football, hockey, etc).
To a certain extent I do agree with him but I also feel that people who dont play golf have no understanding of how mental golf can be and how much you have to consider things such as elevation, slope, the wind and what kind of trajectory you need to have.
To me, people who try to make a distinction between a sport and a game are just trying to justify why something they like is better and something they dont like sucks. Sport? Game? Who cares?
 
He's not budging. It's almost ridiculous. I told him you have to be in top physical condition to play good golf and he laughed at me. This is hopeless.
 
The question, Is golf Physical.... if you define the term is it a physcial activity (AKA a form of physical exercise).... the answer is yes, moreso if you actually walk and not take a cart. I have read that you can burn in upwards of 1000 calories playing 18 holes of golf.
According to the LiveStrong website:
The number of calories you burn in any exercise depends primarily on your weight and the intensity of the activity. For example, a 190-pound man who pulls his golf cart should burn around 431 calories an hour, while someone who weighs 130 pounds would burn about 295 calories. If you play for four hours, the average time to play 18 holes, the numbers can add up to more than 1,000 calories.

Further more, I know of nobody that has ever lost 40LBS and stopped taking their medications (after a year) playing video games, checkers or chess.
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/sports/kswb-san-marcos-man-plays-golf-every-day-for-two-years-20120718,0,6636145.story

I personally know of a gentleman who has dropped 18LBS this year (riding). He retired in April, starting playing 5 days a week (used to get out once a week) and after 5 months dropped the poundage.
 
Three things for 100% sure that golf is. A "Skill", a "game", and a "competition" . A skill, game, and competition that requires great efforts to become very good at doing. A skill, game, and competition that requires both mental and physical ability. You are certainly and absolutely utilizing muscles and muscle coordination mixed in and along with mental preporation/coordination every time one swings a club in order to obtain results. The physical excertion is certainly not the same as such a Football player or etc.. but it does exist.
What about shooting pool?, or playing darts? how about fishing? Archery, skeet shooting, etc... and many more as others have mentioned. We can go on and on and this debate would probably never end.
I really just dont know the true answer. Where does one draw the line as to just how much physical ability has to be exerted in a competition before determining its a sport. I think its completely a matter of personal view and there is no right or wrong answer.
 
He's not budging. It's almost ridiculous. I told him you have to be in top physical condition to play good golf and he laughed at me. This is hopeless.
Invite him to carry your bag for the next 18 you play on a hot day at a hilly course. See if he still thinks it's not a sport after that. Golf is certainly not as intense a sport as some others, but it is definitely a sport.
 
Invite him to carry your bag for the next 18 you play on a hot day at a hilly course. See if he still thinks it's not a sport after that. Golf is certainly not as intense a sport as some others, but it is definitely a sport.

Just did. He agreed as long as I bought him dinner. He thinks it's going to be like carrying his backpack around campus. This should be entertaining.
 
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