Is Golf Physical?

[Mr. Satchmo]

This is a good way to look at it. In the end though, the best part is that everyone can play golf and enjoy it to the best of their abilities.

Yep that' s the beauty of golf

 

[J4U]

Physicality is up for debate, but the right skill set for those wanting to excel at this SPORT is a must. Yes, anything having to do with an activity can now be considered a sport. The current activity being discussed does require all the afore (pun intended) requirements; however, this SPORT can be enjoyed by all. Perception of enjoyment is self prescribed and can not be taken away unless futile banter is involved and then taken to heart. Keep your head down, swing what you brought, and do it again. There will always be a winner, but what you win is dependent on what you set out to achieve.

 

[Esox]

To paraphrase Judge Smails, "The world needs double bogey golfers, too."

Kevin

 

[Scrap Iron]

Yes it is. Strength, corodination, speed, flexability, mental focus, control and contorting your body, you name it. One of the hardest holes I play is on a course that has a long par 5 all up hill coming out of a valley and it's steep well the next hole is a long walk away and you hit onto a short 135 yard par 3 with a narrow green. If your walking and pushing a cart your heart rate goes up and it's the 16th hole so it's been a grind on a hot day your legs are not as fresh and you have to hit an accurate shot or your taking bogey.

 

[Barberakb]

I don't think people understand the definition of the word sport, look it up, its origins, etc. We define it now based off of football, basketball, baseball and hockey, which require a decent amount of physical exertion, skill, etc.

Hmm, I did look it up and below are the deifinitions. So either Im confused or you don't understand the definition...

Sport is generally recognised as activities which are based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with the largest major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting this definition.

[h=2]sport (straight from dictionary.com)[/h]   /spɔrt, spoʊrt/ Show Spelled[spawrt, spohrt] Show IPA
noun 1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing

 

[rollin]

Here are some quotes from "Wikpedia" defining sport and in the end, I take it all to mean that all in all there is no real definition or it seems more simply based on opinions and can be changed to suit the requests and neads of whom ever makes the decisions. I guess basically anyone can draw thier own conclusion with no right or wrong answer.


Draw your own conclusions from these following wikpedia quotes


"" is all forms of competitive physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and provide entertainment to participants.""

""However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports,""

""Sports are usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition, and allow consistent adjudication of the winner. Winning can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first, or by the determination of judges who are scoring elements of the sporting performance, including objective or subjective measures such as technical performance or artistic impression.""

"""Sport" comes from the Old French desport meaning "leisure", with the oldest definition in English from around 1300 being "anything humans find amusing or entertaining""

""The French word for sport is based on the Persian word bord, meaning "winning" or "win".[SUP][citation needed][/SUP] The Chinese term for sport, tiyu (体育; 體育) connotes physical training. The modern Greek term for sport is Αθλητισμός (athlitismos), directly cognate with the English terms "athlete" and "athleticism".Other meanings include gambling and events staged for the purpose of gambling; hunting; and games and diversions, including ones that require exercise.[SUP][7][/SUP] Roget's defines the noun sport as an "activity engaged in for relaxation and amusement" with synonyms including diversion and recreation.[SUP]""

[/SUP]
""The precise definition of what separates a sport from other leisure activities varies between sources, with no universally agreed definition.""

""They also recognise that sport can be primarily physical (such as rugby or athletics), primarily mind (such as chess or go), predominantly motorised (such as Formula 1 or powerboating), primarily co-ordination (such as billiard sports) or primarily animal supported (such as equestrian sport).[SUP]""[/SUP]

And there we have it...... or not..... LOL

 

[dleavitt39]

I rolled my ankle playing last weekend in Des Moines. If I can get hurt while participating in an activity, it's a sport.

Dan

 

[David Frederick]

If only we could figure out why it matters if you call it a sport or not. It is one of the hardest skills to master and even stars in other sports struggle to be mediocre at golf so let folks call it what they want, most of them will try to play it at some point and most of them will suck at it and realize what fulfilling and challenging sport(or skill, or game) it really is. We already know.

 

[rollin]

If only we could figure out why it matters if you call it a sport or not. It is one of the hardest skills to master and even stars in other sports struggle to be mediocre at golf so let folks call it what they want, most of them will try to play it at some point and most of them will suck at it and realize what fulfilling and challenging sport(or skill, or game) it really is. We already know.

Well said, I think it is really a matter of an ego argument more than anything.

 

[Alsponge]

Well, I'm usually pretty drained after playing a round. And sleep real easy later that night. Some people consider dominos a sport, so I don't see why golf isn't?

 

[WestTex]

Of course golf is a Sport, just as much as anything else you can name. There is a certain level of physical gifts that are needed to play any sport at that Sports top level.

The #1 thing I always hear against golf is "Well anyone can do it." That's a bunch of crock. That same thing can be said for any sport. Golf has just been popularized at the recreational level way more than any other sport before it.

The 2nd thing is when you lump every position of a team sport together against a solo Sport. That is a worthless argument, as every position on that team needs a different skill set to excel at what they are doing.

Point 1
I can go out right now and play every position on the football field..all 22+ positions..nothing is keeping me from doing it. Being good? Questionable. This depends on my God given skill set per positional needs and how hard I'm willing to work at it.

I can go out right now and play every position on the baseball diamond..all 9..plus batting...nothing is keeping me from doing it. Being good? Again, this depends on my God given skill set per positional needs and how hard I'm willing to work at it.

Hockey....I can swing a stick around and run around on the Ice

Soccer...yep I can play all of those positions too...

Tennis...Yep nothing is keeping me from trying to hit a ball with a racket is there?

Please insert every other Sport you can think of here --------->__________= yep I can do that sport as well.

Point 2

Lets look at some skill sets and what they require to be great. I wish I could make a chart with some kind of rating scale, but there are so many different physical and mental needs that it would take out an entire THP Forum page to list out the bulk of the qualities needed.

Starting Pitcher: Requires Superior Arm Strength. Above average Endurance. Large amount of flexibility, Motor function/muscle memory
Does not require in large doses: Speed, Jumping ability, Lateral movement, Foot coordination, any specific physical size

Defensive Tackle: Specific Physical Size, Superior Upper and Lower Body Strength. (I'm sure there are others but I'm not as well versed)
Does not require in large doses. Flexibility, Speed, Hand Eye or foot coordination, Arm strength.

Point Guard: Superior hand eye coordination. Above Average Quickness. Specific Physical size to a degree. Large amount of Endurance and most likely Jumping ability.
Does not need in Large Doses: Arm Strength, Upper or Lower Body Strength

Golfer: Superior Motor function/muscle memory. Above average hand eye-coordination. Good portion of Endurance and Flexibility
Does not need in Large Doses: Speed, Jumping Ability, Foot Coordination. Any Specific physical size

No 2 Sports/positions are the same and everyone's given skill set different. Just b/c everyone wants to go play a certain sport every weekend does not make it any less of a sport.

That's way longer then I wanted it to be yet no where near as detailed as it could be. So In conclusion, yes it is a Physically Athletic Sport.

 

[Nate]

I rolled my ankle playing last weekend in Des Moines. If I can get hurt while participating in an activity, it's a sport.

Dan

Wasn't that after like 10 beers though? Ha! JK!!!!

 

[Jeanthemachine]

Who cares?

Golf is an activity that men and women of all ages and skill levels can enjoy and can even compete with each other through the use of handicaps and multiple tees.

Is there another "physical" activity that meets these criteria as well.

 

[I'dHitThat]

Definitely physical IMO. 23 years old, in good shape(usually run 3-5 miles every couple of days), and consider myself to be pretty athletic. Started playing 10 days ago and have been at the range every day except for 2. After 10 days my back hurts, back of left hand hurts, all fingers on both hands are sore, neck is sore as well. Now I may have over done it and am taking a break from the range for a couple of days, but I don't ever remember hurting in this many places when I played competitive baseball and basketball growing up.

 

[Oregon Jack]

it's extremely mental, but if you don't have a good swing (the physical part), you can do decent at best. and only if you're lucky. the way i see it, if it's on ESPN, it's a sport. yes, i do realize poker is on ESPN, but i also believe that it belongs nowhere near ESPN.

 

[Oregon Jack]

I rolled my ankle playing last weekend in Des Moines. If I can get hurt while participating in an activity, it's a sport.

Dan

i wouldn't call walking a sport..

 

[Mr. Satchmo]

i wouldn't call walking a sport..

what about competitive speed walking lol?

One time I played with this really good golf player and we were running the course the whole time lol

 

[Oregon Jack]

what about competitive speed walking lol?

One time I played with this really good golf player and we were running the course the whole time lol

yeah i've done that.. but i didn't enjoy it, so the most i'll ever run is one or two holes and only if i'm waaay behind. which i hardly ever am.

 

[Smallville]

it's extremely mental, but if you don't have a good swing (the physical part), you can do decent at best. and only if you're lucky. the way i see it, if it's on ESPN, it's a sport. yes, i do realize poker is on ESPN, but i also believe that it belongs nowhere near ESPN.

Directly from the FAQ section of the ESPN website:

WHAT DOES ESPN STAND FOR?
When ESPN started in 1979 we were the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (thus, ESPN). However, that name took too long to paint across our chests on game day, so we dropped it in 1985 and adopted a new corporate name -- ESPN, Inc.-- and a new logo. And by the way, we're a subsidiary of ABC, Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Co. Also, the Hearst Corporation has a 20% interest in ESPN.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?page=help/espn-faq#ESPN

 

[justhackin]

Definitely physical IMO. 23 years old, in good shape(usually run 3-5 miles every couple of days), and consider myself to be pretty athletic. Started playing 10 days ago and have been at the range every day except for 2. After 10 days my back hurts, back of left hand hurts, all fingers on both hands are sore, neck is sore as well. Now I may have over done it and am taking a break from the range for a couple of days, but I don't ever remember hurting in this many places when I played competitive baseball and basketball growing up.

If your back hurts you are swinging incorrectly. I think they have the "lessons with a PGA Pro" thing going for $99 right now. It's like 5-6 lessons for beginners. Find a local pro and see if they are doing this. Your back will thank you in about 20 years.......

hackin

 

[Oregon Jack]

If your back hurts you are swinging incorrectly. I think they have the "lessons with a PGA Pro" thing going for $99 right now. It's like 5-6 lessons for beginners. Find a local pro and see if they are doing this. Your back will thank you in about 20 years.......

hackin

or he doesn't warm up correctly. i played yesterday, didn't warm up at all. first swing and i tweaked my back. could hardly swing the rest of the round. yes, i did swing another 84 times and finished out my 18 holes, but still. it's not always the swing, just need to be loose.

 

[Mr. Satchmo]

If your back hurts you are swinging incorrectly. I think they have the "lessons with a PGA Pro" thing going for $99 right now. It's like 5-6 lessons for beginners. Find a local pro and see if they are doing this. Your back will thank you in about 20 years.......

hackin

It's called Get Golf Ready and it's like 5-1 hour and 30 min lessons with a PGA instructor and small groups, it really helped my game when I took it earlier this year. . .


Anyways, my back doesn't hurt when I play, usually only my legs are sore and my shoulder muscles are sore but besides that I'm fine. Now when I first started playing golf, my lower arm muscles killed me but since then I've built them up, golf is physical in that you require flexibility and fittness to get good, yet anyone even justin Bieber can play this game

 

[Oregon Jack]

It's called Get Golf Ready and it's like 5-1 hour and 30 min lessons with a PGA instructor and small groups, it really helped my game when I took it earlier this year. . .


Anyways, my back doesn't hurt when I play, usually only my legs are sore and my shoulder muscles are sore but besides that I'm fine. Now when I first started playing golf, my lower arm muscles killed me but since then I've built them up, golf is physical in that you require flexibility and fittness to get good, yet anyone even justin Bieber can play this game

don't even say that..

 

[Mr. Satchmo]

don't even say that..

hahah I had to put it in there instead of the cave man reference

 

[I'dHitThat]

or he doesn't warm up correctly. i played yesterday, didn't warm up at all. first swing and i tweaked my back. could hardly swing the rest of the round. yes, i did swing another 84 times and finished out my 18 holes, but still. it's not always the swing, just need to be loose.

I think you're right, a couple of those days I was a little too anxious to hit and didn't warm up for very long. I do take lessons with the course pro so my swing should be in form ..$60 for 3, so equal to the GetGolfReady deal.