Tennis and golf

[clonewars222]

Will playing tennis a little bit screw up my golf game?

Also, I've heard of some drills in tennis that are related to golf... can someone tell me those?

[James_Black]

no it's actually GOOD for your golf.
I used to have a reverse pivot until I took up tennis, it helped me with weight transfer.

it won't harm your game at all.

[linkin22luke]

no it's actually GOOD for your golf.

very true, I was playing my best golf last summer when i was playing my best tennis

[nevets88]

I noticed if you hit a big whippy big topspin forehand, the wrist on the follow through is cupped and I made a conscious effort not to mimic that feeling in golf. Probably a super minor thing though.

[natp0wers]

I played competitive tennis all my life through college, now i have taken up golf and feel that tennis has helped not only my balance but also helped me understand the relationship between clubpath, clubface, and why the ball spins the way it does.

[rogerw]

I played competitive tennis all my life through college, now i have taken up golf and feel that tennis has helped not only my balance but also helped me understand the relationship between club path, club face, and why the ball spins the way it does.

Sounds like we have similar pasts, although I didn't play competitively in college, I did play a lot of tennis post college. I agree with you, all of the conversations on here regarding ball flight/spin, etc. caused by club face angle and swing path have made complete sense to me, likely due to the tennis background.

With regards to the clonewars question, I don't believe the swings are similar enough between tennis and golf to have a negative effect, although I don't play tennis any longer, so its just an opinion. Having also played competitive baseball, I would think that sport would more likely have an impact as the swings and stance are somewhat similar. I know for example that I originally had a more closed stance in golf, probably largely due to my baseball background. That was one of the first things that I had to fix.

[Chas]

I had to give up tennis for medical reasons (peripheral neuropathy) and took to golf more seriously. There's a fair bit of similarity, esp. e.g. hip action ahead ahead of shoulders and importance of weight transfer, but there's a lot that's different. Many pro tennis players are decent golfers. The other way around, I dunno.

Whereas squash and tennis - just a horrible combination in my experience. Playing one really affects the other one badly unless you're very very skilled. Totally different body/arm actions, yet they're both ball-and-racquet games.

[juanjohn]

Tennis is awesome for golf. Really helps with your core and hand eye coordination. I've played tennis all my life and the last few years have picked up golf and in no way is tennis detrimental.

[WUTiger]

Jack Nicklaus was a fairly decent amateur tennis player, and talks about tennis in his book, Golf My Way.

A co-worker has switched from tennis to golf. He has a short, compact golf swing, but has good balance and hits it very straight when he makes solid contact.

[pingman]

No sir. I go to my high school's tennis practice to mess around and get my mind off of the golf swing and i'm pretty good. The tennis coach wants me to play but I think my golf coach will kill me if his #1 golfer goes to tennis

[Range King]

Does not hurt at all.

Also in tennis, the clubhead speed comes from knee, hip, torso and shoulder action, not from swinging your arms harder.
Furthermore what has helped me during my first golf experiences: From the beginning, I understood the concept of swinging through a ball, not hitting at it. Same with releasing the clubhead to have a square clubface at the point of impact.

[clubchamp]

I played tennis for years and I never saw any bad habits from it. Granted I play golf lefty and tennis righty so I did get a little off track every now and again. I will say being a lefty golfer gave me a mean two handed top spin back hand.

[Chas]

One point of contrast though:

Thinking as a right-hander making a tennis stroke, there is less "action" in the right elbow in the forehand shot than there is in golf, i.e. the arm is held stiffer and hip/shoulder rotation provides most of the power in the tennis stroke. Hitting a golf ball hard involves more of a "whipping" action with the right arm on the down stroke (right hander), which is more akin to the serve in tennis than to the gound stroke. As we all know real power in golf comes from the delayed snap of the arm + wrist, i.e. keeping the angle of the right elbow as late as reasonably possible before it straightens out into the contact zone and the wrists "break" (only in one plane though). Very different from tennis I would say. Whereas squash is in that respect more similar to golf, i.e. racquet head speed comes from "throwing" the arm with the right elbow leading the way - more like a baseball pitch.

Does this make any sense to anyone ... or am I out in left field as usual?

[San_94]

I would say yes i play both and i improved my golf game with tennis

[RC]

I think tennis is an excellent supporting sport for golf... but I think it is very hard to play at a high level in both sports at the same time. It has been done. I once played with a tour player who is the only person (I think) to have qualified and played in the US Opens of both tennis and golf. In my youth, I went through short periods where tennis was primary then golf, but usually it was the other way around. I played in the state amatuer in both sports, but could not qualify in both in the same year -- just too hard for me. However, in bad weather or cold winters, a little tennis was always a great option.

[Rick Martin]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm really struggling w/ playing both - and both are nearly equally important to me.  (Well, maybe Golf>Tennis). But I'm trying to maintain both. I try to balance practicing one or the other every day. Some days I can play tennis early then hit the practice tee/short game area later in the day.

In tennis you can have a very loopy forehand stroke, and that can lead to a "hitch" in the golf swing, imo (Furyk).  I don't like that.

I know tennis builds up my forearm (right) and I seem to get added distance, especially on drives.  Is it good to have one arm more dominate over another like that? R>L. Also builds the legs and give you endurance - good things.

But I don't think I can excel at either sports if I continue to to play both.

I know Matt Kuchar played some doubles tennis before winning the last Players Championship - was impressed w/ that.

Sergio looks damn good playing tennis here.....

[Chas]

Great vid of Sergio playing tennis. Isn't he a really good soccer player as well? That guy is an all-round athlete for sure - he just needs an attitude adjustment :) IIRC Ivan Lendl was a pretty good golfer, tho' I've never seen him play. I really don't see why playing tennis would inhibit your golf - other than the time taken of course.

[mailman]

I think you will find that generally people at this level will be pretty good at most things they try!

Regards

Mailman