Tennis vs Golf

[Patch]

I have played both, and I have a cousin who is an accomplished tennis instructor. Quite a few similarities in the two.

10 Things that Make Tennis one of the Most Mentally Demanding Sports Around
June 27, 2015
Edgar Giffenig
1. It is an Individual Sport
An individual sport is automatically more stressful that a team sport because it is all about “you”. Each player has to confront the situation alone. There are no substitutions, and no chance to spread the blame for a loss.
2. There is no Coaching
Tennis is one of the few sports where there is no coaching during competition. You are out there alone. It is truly one on one.
3. The players call the lines
Except for the largest tournaments in the world, most matches are played without a referee. Each player calls the lines on their side. In other words, you are at the mercy of your opponent.
4. You have a lot of time to think
In general the work/rest ratio in tennis is about 3 to 1. That is, of the time on court, one is actually playing about one fourth of the time. The rest is time between points and between change-overs. A match is a constant back and forth between being fully engaged and preparing to play, which requires special mental skills.
5. There is no time limit
A match ends when a player wins two out of three sets or three out of five sets. This can take 1 hour or 5 hours. In most sports you can “run down the clock” when you are ahead. In tennis, the match is not over until you win the last point, which requires players to maintain their intensity and concentration from the first point to the last, without knowing how long they will be on the court.
6. The unique scoring system promotes pressure
The scoring system in tennis promotes frequent momentum changes during the match. A player can win three points in a row but if he/she does not win the game point he/she can still loose the game. Similarly, 5/0 40/0 is nice, but it is not a set. Different points acquire different levels of importance, depending on the score, creating a great variety of pressure situations within every match.
7. The circumstances change every time you are on the court
Every time you are on the court, you are not only battling the opponent but also the conditions: wind, sun, different surfaces, indoor, or out door courts, etc. No two matches are the same. Players have to constantly adapt.
8. Even at the top of the game “losing” is an integral part of the game
Even when things are going great players lose almost every week. If you look at the professional players’ records, you will find that only the players at the very top of the game (to 50 in the world) have a winning career record. Everyone else loses more than they win, forcing players to become incredibly resilient.
9. You need to perform at your best for several days in a row to win a tournament.
Tennis is one of the few sports where one competition can last up to two weeks (Grand Slams), and players have to compete for several days in a row, back to back, with very little time to regenerate.
10. Tennis does not have an off-season
In most sports the competitive season is very well defined and athletes have several months to recover and train. Tennis is played year round and in order to succeed you have to remain fully engaged the whole year.
All of this adversity makes tennis a very unique and challenging sport, but at the same time one of the most formative sports around.

[iacas]

The biggest difference: you only play one person at a time (match play does this, of course, but most here in the U.S. don't play match play very often) and then the other thing: your opponent gets to play your ball. They can mess up. They can duff a shot into the net and YOU directly benefit. Not true in golf, where the opponent never touches your ball and never directly affects what you do.

[mvmac]

Another difference.

Even though they have grass, clay and concrete courts, each court is the same shape/dimensions. 

[rkim291968]

I see more differences than similarity between the two sports.   Rather, I always thought bowling and golf are more alike.  I s*ck at them both but that's besides the point.

Edited October 21, 2015 by rkim291968

[Golfingdad]

5. There is no time limit
A match ends when a player wins two out of three sets or three out of five sets. This can take 1 hour or 5 hours. In most sports you can “run down the clock” when you are ahead. In tennis, the match is not over until you win the last point, which requires players to maintain their intensity and concentration from the first point to the last, without knowing how long they will be on the court.
6. The unique scoring system promotes pressure
The scoring system in tennis promotes frequent momentum changes during the match. A player can win three points in a row but if he/she does not win the game point he/she can still loose the game. Similarly, 5/0 40/0 is nice, but it is not a set. Different points acquire different levels of importance, depending on the score, creating a great variety of pressure situations within every match.

These are probably my favorite parts about watching a professional tennis match on TV.  The drama is so intense.  I love when it's something like ad-in and 5-4 in the second (women's) or fourth (men's) set and the next point could either be the very end of the match, or the beginning of a "comeback" that takes another 90 minutes, or anything in between.

[nevets88]

I thought there was some coaching going on during matches via illegal hand signals.

[SavvySwede]

I thought there was some coaching going on during matches via illegal hand signals.

Coaching has been allowed on the Women's Tour for a couple of years now. Only between sets and not in Grand Slam Tournaments(The ITF runs them instead of the WTA).

[nevets88]

Coaching has been allowed on the Women's Tour for a couple of years now. Only between sets and not in Grand Slam Tournaments(The ITF runs them instead of the WTA).

 

Aha, so there is coaching going on for half of the tennis world. I think tennis pros are less alone than you'd think. There is constant cheering in the stands, family/coach box/seats are usually not very far from the player. With golf, player can go for long periods without seeing family/close supporters in the gallery. I've been to many tennis tournaments and the tennis crowd behind you is a definite 6th man of a 5 man team.

Edited October 22, 2015 by nevets88

[dchoye]

I find tennis more mentally taxing. Score determines one clear winner and one clear loser.

In golf I play mostly stroke play, so I'm against the the field and so if I finish and post a losing but respectable score  I can still feel ok about myself and feel like I can improve.

In tennis its more demoralizing when  I lose, don't feel like I can get better, and I  have to find a player at my level in order to improve.

Edited October 22, 2015 by dchoye

[dak4n6]

I played tennis in HS (team #2), and picked it up again about 10 yrs ago and was just getting good when I met my wife and she said 'you have to start playing more golf (with the kids)'. So, we joined the local CC, and that effectively put an end to my tennis comeback. But, I still love the game and watch all the majors intently.

How about the similarities/differences in the golf and the tennis swings? As with other stick & ball games, the 1st obvious difference is that the golf ball doesn't move (or at least it shouldn't). This might sound like an advantage, but I think it is a disadvantage, unless the ball is moving really, really fast relative to your skill level. However, IMO, the physio-kinetics (or whatever they are called) are quite similar. In both the best swing is from 'the ground up', there is a hip/shoulder rotation component, an arm component, and a wrist lag/release component. And, most importantly, ball focus is priority #1. 99.9% of the time when someone shanks a ball off the frame it is because they started looking at where they want the ball to go rather than watching it all way through impact. Sound familiar?

Edited December 30, 2015 by dak4n6

[JonMA1]

Other than the obvious physical differences, the fact that you're allowed a second serve is huge.

My first serve in tennis was pretty good. It was not unusual to win games by dropping four first serves in a row. I could go down the line or towards the outside from either service side and put everything I had into it, knowing I had a high-percentage kick serve for my second.

Pretty much every time I play a round of golf, I have at least one out of bounds tee shot followed by a perfect one. Unfortunately, that first shot ain't a freebie.

As for similarities, its the spin control both sports require. My favorite shot to watch in tennis is a drop shot where the ball just gets over the net then dies due to so much backspin. It's one I could never pull off. It kind of reminds me of a sand or lob shot by PGA pros where they have very little green to work with and a downhill slope towards the flag. They're still able to land it where they need to with the right kind of spin to control the roll.

In both sports, the best players have so much power yet that kind of spin control. I've never seen that level of skill in person and TV likely doesn't do it justice. But watch a passing shot in slow motion some time. The ball will often head out and then back in play due to side spin.

[Mr. Desmond]

Returning serve -- it's similar to the drive in golf in terms of difficulty.

But returning serve is more difficult for me.

[Golfingdad]

1 hour ago, Mr. Desmond said:

Returning serve -- it's similar to the drive in golf in terms of difficulty.

But returning serve is more difficult for me.

Lol, same here.

[dak4n6]

On 1/3/2016 at 10:53 AM, Mr. Desmond said:

Returning serve -- it's similar to the drive in golf in terms of difficulty.

But returning serve is more difficult for me.

Naah, even a fast nasty serve you can just block back. It's getting that well placed 100+ 1st serve that's just like a drive. The harder you try to hit it, the slower and more awry it goes. When you hit it with good extension and patience and timing, it goes like a rocket.

[Zeph]

Golf is more individual to me. In tennis it's one match at a time, one opponent at a time. You see what the opponent is doing, can react and affect his gameplay directly. In golf, you can lose to someone on the other side of the course. I feel more encapsuled in my own game when playing golf than tennis.

I don't know which is harder in a professional scene (if you can even quantify something like that), but tennis is easier to pick up and be decent at. Golf can be stupidly difficult after years of playing.

Tennis is also more predictable. The court surface can of course change, but it's the usual types, always flat, always the same size etc. In golf, you play everywhere across the course (I know from experience). It's also not as affected by the weather as golf is. On outdoors courts you can be affected by the weather, but not so much as in golf, and indoors are always the same.

[rolopolo]

Have debated tennis vs golf in terms of skill for hours with friends.

For me, the biggest difference is the fact that good hands/eyes alone won't make you a great tennis player - a very big part of tennis is the athleticism/legs part of it. You need to be a very good athlete to make it in tennis, especially in the pro ranks. You can have the best hands/eyes in the world, but if you dont have the physique and athleticism you wont make it. Think someone like Ernie, Duffner, etc - I am sure they will be able to hit amazing tennis shot with a bit of practice, but would never have made it far in the sport.

Golf really is unique from most other sports in the extreme level of hand/eye skill required, imo. Best tennis player I ever got to watch live was Jim Courier at Wimbles, it was also my first tennis tournie as a live spectator. It left me a bit "meh" to be honest. What impressed me was how fast they were covering the court, but that was about it.

Nothing in terms of live sports has really ever impressed me as much as watching Tiger/Rory/Schwartzel, Monty, etc hit golf balls on practice range.It really is "wow". Other sports I love watching live is Rugby and Cricket, but it doesnt impress me as much as watching golfers.

Another thing that sets golf apart from most other sports is how long it takes for a player to reach his peak. Good golfers typically start playing serious/competitve golf by age 11-13 or so, and then take them about 20 yrs of continuous practice till they reach their peak at around age 31, 32 or so.

Also quite unique to the sport of golf is how close the fields are in terms of skill. In a typical ATP tournie, there are realistically 4 players at most with a chance of winning. The number 20-30 ranked male tennis players in the world are usually not close to the giving the top 5 guys any competition.There is a huge difference in their capabilities. In a golf Major though, you have a lot of guys who can realistically win.

Guys here on our little shitty Sunshine tour destroy golf courses, -20s, -25s for a tournie, yet you have and never will hear of them. So yeah I think in golf vs tennis, you have a lot more golfers who are a lot closer to each other in skill level than is the case with a sport like tennis.