Golf In Relation With Other Sports

[Benit0]

Hi everyone.

I'm a avid hockey player, been playing since i'm 6 (now 35) and started golf in my late 20

I'm playing golf more seriously now since 2-3 years and was wondering if the practice of other sports can help/hurt your technique in golf.

I'm saying that because here in Canada, it's 6 month of snow and 6 month of golf, and after last season of golf I notice when I came back at hockey that my slapshot had improved a lot!

I haven't practice hockey at all during summer, but dedicated time for my golf swing and figured out it had help for my hockey shot.

At the same time, i've been battling a slice since i started golf and was wondering if my hockey didn't create this bad habit of out to in swing path, because in hockey it's not as relevent as in the golf swing.

 

Was just curious if others have found that a practice of another sport had helped them or hurt them at golf??

[Patch]

I played 3 of the major sports growing up. However, to this day, I know very little about hockey even though I go to the local hockey team's home games. (free food & beverages)

My favorite sport, and the one that paid for my education was baseball. 

My highschool baseball coach had a problem with me working at a golf course, untill I assured him I was not playing any golf. He thought the golf swing would screw up my baseball swing. My football, and basketball coaches had no issues with me possibly swinging a golf club.

In college, were were told by our baseball coach, we would be shot at sunrise if we even looked at a golf club. Although I was not shot, I did sneak a few rounds of golf in with friends. My hitting did suffer some what. 

After college, while playing lots of golf, I also played upper division softball for a very competitive bar team. I was a very poor hitter. (golf swing?) However, my golf instructor told me to swing like the ball was a really low, and out side pitch. That, and to swing the club head to right field. I had a better understanding of baseball terminology than the golf stuff.

So, with all that expirience behind me, I feel comfortable saying the baseball swing,  and golf probably don't mix. Golf, basketball, and football are a good mix. 

I would also say that folks who played other sports, would also be decent golfers just because of their athleticism. Forget Charley Barkley and a few others. 

Edited February 9, 2019 by Patch

[dennyjones]

I don't know if there is a direct correlation but a lot of professional hockey players play golf with a low handicap.   For me, I'm not sure my hockey playing helped.   I play hockey left handed and golf right handed.   

If you haven't, start a member's swing thread,  you can get some great free help to correct your slice.

[Benit0]

On 2/9/2019 at 9:32 AM, dennyjones said:

I don't know if there is a direct correlation but a lot of professional hockey players play golf with a low handicap.   For me, I'm not sure my hockey playing helped.   I play hockey left handed and golf right handed.   

If you haven't, start a member's swing thread,  you can get some great free help to correct your slice.

Will do, I've been on a golf simulator this weekend and took some video, just have to look if it's not too dark, there were not many lights! If the video looks ok i'll start a member swing thread with it.

 

Didn't realize that the golf swing could wreck a baseball swing, always though it was basically the same, just not the same swing plane. Maybe it can leads to bad habit. Also,

On another topic, I wonder if football or sprint run could help with proper foot pressure and weight transfer??

[Patch]

I might add that any sport that requires running would be a benefit to one's golf swing simply because stronger legs promotes a better balance in the golf swing. The better one's balance, the faster one can swing the club. 

[mcanadiens]

This thread reminds me of this young guy that used to come to Sunday morning drop-in hockey. All sorts of guys used to come to that (and presumably still do). This dude, a recent high school grad, had a canon of a shot and typically let it go from anywhere on this side of center ice.

One day I ran into him and a buddy of his at a local course and we joined up for the final four holes or so. 

He hits this big ripping hook. It's real long, but way off the property. His swing looked so much like his slap shot that I start laughing and said "No boards over there Mase." He smiles back, re-tees and pounds one 325 down the middle. ... Yep just like hockey with him.

 

Edited February 11, 2019 by mcanadiens

[NM Golf]

As @Patch said already, baseball and golf do not mix. I too played baseball through college although I never really picked up a golf club during those years. The mechanics of a good baseball swing are pretty much polar opposite the mechanics of a good golf swing. In fact I would say the only thing they have in common are they are both a swing. I had to give up baseball and softball before I was really able to put together a good repeatable golf swing, I was not able to separate the two.  

I don't know much about hockey or the mechanics of a slap shot but I can only think they two must be similiar as there have been several hockey players who have successfully made the transition to golf. Allen Doyle comes to mind as his golf swing actually looks like a hockey slap shot. 

As far as other sports I can't think of any that would cause harm to a golf swing. I would think the weight training and conditioning of most would be beneficial to golf.

[bones75]

I never played baseball (past pony league) or hockey, but am surprised on responses based on one experience i had.      

Got paired up w/ 2 high schoolers one day, girl was on the boy's golf team, and the dude was on the baseball team (and looking to get d1 scouted, or so he said).  I can't remember the details now, but the guy had only been on a golf course like once before in his life, although he hit the range a few times. He was carrying it well over 270 on avg i would say, with a few more that he crushed.  He wasn't accurate, his irons were a mess, and he shot like 130+ prob, but i remember he was pin high (way left of green) on a straight 300 yard par 4 (carried a creek in front of the green that was about 270 out).  Since then i always figured sluggers wld make good golfers.

[Buckeyebowman]

Back in the day I played every sport that I knew about if I had, or could scare up, the equipment needed. Golf, tennis, baseball, basketball, football, pond hockey (no rinks), volleyball, table tennis, badminton, tetherball, you name it! Some of us had even heard of lacrosse, but had no idea about the game except that Native Americans had played it. 

I never thought that playing any of those other sports hurt me in golf, but now I wonder. Last year I was enjoying a cold beer after a round when a couple of high school golf teams showed up. I thought it would be interesting to watch them tee off, so I grabbed another cold one and hung out. These were smaller high schools kinda, sorta out in the boonies a little bit, and there were a whole lot of baseball swings on display! 

Balls were flying everywhere except down the fairway! It seemed that none of these kids had any idea of how to swing a golf club. Thinking further on it, I realized that I was lucky. I had an Uncle who was a country club pro before WWII. He lived 70 miles away, so I didn't see him all the time, but when I did it was golf, golf, golf! He gave me enough instruction to get me going in the right direction. 

[Piz]

@Benit0  If your shot, in hockey, goes high and/or wide away...what do you think happened?  The biggest difference between a hockey shot and a golf shot is that you don't hood the blade in golf.  A golf shot is more like a back-handed swipe...keep it off the toe and turn through to the net to get the blade square.  Yeah...there is a bit of hooding...but not so much as with a slap shot or wrister.  Like hockey, you propel the object with your legs, hips, and torso.  The arms and hands are just along for the ride.

[Benit0]

I read a lot of left handed hockey player play golf right handed. That is not my case. Everything that involves a throw is with the right hand and everything that involve a swing left handed. I think you can force a lot more with the hands and arm on a slap shot and it won't affect your shot to the same degree of how it will affect your golf swing. There is no such thing as sidespin on a hockey puck if you are too much out to in swing path with your hockey stick open a little!

[p1n9183]

I started with golf at 6 years old, now i´m 35. Besides golf i competed in soccer and Handball. I also played tennis, volley, rugby, paddle and ping pong for recreation only. I´ve always been good at sports and my golf game never suffered after playing other sports.   

[CaseyD]

Go look up Jaime Sadlowski. Probably the most consistant 150+ mph swing speed you’ll see. He won back to back long drive crowns and placed well in many others. He’s trying to make a run at professional golf and has said in many interviews that his time as a high level junior hockey player directly influenced his swing speed.  He swings righty in golf and hockey but in hockey a righty actually uses a strong left hand/ arm so it’s helped his golf swing speed. 

[shanksalot]

Grew up playing baseball, played some basketball and football and track as well. I played baseball and or fast pitch softball until I was in my late 40's. I did not play a lot of golf until I was 47 yrs old. I started when I was in my early 20's but only played on the weekends I was not playing ball. My first love was and still is baseball. I grew up in a Class A Yankee farm team town in New York. 

[Swooshgolf]

Happy Gilmore anyone? 

I think some of the hockey or baseball motions might be the most comparable. The athleticism in football and basketball required isn't really as beneficial in golf. 

[boogielicious]

I’ve played with a few hockey players that have decent games. But there swings are unconventional, very slap shot like. It works for them and they do have a lot of power even with a shorter backswing. 

[billchao]

On 2/12/2019 at 10:35 AM, Benit0 said:

There is no such thing as sidespin on a hockey puck if you are too much out to in swing path with your hockey stick open a little!

I'm gonna be that guy and point out that the puck generally spins on the horizontal axis, thus it usually has sidespin 😉

Plus there's no such thing as sidespin on a golf ball - the ball has backspin and turns based on how it is tilted.

---

I think the slap shot is one of the motions from another sport that is sort of comparable to a golf swing. A lot of people think the baseball swing is similar, but other than swinging a stick to hit a ball, they're fundamentally different. Of course a lot of good baseball players can swing a golf club pretty fast, so there's some advantage to training a swinging motion in general.

[Nave]

That's a very good topic. I have good and bad points to share:

I played semi-pro basketball in Europe for a few years. The only two things that helped my golf game were leg strength for having an athletic and stable golf stance, and endurance for keeping my focus in the last holes.

Besides those two benefits I experienced some negatives, too. I was trained to use lots of muscle power and move very quickly when playing basketball and wrongly translated speed and strenght into my swing (hitting the ball, quickly) at first.