Golf a Sport?

J.R.HARTLEY

GreeBo wrote:

You havent a clue about the game

on the nose, he's clueless but he's going to keep ramming his BS down your throat cause he can't respect that in other peoples opinions Golf is a sport, you must agree with him.
from golfdigest.com

When he is not competing, Woods typically spends three or four hours a day, five times a week, in the gym. For these high-intensity workouts, he varies the focus of each session from strength training to improvements in cardiovascular performance. He usually starts with 30 minutes of some kind of cardiovascular warm-up exercise such as pedaling on a stationary bike. Then he'll perform a 30-minute session of total-body stretching, focusing on the muscles of the legs and trunk. A trainer assists him with physical therapy, manipulating his body to prepare the joints for the rigors of swinging a golf club as violently as Woods does. Everything from the kneecaps to the vertebrae are prepared for battle.

For Woods, a typical three- or four-hour workout combines light cardio exercise and some heavy lifting.

Then it's back to cardiovascular exercise. In the gym, he varies the machines he uses for this, including a treadmill, a stair stepper and a climbing machine that focuses on his upper body. Woods "loves to run, and will jog usually three to four miles, and almost always on grass,''.

When Woods finishes his cardio workout, he moves to strength training. On high-intensity days, he lifts 80 percent of his maximum weight doing exercises such as the bench press, the shoulder press and squats. (Some people who have seen him work out estimate he can bench-press about 300 pounds.) One of the reasons Woods added 25 pounds to his frame is that he focused his weight training on lifting heavy weights in sets of six to eight repetitions.

Sugar_Ray

The real athletes I mentioned may not have been good at Golf. It's not their chosen field and that has nothing whatsoever to do with their fitness or their athletic ability. Golf is quite a specialist activity. Sure any old man can play the game, but to be good at it and I mean pro level, it takes natural talent and serious practice. Monty, Nicklaus and dozens of other guys are examples. Sure they can walk 20 or so miles over 4 days, big F***ING deal. Who can't?. And that's at a real leisurely pace, they don't carry their clubs and the effort they put into swinging a club maybe 60 times in a round is hardly worth marvelling at now is it. Tell me when you ever saw a golfer really exert themselves or even beak a bloody sweat. You do not see it, plain and simple. It's actually not possible. I've played many rds and the only tiredness I felt was thru boredom, I was mentally drained. But I can tell you one thing, If I was getting 200k-300k for finishing in the top 5, I'm sure I'd stay awake a wee bit longer. Get over yourselves and admit that golf, though skillfull, lacks the real athletes ability and fitness levels. It's not suposed to be about strength, aglity, stamina, guts and courage. It's about which player can hold his game the longest and maintain his concentration. Take away the money and I bet you the majority of those guys would fall asleep on the bloody course

Villain

You really haven't got a clue have you?

css

This thread should be locked, as it really is pointless.

Sugar Ray, go hit 5 buckets of 100 golf balls at your driving range of choice, and then come back and tell us that the game doesn't require fitness. You won't be able to move the next day.

Your concept of fitness is sprint 100 laps or whatever, but just because you can do 100 laps and not break a sweat, does that mean you can free-climb a mountain? Just with Golf it's a different kind of fitness, get over it.

Sugar_Ray

What's there to have a clue about?, it's hardly rocket science is it.
Golf, you casually stroll around lucious green grass fields, occasionally stopping to swing a metal club at a ball, you follow this ball until it drops into a little hole and repeat the steps mentioned for as long as it takes to claim victory and reap the rewards. Oh I nearly forgot, you have a servant to carry your clubs and if you get a wee bit tired, you can always use a motorised cart. Apat from that I think I have it covered. Sport? a BIG maybe, athletes? a BIG no!!!!!!!

Villain

LOL, mods please close, clearly a troll at this stage.

kc66

Sugar_Ray wrote:

I've played many rds and the only tiredness I felt was thru boredom, I was mentally drained.

You feel mentally drained when you are bored? There mustn't be a lot to drain so!

Dagnir Glaurung

The OP has got the definition of sport all wrong in his head. Sport is not to do with being superfit and sweating otherwise things like competitve eating and cheerleading would be sports. Sport basically requires two things:
1) Skill
2) Physical Exertion
Both of which golf fulfills. There are other conditions of course but they can be argued about
3) Scoring system
4) Competition
Which gold again fulfills.

armchairninja

Sugar_Ray wrote:

I may have been losing the arguement until you came up wit the absurd notion that Monty is keeping up with the young lads due to fitness. Monty and fitness should never be used in the same sentence. Laughable!!!!

Of course your right again, hes not keeping up with them, hes actually ahead of most, hes 7th in the euro tour order of merit!

http://www.europeantour.com/default.sps?pagegid=%7B7E944807%2D48EC%2D411A%2DB82A%2DD56203FDC915%7D

Sugar_Ray wrote:

For god's sake, they don't even carry their own poxy clubs. How lazy can one get

Their clubs are in a bag, they bag also, holds spare shoes,socks, gloves, clothes,wet gear, foot, drink, golf balls and any other things the players mite want!

Sugar_Ray wrote:

Nicklaus retired very recently at aged 65 or there abouts

Recently?, Last Year at the 2005 open!, he retired there as he saw the home of golf as a place fit for him to play his final stroke!..and he hadnt been competing for a good while beforehand!

Never seen a player break a sweat!



Must be a comfort blanket!:D



Must be wiping rain off his brow!:D

And when you mentioned great athletes, you forgot Justin Gatlin, who had a shared world record for 100m, oh wait, thats right!, he was so great he had to use drugs!...my apologies:rolleyes:

And as for Strength, woods at the PGA 2 years ago, carried a ball over the back of a green 373 yards away, he hit a 5 iron 252 yards at baltusrol and at Medinah at the weekend he chopped a 7 iron out of the thickest rough, to within 3 feet of the pin...maybe it was luck all a long:rolleyes:
And he isnt even the biggest hitter on the tour!.

Is swimming a sport in your books?, because i've seen OAPs swim continually for an hour or more, but then again, theres not a whole lot to it, kick the legs, push the water out to the sides with your hands!:cool:

Sugar_Ray

Yes swimming is most definitely a sport. Phelps, Popov, Spitz, Biondi etc are athletes of the highest level. They all retired in their 20's (EXCEPT PHELPS), because it was too physically demanding for them to compete at the highest level, where as Tubby out of shape golfers like Monty can still have a laugh playing while morons like some on this THREAD PAY TO WATCH!!!. Like I said Golf just might make the title Sport, stll a whole way to go before I'd regard them as being close to athletes.

As for Woods sweating, sometimes walking can do that to a person!!!!!!
Imagine what he'd be like if he had to exert himself!!!!

armchairninja

Sugar_Ray wrote:

As for Woods sweating, sometimes walking can do that to a person!!!!!!
Imagine what he'd be like if he had to exert himself!!!!

If he had to exert himself?, everytime he hits the ball, he uses more muscles than most footballers use, he coils up on the ball, putting immense pressure on the stomach, and lower back muscles, then theres his legs, arms, shoulders, neck!(look it up).
Infact he had to have surgery on his knee as a result of the pressures his swing puts on it!

And i thought you said earlier that no-one has ever seen a golfer sweat,and when you are presented with evidence, your claiming its because of the walking!...I mean get a life!

I notice you never replied to the fact that most of the greats you mention are involved in a sport which has been marred by drug controversy!...whereas golf, well the only controversy there is the use of cameras!

Awaitng next rediculously stupid and unfounded comment?

RuggieBear

Sugar_Ray wrote:

Yes swimming is most definitely a sport. Phelps, Popov, Spitz, Biondi etc are athletes of the highest level. They all retired in their 20's (EXCEPT PHELPS), because it was too physically demanding for them to compete at the highest level, where as Tubby out of shape golfers like Monty can still have a laugh playing while morons like some on this THREAD PAY TO WATCH!!!. Like I said Golf just might make the title Sport, stll a whole way to go before I'd regard them as being close to athletes.

As for Woods sweating, sometimes walking can do that to a person!!!!!!
Imagine what he'd be like if he had to exert himself!!!!

Banned for abuse.

MisterAnarchy

Sugar_Ray wrote:

But to try and justify Woods or Monty or Harrington earning money as they do, to what say Lance Armstrong earns
is silly

Alot of people would not regard cycling as a sport.
It more an endurance test and test of ones physical condition rather than being skilled.

css

Reread the posts, it's a windup.

Endurance Man

css wrote:

Reread the posts, it's a windup.

Was thinking the same thing, i reckon he just sucks, wants to be good so though he would have a dig .

slumped

Can someone close this thread or move it to Frisbee and rename it "Frisbee a Sport"

GOAT_Ali

Just read thru a few of the POST's. Seriously I think the original poster has made some very valid points. Maybe he has went a little OTT, But let's be honest. Golf is not what I would really call sport. It is most definitely skillful and requires a lot of mental concentration, but I see it purely as a leisure activity for the elderley and serious big business fo the pros. It's all about money money and more money. Apparently the guys like Des Smyth, and O'connor Jnr are earning more money now on the Seniors than they ever earned on the tour. That can't be good for Golf and tells me that it really is dominated by business and corporations. Now apart from maybe Tennis which most definitely is a sport for young fit athletes, what other sports have Seniors earning cash like they do in Golf? At last the SENIORS on theTennis circuit actually look like they are earning it. It takes a lot out of them

GreeBo

GOAT_Ali wrote:

but I see it purely as a leisure activity for the elderley and serious big business fo the pros.

What about the majority of those who play golf who do not fall into your two extremes?

GOAT_Ali wrote:

Apparently the guys like Des Smyth, and O'connor Jnr are earning more money now on the Seniors than they ever earned on the tour.

Yeah, becuase the game has changed a lot in 20 years, there is more money in it.
Id be willing to gamble that Ile Nastasie et al are earning more now than they did when they were on the tennis tour.

Im not sure how you can say that playing golf doesnt "take it out of you".
What level of golf are you describing?
It sounds like you are comparing the golf that you know to the tennis that the senior pros play.
Apples to oranges mate.
I can go to a tennis court and play a game and not be falling down dead, likewise I can play a round of golf in somewhere like Druids Glen and be knackered at the end of it.

GOAT_Ali

GreeBo wrote:

What about the majority of those who play golf who do not fall into your two extremes?


Yeah, becuase the game has changed a lot in 20 years, there is more money in it.
Id be willing to gamble that Ile Nastasie et al are earning more now than they did when they were on the tennis tour.

Im not sure how you can say that playing golf doesnt "take it out of you".
What level of golf are you describing?
It sounds like you are comparing the golf that you know to the tennis that the senior pros play.
Apples to oranges mate.
I can go to a tennis court and play a game and not be falling down dead, likewise I can play a round of golf in somewhere like Druids Glen and be knackered at the end of it.

Knackered from what exactly. I think alot are missing the point. A lot of things can make you knackered, but they aren't necessarily tough. If I was to stay awake for 48 hrs I'm sure I'd be knackered and yes walking around a golf course for 5 hrs will take a toll. So will walking around a supermarket. What's your point? To tell me that they actually exert themselves compared to tennis players or Rugby players or soccer players is so far from true it's just silly. I have mentioned the likes of Smyth and O'connor and they are damn well old yet what they do is no different physicaly from what the younger players re doing. They are playing just as much golf, if not more than the pros on the circuit. Are you honestly trying to say that Smyth and O'Connor are athletes?

GreeBo

GOAT_Ali wrote:

Knackered from what exactly.

From exerting myself.

GOAT_Ali wrote:

Are you honestly trying to say that Smyth and O'Connor are athletes?

Are you honestly trying to tell me that a golakeeper is an athlete?
I can stand in a field for 90 minutes with the best of them. Does that make me an athlete?

badbrian

Please, for our sanity, can we give this up now. How it got to 3 pages I will never know. Original question didn't deserve a single reply. As alluded to earlier sport is anything that requires physical exertion governed by a set of rules. OP has access to the internet but can't find a definition for sport? Methinks someone was bored and wanted to wind others up.
Can this thread now be closed?
Please?

stringy

sport noun 1 a an activity, pastime, competition, etc that usually involves a degree of physical exertion, eg football, tennis, squash, swimming, boxing, snooker, etc and which people take part in for exercise and/or pleasure; b such activities collectively • enjoys watching sport on TV. See also sports. 2 good-humoured fun • It was just meant to be a bit of sport. 3 colloq a someone who is thought of as being fair-minded, generous, easy-going, etc • Be a sport and lend me your car; b someone who behaves in a specified way, especially with regard to winning or losing • Even when he loses, he's a good sport; c Austral, NZ a form of address that is especially used between men • How's it going, sport? d US someone, especially a man, who dresses in a flashy way, likes to live well, spend lots of money and generally show off. 4 literary someone or something that is manipulated or controlled by outside influences; a plaything • was but the sport of the gods. 5 biol an animal or, more usually, a plant that displays abnormal characteristics as a result of a mutation or that is strikingly different from the parent. 6 slang pleasure or success that is derived from hunting, shooting, fishing, etc • bagged six grouse and had a good day's sport. verb (sported, sporting) 1 to wear or display, especially proudly • She sported a small tattoo. 2 biol to vary from, or produce a variation from, the parent stock. make sport of someone or something old use to make fun of or ridicule them or it.

css

Goat_Ali, go and hit 500 golf balls, and then come back to us and say it's not exertion. If you can even hit the ball. :rolleyes:

PS: You don't have to walk anywhere, do it at a range, so you can really appreciate how little effort it takes...

MisterAnarchy

css wrote:

Goat_Ali, go and hit 500 golf balls, and then come back to us and say it's not exertion. If you can even hit the ball. :rolleyes:

PS: You don't have to walk anywhere, do it at a range, so you can really appreciate how little effort it takes...

Golf is one of the most demanding sports around.
It requires both huge mental and physical concentration to be able to perform at a high level.
Sure its grand for the hacker to go out and play a leisurely few holes but to be really good ;single figure handicap to scratch requires alot of dedication.
Its a very unnatural mechanism ,the golf swing .
There are 22 muscles alone involved in the forward golf swing.
Fact (From Mens Fitness magazine)
A golfer will travel further in 18 holes than a tennis player in 5 sets or a pro footballer in 90 mins.